Wandering Grand Island, Nebraska

We are camping in Grand Island, Nebraska, because we found a couple factory tours in town. But we ended up finding so much more as we wandered all over this little city. That wandering brought us to the state fairgrounds where two different groups were gathering. It was opening day of the "Classic Green Reunion" where John Deere owners brought their old tractors from all over the country. We saw lines of John Deere green tractors, some of which were for sale. Others were works of love that had been refurbished and were now displayed to make other attendees green with envy.

At the information desk we found that the fairgrounds is also hosting the National Boer Goat show. So we wandered into the livestock paddock to figure out what that meant.

Boer goats are raised for their meat, and their breeders have come from all over the country to determine who has raised the very best boer goats this year. We saw elaborate displays set up by exhibitors, showing off their past success. Many of the owners' booths offered snacks and drinks to entice people to stop to see their goats.

We saw ribbons displayed over boer goats with names like "All Prettied Up" and "Miss Bad Bunny." Then we realized that this wasn't just any show--we were at the NATIONAL boer goat show.

When we approached the arena, we didn't understand exactly what we were seeing. That's when one of the owners invited us to sit down at her table, and she explained the process of judging at this national show. This group of 40 female goats were paraded into the ring by their owners, and the judges in red jackets selected the top ten to move to the center.

Then the judges concentrated on those top ten. They felt their muscles, measured their necks, and watched how the goats moved.

Then they put those top ten into order from first to tenth for ribbons. But during the judging, our new friend also told us her goat story. She described how she and her husband added goats into their cattle operation, and lamented all the expenses of going to goat shows on the national level. One unexpected expense was when we found out that the table she invited us to sit at cost them $500 during this week of shows.

This gentleman is receiving the blue ribbon for his national champion boer goat in her division. We found there are divisions based on age and weight and sex. We also learned that 2,100 goats from all over the country made the trip to Grand Island for this big show that we didn't even know existed until we wandered into it today.

While wandering the Nebraska state fairgrounds we found--you guessed it--the world's largest overalls. Sewn in the 1930s, this 22-foot-long pair of overalls have been hanging out in Nebraska for almost 90 years.

Denisa had read about another exhibit at the state fairgrounds, so we stopped in to see "Raising Nebraska." We were immediately impressed with the big displays designed to teach visitors (and Nebraska residents) about things grown in this state.

We learned lots of things, so we'll share some of them with you:

After going on a combine factory tour, and wearing her hat from the bullet factory, Denisa drove the combine simulator through a field of corn.

Then we learned about chickens in the poultry section of "Raising Nebraska." Have you ever wondered why some eggs are white and others brown?

We milked the mechanical cow and learned about dairies, and the amount of milk each cow produces every day!

While we watched some educational agriculture videos, we should point out that the bench Mark is sitting on is made from other Nebraska products--corn, soybeans, wheat, sorghum, and dry beans.

Hats off to Nebraska wheat farmers so we can eat all those sandwiches!

We were really impressed with the fun displays in this free stop at the state fairgrounds. Good job, Nebraska! Our next stop took us a few miles outside of town to the Crane Trust Nature and Visitor Center. If we were here during the month of March, we could have seen 500,000 sand hill cranes that stop here on the Platte River to rest on their long migration north.

Denisa snapped a picture of a picture of these four-foot-tall birds at the visitor center. We've seen them in south Texas in the winter, but they fly up to 500 miles each day to get back to their breeding grounds up north in the spring. They love the shallow water of the Platte River for a rest stop and to gain strength for the remainder of the trip. It must be quite a sight to see half a million sand hill cranes landing right here!

They also have a genetically pure bison herd on the land surrounding the river. We didn't see any on our walk outside, but Denisa took a picture of these two big bulls inside.

While we were wandering around town, we found another interesting description in a local tourist magazine.  It read, "A Grand Island automobile sculptor named Fred Schritt created a garden of fantastic flying cartoon cars."

We didn't know what to expect from that description, but this is what we found. This guy was very talented!

We saw the cars on our way to the Friday evening session of "Hear Grand Island." They close down several streets downtown to host food trucks and live music. What a nice way to end our day in this likable little city!

When we got home, we had just enough daylight to take a walk on the bike/hike trail that goes through our campground. The Stuhr Museum is just across the field from our campground. It is made up of restored old buildings that have been moved to this central location so people could explore them.

Denisa has been admiring that old church from a distance, and this trail brought it close enough for pictures. That dramatic cloud reminds us that we are also wandering God's wonders here in Grand Island, Nebraska today!