Please note I got the right word in the title this time.

Today we covered just shy of 160 miles with two extended stops.  We got a rather late start as we wanted to get the inside of the coach cleaned up and catch up on some email before rolling.  The Alaska dust is still everywhere, I suspect I will be cleaning it out a year from now. 

Our first stop was at Johnstown NE.  I am not sure it will show up on your printed map, out FMCA atlas has a fine dot with 2 point print.  It was founded in 1982, although some of the buildings clearly predate that time.  John Cherry bought the land and started ranching in 1982, he apparently set aside the land that makes up the village and dedicated it to create the village.  In 1992, Hallmark came along and used the village to film O’ Pioneers a Hallmark presentation.  That is its claim to fame.  According to Ruth who owns the  L Bow Bar the town has stagnated ever since.  Although they do show a growth from 53 in the 2000 census to 64 in the most recent census, she says some young people moved in and started having kids.  There is the Sandhills Sage & Co which according to the sign on the door expects to be open 4 days this year.  There is bank that never was a bank, just painted to look like one for the movie.  There is not a lot else.  Ruth provides food to a group of locals who work nearby and come in for lunch.

We moved down the road to Stuart where we found the White Horse Museum graces the road with its large white house and grounds, not quite enough room for us to turn around so we again had to break the tow and turn the vehicles separately, we are getting good at this.  This building was put up in 1913 and has served as a private house, a hospital, a home for the aged and now a museum.  The White Horse name comes from the White Horse Troop which was a touring company of well trained and matched white horses performing group and individual tricks.  This museum, like others we have toured along the road is an accumulation of the belongings of the townsfolk that no longer have a place in their daily lives but are to “valuable” to be discarded.  There is a treasure trove of material including the guest registers from the local hotels, the entire output of the local newspaper and I am sure, someplace the collection of medical records of the period when it was a hospital.  There is an Alumni Room with photos of every graduating class from the high school, with the exception of 2006 – 2010, 2011 was there.  It seems that every trophy that was ever awarded is stuffed in a box or on a shelf in every nook and cranny. 

We moved on down the road with the promise of FREE CAMPING in Plainview NE.  As we turned the corner to Chilvers Park in the center of Plainsview there we beheld four concrete slabs clearly labeled, “Campers Only” and there are the promised electrical boxes at the back of each site.  Further reconnaissance located a sign that said that the camping is indeed free as is the tour of the town along with a bottle of water.  Wow!  Furthermore the camping sites are directly across the street from the High School and they have left their unsecured wifi running for the summer, although school does start on August 18.  We took a walk through town and found most of the businesses empty and buildings for sale, prosperity has not found this town but they are still welcoming to passing strangers.

More of US 20 as we roll on tomorrow maybe all the way to Iowa.  Check in to see if we make.