11 Jul 2023 - Post-Hail, Fort Cody Trading Post/Museum, Golden Spike Tower

 

Doreen petting the "fluffy cow"!

This morning we assessed the damage from the previous night's hail storm.  The truck has about 30 hail dings on it of various sizes, but no broken glass.  The trailer does not have any damage that I can see.  A decal on front cap has a ding on it, but I cannot be sure that did not come from a big bug or rock.  The broken cover on our Maxxair fan appears to be from heat/age.  The vent fan has a big cover over the top of it and there were no penetrations, so the cracked cover did not come from a hail stone.

I spend a couple hours inspecting the truck and the trailer (from the roof), documenting everything and texting/conversing with State Farm who insures all of our vehicles.  It is a pretty simple process and we have a year to start it.  When we get back this fall, I will take the truck to our favorite body shop for an estimate and then State Farm will initiate a claim.  I have $250 deductible on the truck.  So, easy peezy, and they can work wonders with the paintless dent removal.  So we hope the storms stay away from now on!  While I was doing that Doreen knocked out a couple loads of laundry at the facility just 50 meters from here.

After lunch we headed out to visit the Fort Cody Trading Post and Old West Museum.  It is only a couple miles from our campground.  

Ironic that we would come to a Buffalo Bill Cody venue as he was born Feb 26, 1846 near Le Claire Iowa, which is in eastern Iowa close to the Mississippi River.  He hunted buffalo to feed the Kansas-Pacific railway and became known as 'Buffalo Bill'  in 1867.  He scouted for the Fifth Cavalry in 1868 and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1872.  Buffalo Bill made North Platte his home from 1878-1913 and built Scout's Rest Ranch in 1886.  He also started the world's first organized rodeo right here in North Platte on July 4, 1882.  The following year he started his 'Wild West' show here.  Buffalo Bill died Jan 10, 1917 and was buried atop Lookout Mountain near Denver CO.

We entered the Trading Post with the impression it was just going to be another....

But as we entered we were pleasantly surprised there was no admission!  Ah, good to go!  The Trading Post building is part souvenir shop and part museum.  There is a lot of candies, canned goods, and you name it.  

Bullwinkle checking our Doreen!

Pickled everything and anything you can think of!

They have western wear, hats, toy guns, shirts, bull horns, jewelry and other "toys" LOL ...

Whatcha gonna do with that, Nana?!

Atta boy!  The State beer of Texas!

Besides all the stuff for sale, the walls were lined with historical items.  Stuffed animals, firearms, artifacts from Buffalo Bill and others.  

Behind the store they have a western display with Conestoga wagons, a 'jail',  and other western items.  

In the back of the Trading Post they have a complete Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show in miniature, and many of the pieces are animated!   

We departed Fort Cody and drove a few miles a few miles to the Golden Spike Tower.  This tower provides the best view overlooking Bailey Yard, the world's largest classification rail yard. 

The tower has an outside observation deck on the seventh floor and an inside observation deck on the eighth floor that allows you to watch as crews from the Union Pacific  Railroad "sort and connect over 10,000 cars a day on two classification hump yards, with nearly 120 bowl rows and 315 tracks."  So all of that is a bit hard to digest, but upon arrival at the Golden Spike and paying a modest admission fee, you watch an introductory video that makes it a lot clearer. 

 On the same bottom level is a gift shop and some historical displays that help us to understand more about the significance of North Platte and the Union Pacific Railway.  

We took the elevator up to the eighth floor and walked around the enclosed observation deck.  This gave us a great view of the Bailey Railyard, and it is massive!  They repair rail cars and locomotive engines here.  They also sort cars by type in the hump yard

We then proceeded down to the seventh floor which is an outside observation deck.  As we exited, we passed displays that highlight how North Platte was a location where troops passed through on the way to fight in World War II.  The North Platte Canteen was a volunteer effort to feed troops who came through North Platte, Nebraska on the train. "The canteen was a lunch counter at the Union Pacific Railroad station where volunteers provided food, cigarettes, and magazines to soldiers. The North Platte Canteen was one of approximately 120 community-based canteens in the United States during World War II, and was by far the largest, serving more than six million service members during a 10-minute stop as they were convoyed across the United States. The canteen operated from Christmas Day 1941 to April 1, 1946, well after World War II ended."

Back on the ground we walked around outside near the State's Flags, which included a plaque that listed the number of miles of Union Pacific rail lines in each state.  

On our way to the parking lot we passed a Union Pacific "Golden Spike" railcar with pictures in the windows to illustrate how it might have looked when it was full of passengers.

That is it for today.  Tomorrow we plan to visit the Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park.