The day started with wind and a light drizzle of rain. Baxter had a much better night and we all slept most of the way through.
Our original plan was to head west to Omaha and then north to Sioux Falls and Sioux City in South Dakota. However, the heavy snow storm to the north of us was creating havoc for those in Manitoba and all the way south into the Dakotas. After looking at the Windy weather app Doug had told me, we could see a low pressure area to the north of us that was creating this massive storm. As a result we decided our best bet was to keep as far away from that low pressure area as possible, so we decided to head west through Omaha and travel the width of Nebraska. This would keep us out of the rain and possible snow forecast for the Sioux Falls region.
One major problem the storm did create for us was a heavy west wind that we had to drive into the entire distance. We set our driving goal as North Platte in Nebraska, and away we went.
The forecast was correct. The wind was quite strong, at least 35 to 40 MPH, and several points along I-80 had digital signs warning of severe wind gusts. The truck worked hard as we were driving almost directly into the wind. Gas consumption went way up and our stops were frequent - with gas consumption of about 9 US gallons per hour. As we passed from Iowa into Nebraska you could see the similarities with the landscape at home. Many more trees than we have, but lots of wide open country. You could see why this was considered the bread basket of America. Besides corn we noticed a lot of other crops, many that we couldn't identify. However, we did notice fields of pumpkins. In one place I saw what I estimated at over a hundred acres of pumpkins - little orange dots covering the field. How do they harvest those?
Although the worst part of the trip was the wind, we also discovered that there was absolutely no service for our T-Mobile based cell phones. No Wi-Fi or cell! We felt "disconnected" and seemed to add to the monotony of the drive.
Just before dark we arrived at a campground on the east side of North Platte called the I-80 Lakeside Campground. The campground is listed as year round, and we found a note on the office door indicating "find your own site, self-register and drop payment in the lock box". The rate was $25 for a serviced site or $15 to dry camp. They provided a map showing about 20 sites that were setup for year round use, complete with heat tapes on the water taps. It was going to be a cold night so we selected one of the serviced sites, filled out the form with our payment and setup for the night. We never did see anyone who might be an owner or manager, but I noticed just before going to bed I noticed a truck drive in, stop at the office, and then drive away. I assumed that was the manager picking up the days proceeds from the lock box.
The only service not provided was Wi-Fi! As throughout the day we were totally disconnected. We could see the free Wi-Fi coming across from the Love's Travel Center (gas station) that was nearby, but the signal wasn't strong enough for us to use. Before our next trip I'm going to set myself up with something like a Wifi Ranger!
We were confident of keeping warm overnight, thankful that we had purchased a travel trailer with a cold weather package. However, I was a little concerned about 3 little drain lines protruding out the bottom of the trailer. The 2 at the rear of the trailer were for blowing out the lines below the hot water heater. The 1 near the front was for draining the fresh water tank. Just to be safe I crawled under the trailer and wrapped these pipes with cloth (some socks and a wash cloth). I also disconnected the water line from the heated hydrant.