Week 41: Chasing Cool Air, Farmer's Markets & Lucky Goes to the Groomer
- Karen Kuhl
- 11 minutes ago
- 5 min read
August 8 – August 14 | Wamego, KS (100s) → Sterling, NE (90s) → Lincoln, NE (80s)
Where We Stayed
Short-Term Rental, Sterling, NE (Sunday through Wednesday)
Camp-A-Way, Lincoln, NE (Thursday through Saturday)
Take 16 Brewery, Luverne, MN (Sunday)
Heading North
We left Wichita in good spirits. We had spent three days in air-conditioned comfort, which had done wonders for our morale and our relationship. Before we got back on the road, we did a little shopping. Don bought new sandals; his had fully given up. I bought a small runner carpet for the bus. We gave our three floor cushions to the mobile mechanic who fixed Skuhlie in Custer (Don offered them when he saw the mechanic lying on cardboard in the hail to work under the bus, and then offered to let him keep them, because Don is a good person). The bus floor had been bare and slippery ever since, which was hard on Lucky for jumping on and off the sofa. The carpet is small; I forgot to measure before buying it, and it is cute but covers only half of the floor space. We continued on to Wamego, KS, which I had chosen on the re-route because it was en route and has a whole Wizard of Oz theme: Toto sculptures around town, a Wizard of Oz museum, a Yellow Brick Road. We saw none of it. We arrived; it was brutally hot, the AC couldn't keep up, and we were cranky and done. We've spent more money this month than we planned, and I've made peace with that, because every dollar spent has been to get us north and out of this heat. On our way to Wamego, we stopped at a farmer's market, and I got fresh sweet corn; I'd been craving it a while.
Sterling, Nebraska & the Bullfrogs
I booked us another short-term rental, this time in Sterling, Nebraska. Two more hours north got us five degrees cooler. I will take every single degree. The cabin in Sterling was exactly what we needed. Ten minutes from the nearest intersection with a gas station, surrounded by agricultural Nebraska, completely isolated, and completely peaceful. A small lake nearby was full of bullfrogs, and I loved listening to them. I loved watching them hop across the water like skipping rocks, scattering when we got too close. The owners also had two calm, friendly horses that greeted us each morning. Do yourself a favor and watch the video above if you haven't, it makes us giggle.
I spent the time trip planning the final stretch of our year. I found a workshop for Don in Missouri, a distillery near Minneapolis that makes aquavit, and made arrangements to see Raquel and one of Don's coworkers in Iowa. The end of the trip is taking shape, which gives me complicated feelings I haven't fully sorted out yet. A fun sidenote: we technically reached 70 degrees this week. Only by running the AC inside the cabin. But it should count, right?
Lincoln, Nebraska
When we arrived in Lincoln, our first order of business was Lucky. I've been grooming her on the road, prioritizing her paws and behind to keep the goat heads and sticky plants from causing problems. Lately she's been much less tolerant of my attempts, and with the heat, she really needed a proper professional grooming. I'd been wanting to get it done since North Dakota, but we'd been in too-remote areas without services. Lincoln had options. I found one with same-day availability, biked Lucky there, and dropped her off.
While Lucky was being attended to, I took the nearby trail into downtown Lincoln and visited RayGun, described on Instagram as the antithesis of Trump Stores and billed as "The Greatest Store in the Universe." I knew I had to go. It delivered. When I picked Lucky up, the groomer reported that she had been "naughty." This is the polite version of what another groomer once told us: "She turned into Cujo on me." Lucky has three teeth, so the damage is limited, but the attitude is unlimited. She is an old, crotchety lady, and her mood on any given day is genuinely unpredictable. They were very kind about it and said that despite the naughtiness, she is clearly a sweet dog. We appreciate the grace.
Our campsite in Lincoln was lovely; we had shade, and for the first time in weeks we sat outside in our chairs like normal people. The heat was still in the high 80s with a humid real feel in the 90s, but it felt like a gift compared to where we'd been. We got pizza delivered from the campground store, and we met a nice couple who are just getting started in vanlife. I wish them the best of experiences and the mildest of struggles.
One side note on the humidity: it was SO humid that our portable AC condensation drain line filled our collection pot and overflowed. We had a wet floor more than once before I switched to using our dish bucket. The bus finds new ways to keep us on our toes every week. We learned about corn sweat in Nebraska; apparently, plants sweat as much water as they take in, and corn needs a lot of water to grow, so it sweats a lot, increasing the humidity. Is this a fact? I don't know, but it sure made me sweat.
We drove to Abi's family's house before dinner. Lucky met Indy, their dog, and they got along beautifully, even playing together for a bit. Lucky played. This is notable.
Dinner was at Haymarket, a popular and vibrant area of Lincoln, with Jack, Beau, Erin, and Ryan. We stayed another hour at their house after dinner watching the dogs play. It was a genuinely fun evening, and I'm glad we made the time for it.
Saturday morning, we went to the Lincoln farmers market, which was much bigger than the one in Wichita. We walked around, bought vegetables, whiskey, and other local things, and had lunch at a brewery right in the middle of the market area. The brewery was dog-friendly (BringFido delivers again), and the staff was wonderful with Lucky. We watched the vendors pack up their booths with impressive efficiency.
When we parked the bus nearby, a city bus driver pulled up next to us in a short bus and jokingly called out: "Wanna trade?" That led to a fifteen-minute conversation and a tour of Skuhlie. These are some of our favorite moments on this trip: the spontaneous connections that come from living in something people are curious about.
We made it back to the campground for Don to catch up with his family during the Sloth Family Reunion. Don was disappointed we weren't there to celebrate with everyone, but it was a nice opportunity for him to chat with his siblings and mom while everyone was together.
On to Minnesota
Sunday was a 4.5-hour drive through four states: Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, and into Minnesota. We'll be back to properly explore Iowa in about a month. We stopped for the night at a Harvest Host brewery in Luverne, MN: great beer, a wonderful community of proud regulars, a great patio with live music and a food truck run by a family from Iowa, parked at a Minnesota brewery and serving Chicago-style food. Multi-state collaboration, bus-trip style. The best part: we finally found 70ºF again! The weather was true perfection.
Next up: Exploring Minnesota, a land of 10,000 lakes.
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