Let's see. Where do I start whining today? I could talk about the wind during the drive from Lincoln, NE to Minden, NE. I'll sum it up with, it sucked and made my life miserable for 120 miles. Regardless, hello from Minden, NE.
Minden is a town in the center of Nebraska. Minden is a hundred miles from anything except fields of corn. Corn, corn, corn, and more corn. If I said corn another 250 times you would know what it is like driving in Nebraska. Oops. I meant wind, corn, wind, corn, wind, corn, etc. Now that is what it is like driving in Nebraska. We dropped The Love Boat's anchor behind the Pioneer Village Museum which was the reason for being in Minden besides spending time with Army Buddy. Minden used to be a thriving town on US 6 which was a major thorofare for folks heading out west. But, when the interstate was constructed 13 miles north of Minden, the town started its slow slide into non-existence. I can say that about hundreds or thousands of towns around the US. This guys named Harold Warp put Minden on the map a long time ago when he started Pioneer Village. Harold Warp made his money in plastics and more specifically Jiffy Wrap (you old codgers will remember Jiffy Wrap). Warp was born in Minden and made his money in Chicago but put the museum in Minden. I guess he didn't like Yankees either. The museum prospered until Warp died and the interstate was built. Your history lesson is over.
After we dropped anchor in Minden, Deb, Army Buddy, and The Big Ole Dumb Southern Boy went to the Pioneer Village Restaurant which was a short walk from The Love Boat. What a dive that "restaurant" was. The food looked and tasted like it had been preserved in a museum. I now know why we were the only people in the place. Yuck. But, while the slop was being "prepared" in the "kitchen" we walked around in the building. They had an incredible collection of carvings from famous sculptors in air tight cases built into the walls of the restaurant. Incredible wouldn't properly describe the collection. The display had tiny cards typed on a typewriter (here you old codgers will again remember a typewriter) describing the artist and usual stuff about the piece. Near the bathroom, there was a collection of old mechanical banks with the hand typed little cards in front of each. The late 19th and early 20th century mechanical banks were depicting black people in various states considered humorous at that time. The amazing thing I found was the little hand typed cards. The cards used words like darkey, negro boy, etc. in the descriptions. Those cards must have been 40 or more years old and were still being displayed. After eating in the restaurant I knew that we were the only people that had been in there in 40 years, so I guess we were the first to read them in 40 years. The little cards were a precursor to the museum.
The museum was amazing and astounding. Warp collected all kinds of things like an entire series of cars from a manufacturer (most manufactures including Hudson) were on display in 22 huge buildings. There was an entire building of old household appliances. There was an entire building of just about anything you can think of including an entire history of lawnmowers and chainsaws. There was a real Pony Express shack, a prairie school house, and an entire series of covered wagons. All of this stuff was kept in some ratty buildings. When Warp died the kids took over and are running the place into non-existence just like Minden. Holy moly this place was a miniature Smithsonian in ratty buildings in the windswept farms of Nebraska about 100 miles on the other side of nowhere. Army Buddy knew about this place and told me that we would go through it when The Love Boat sailed through town, and we did. Thanks Army Buddy.
Dude. Nothing funny occurred again today. Zilch,nada, nyet. I think the corn is effecting my brain. Tomorrow we are headed to Denver. I know funny things reside there.
See Yall tomorrow.
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