We (or at least Scott) woke up early at Manawa Lake, but Tom, then Anthony followed, we ate breakfast and hit the road by 8:30AM.  It helped that we had loaded the bikes the night before, and hitched up the Polo as well.  Off to Moon Lake Ranch in Northern Nebraska.  This ranch belongs to a friend of Scott’s, who offered it when he heard we were heading North from Kissimmee.  On the dates we were in the area the manager was unavailable, but his son Beau and daughter-in-law Kelsey were drafted to show us around. 

We were warned that cell service was a bit spotty, but learned what this meant when Google Maps cut out on a pretty secondary road (Moon Lake Road.)  We managed to find the ranch entrance anyway, and there were no turns we needed to find anyway.

The place is amazing.  We drove through a heard of Bison coming to our campsite, which is a small house surrounded by ranch equipment.  We were very fortunate to be able to use the laundry and bathroom facilities, which made “dry camping” here much easier than other locations like Harvest Host or Walmart/Cracker Barrel.  Beau stuck around to make sure we knew where everything was, then left to do some work.  We unhooked the jeep and explored the ranch, seeing prairie dogs, Bison, Elk, a turtle, a turkey, mules, and more.  We came back elated and anxious for a more formal tour with Kelsey.

Dinner was elaborate and delicious – grilled chicken and hot dogs (Tom,) Mashed Potatoes in the Instant Pot (Scott,)  grilled onions (Anthony) microwaved green beans (Tom,) and sliced tomatoes (Tom).  By far the most elaborate meal we cooked so far – we’ve been eating most of our dinners at restaurants and eating leftovers for lunch.

It is now 8:30PM and Anthony – and Scott – are thinking about bedtime.  Tom – who always does the bulk of the work – is planning side trips for Thursday – maybe a day stop at the badlands?