It was a nice day for a drive today. We had partly cloudy skies and good roads all day. Our first stop today was at the Nebraska State Fair, primarily to see the quilts that are on display there. There are 662 quilts on display. There were so many that the large quilts have to be hung overlapping.
This quilt was made by two grandmothers for their (our) granddaughter Anne. No awards, but we think it should have won something. After all it is our granddaughter (right, Janiece)!
Some other quilts your author liked. I like this optical illusion done in a quilt.
The quilt on the right is one of Katie’s and won a second place ribbon. it is an African sun-dyed fabric closely quilted on the machine.
Some other pictures from around the fair.
The Midway
The People Mover and some of the buildings used for various exhibits.
And of course just a few of the many food vendors. You name it and it was probably available either on a stick or deep fat fried!
From the fair we drove to North Platte. North Platte was once called Hell on Wheels when it was first founded as a railroad town during the construction of the transcontinental railroad. The Union Pacific is still a major employer with the largest train yard in the US. You can see the Bailey Yard in operation from the Golden Spike Tower. From here you can see “more trains than you can keep track of”. It has two classification humps where they change the makeup of freight trains. Each car rolls down a gentle incline and connects onto the proper train. In addition they do minor and major maintenance work on their engines. Some views from the tower.
Part of the engine maintenance yard and classification yard.
Engine Maintenance building.
View east of the rail yard. This picture also shows a typical corn field….another major industry in Nebraska.
The yard is 7 miles long and 2 miles wide. It operates 24 hours a day. The tower has other displays and a nice gift shop. Worth a stop if you are in the area.
We also visited the the 20th Century Veterans Memorial. Located just south of Interstate 80, this is a park that honors veterans from the wars of the 20th Century. That includes, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and Operation Desert Storm. The centerpiece is the carved brick wall that depicts these wars.
In addition there is a memorial to the ladies that served so many soldiers at the North Platte Canteen from 1941 to 1946
In included this bronze statue
Tomorrow we are off to Colorado and a visit with one of Monty’s cousins. We are looking forward to seeing and driving through mountains again.
I really can't believe the judges didn't see the "best of show" for our Double Love II quilt, Katie!!! Glad you two are enjoying your adventure. Internet is sporadic for us so we're just now catching up with you. Love the 20th Century Veteran's Memorial ... will have to check that one out. See you one of these days ... when we're actually in the same state at the same time! Love ... Garey & Janiece
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