Cornfields, Cornhole and Cowboys in Nebraska

Hope you haven’t forgotten about us!! A complete contrast from New York City, the next 2 weeks of our travels were based out of Osmond, Nebraska. Jelley spent the first 6 months of her senior high school exchange in this small town of just 870 people in 2010 and the last time she went back to visit was 5 years ago. It was time to return and catch up with her amazing host parents Kelly & Luella Hodson and some of the amazing friends she made during her exchange year. It was an eye-opening experience for Luke visiting a unique part of the USA that he has never seen before!

Flying into Omaha, we took a detour on the way up to Osmond to visit Hannah in the college town of Kearney. Hannah came to visit New Zealand back in 2013 for Jelley’s 21st birthday, so it was awesome to be able to spend an ‘Old School Tuesday’ with her in Kearney and ease our way into the Nebraska life. Luke had ‘the best burger of his life’ at Angus Burgers & Shakes, we hit some of the other local spots before ending the night at the college bar Cunningham’s where 1Litre beers were literally $2 each. Wow!

The drive from Kearney up to Osmond was possibly the most bland landscape we have ever experienced – never-ending flat cornfields and nothing entertaining in between. It was a great feeling to finally pass through Plainview into Osmond and meet Luella at the lumberyard. Luke didn’t really comprehend when he was told that Jelley lived in a ‘small town’ and was blown away by how small it really was with just one main street and a neat small network of blocks that make up the town, bordered by a school and a minimart. We shared lunch at the local Tiger Tavern (filled with Osmond Tigers and Nebraska Huskers memorabilia) with Luella and Doc Johnson (a local legend) then we were home sweet home, settling into Osmond with a quick scenic tour.

Unfortunately, the local supermarket ‘Schuttler’s Groceries’ had burnt down just a couple of months ago, a great loss to the community, but we happened to be passing by the main street during the demolition and got to catch up with half of the town on the street witnessing the biggest event in a long time!

We had a great time in Osmond catching up with the ‘kids’ from school, a special highlight having Megan and her cute girl Blaire visiting from a town 3 hours away, and sharing a BBQ with cornhole (an American game), campfire songs and a visit to the latest bar in town, Main Street Alley, an old bowling alley updated recently with the help of a group of locals. Sadly, the bowling lanes haven’t quite been updated just yet, but when they are it will be an even more important asset to the thriving small country town.

Our visit couldn’t have been at a better time as we were able to share our experiences with an amazing family from the Netherlands, the Heldoorns. Vincent was a high school exchange student with the Hodsons 3 years ago, then continued his stay in NE to attend college at the local Wayne State College. His parents John and Denise and brother Casper flew over at the same time as us to help Vincent settle into another school year and explore more of the surrounding area with us.

We were fortunate to join Kelly, Luella and the Heldoorns on an adventure across to South Dakota. Our first stop on the journey was in Northern Nebraska, attending the Ponca Indians annual Pow Wow. This was an interesting opportunity to be part of one of the largest Native American tribe’s celebration of traditional dance and culture. The occasion was hit by a thunderstorm partway through the evening, but we were still able to experience an incredible evening.

Just across the border into South Dakota we stopped to see Luella’s cousin Cindy to take a tour of their prized hunting trophy collection from all over the world. It was very interesting to see such an extensive and complete collection of animals and from so many different places, New Zealand included!

A highlight of the drive from Nebraska to the Black Hills, SD was the Badlands National Park. The first time Jelley visited this National Park was on Christmas Eve 2010 and the moon-like landscape was frosted with snow, but visiting in August makes for an equally as harsh environment, the sun beating down and rattlesnakes happily hiding out under rocks.

Sturgis is a small town in the Black Hills, home to the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, where up to 700,000 motorcycle riders and enthusiasts converge every year. We stayed for the last night of the motorcycle rally, once most of the action was over, but still gained a feeling for the crazy atmosphere that transforms a tiny town for just one week of the year.

It was an action packed weekend in the Black Hills, where we visited the historic Mount Rushmore, the forever under construction Crazy Horse monument and took a cruise standing in the sunroof through the Custer State Park wildlife loop.

Both Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse provided informative perspectives into the history of not only SD’s Black Hills but also of America’s history and the life and struggles of Native American tribes throughout the USA.

We had an awesome time staying in the Hodsons cute and remote cabin in the woods of the Black Hills and wish we could have stayed longer! It was so great sharing the experience with the Heldoorns and we had a lot of fun playing board games with Vincent and Casper, hoping the local bison didn’t decide to break into the cabin again while we were staying there!

We had another fantastic week back in Osmond catching up with friends before one final weekend adventure away. We were also incredibly fortunate to be treated to an amazing tour and dinner at a family friend’s remarkable project/mansion/property, nicknamed ‘the Castle’ based on its grandeur and intricate craftsmanship over the past 8 years.

As if the adventure could actually stop there, we got to take 4-wheel ATVs out for a ride around a neighbours farmland and down through to the Niorbrara River! This was an amazing experience that truly captured the beauty of northern Nebraska that most (Luke included) have no idea exists beyond the corn. Luke also had a good ol’ fashioned midwestern experience and shot his first gun(s) at soda cans and other targets.

After an epic day of four wheeling and shooting guns, we headed out on the Hodson’s boat for a fun afternoon of tubbing and playing with Kelly & Luella’s grandkids! Who would have thought Nebraska was going to be so much fun!! 😀

It was particularly exciting sharing this weekend with Kelly & Luella’s kids & grandkids. Kinley was born when Jelley was first in NE and now has 2 more younger sisters, and Jel’s first tubing experience was with Addie so it was super fun to relive the action and head out on Kelly’s new boat and nearly dislocate her shoulder trying to hold on. It is surprising how good a 10 year old who spends every summer on the water can get over 7 years !!

Our time in NE came to an end spending a great night in Omaha catching up with Liz and her boyfriend Dallas before we were on our way over to San Francisco and the Bay Area to begin preparations for a one of a kind festival in the Nevada Desert.

We had a fantastic 2 weeks in Nebraska with some of the the most hospitable and wonderful friends and family we have spent time with throughout our travels and can’t wait to see what else the USA has in store for us!

Until then,

A Kiwi & A Cali xoxo

#USA #Backpacking #SouthDakota #Nebraska #Roadtrip #Travel