June 6, 2025 - June 13, 2025 -- HH Living History Farms, IA to Eugene T. Mahoney State Park, NE to HH Our Lavender Co. Farm, NE
Pies 1007-1015
Written By: Wendy
I feel terrible saying this being a born and raised midwestern myself, but we didn't have a strong reason to linger in the cornfields of Iowa and Nebraska, so we flew through them pretty quickly to make it to the holy land of Colorado. Our first stop was at a Harvest Host in Urbandale, Iowa. We parked in the parking lot of Living History Farms, and as with all our Harvest Host stays, we were pleasantly surprised. We spent two nights there, so we were able to dedicate all of Saturday to checking out the living history museum. They had replicas of 3 traditional Iowa farms, one from 1750, one from 1850, and one from early 1900s. It was fascinating to see the changes in farming practices and the homes throughout the centuries. After seeing those, it started to rain, so we went home in the parking lot (the joys of RV living!) for lunch. After the rain passed, we went back to walk around their 1850s town. It was reminiscent of Williamsburg, and we all enjoyed walking in and out of the old shops and learning about the printer, broom maker, and apothecary.
The next morning we continued our journey west and made it Eugene T. Mahoney State Park, located just outside of Omaha. It was a huge state park with a nice campground and large sites. We spent a very relaxing and rejuvenating 4 nights there. The campground had lakes, playgrounds, tons of trails, and a water park, so we hardly had reason to leave. It gave us an opportunity to slow down a bit for those days. Scott and Parker did venture into Omaha one day to have some famous Omaha steaks and bring some home while Caroline and I relaxed at the campground having a down day while she fought off a slight fever.
Our last midwestern stop was right on the border of Nebraska and Colorado at another Harvest Host, Our Lavender Co. in Big Springs, Nebraska. We were only there for one night, but the family was incredibly gracious. They had a slough of grandkids so there were ample toys including a trampoline, swings, and a play set that they let our kids play on. The farm was beautiful with the lavender just beginning to bloom and rolling cornfields in the background as far as the eye could see. As we went to bed that night, we watched a large and furious hail storm approach over the plains and then hit us head on with heavy rain and golfball size hail. We knew that was our cue to get out of the midwest and its unpredictable weather. We'd had enough of that this spring.
The next morning we said our good byes and gave the owners some pies and in return, they gave us some freshly baked large cinnamon rolls that were absolutely delicious and the perfect car snack for a long travel day.