We were here at the Blue Ox factory to get a tow bar manufactured for our new VW Jetta. The company itself appeared to be very well run. We arrived on Monday of Memorial Day weekend and found ourselves in a small campground directly next to the factory. It was obviously a new site- new landscaping, gravel sites – except for one beautiful concrete pad with a gas grill, beautiful trees and shrubs and a brand new Essex sitting on it. Wondering how one got the “cat-bird” spot, we asked the very friendly receptionist, Rhonda, the following day. Her answer, “You have to own the company”…. The Essex belongs to the owner of Blue OX. After giving us a little welcome gift, we met with Steven from engineering. He explained the process (it would take about 3 days during which time, they would design the plate for our Jetta, built it, paint it, install it and also videotape the install and make a master for future use). Then, he handed us the keys to a Honda for our use during the next few days and offered us a factory tour. Never one to pass up a factory tour, we walked through their operation which includes both tow bar manufacturing and some minor farm equipment manufacturing. It was quite interesting to see the complexity of the tow bar industry and all the variability due to all the car models. Day 1 and it was only noon and we’d already done the factory tour. Rhonda directed us to the three options for lunch- two in Pender and one in the next town of Brewster. We opted for the field trip to Brewster with a stop at the state historical site honoring the poet laureate of Nebraska who had lived in Brewster for a period of time. As John always says, “The steepest slope is the expert run”. We had lunch at the Pub Café – the Tuesday special: BBque chicken, green bean casserole, potato salad and a doughy white roll with butter. The only thing missing was the jello salad. The average age of the patrons was probably 65, most of them old farmers. We returned to the Essex wondering how we’d spend Days 2 and 3.
On Wednesday, we decided to head to Omaha for a Mormon experience. Winter Quarters was about the last stop on the Mormon trail for us. We had seen most of the other major sites last summer and this gave us the chance to see one more LDS movie and meet some more new friends trolling for our souls. Winter Quarters is now a northern suburb of Omaha, but for the Mormons, it was the gathering point for the "Saints" when they were thrown out of Nauvoo, Illinois. Here they gathered before the long trek across the plains and the Rocky Mountains to get to "Zion"--today known as Salt Lake City, Utah. Well, we drove the 1 1/2 hours into Omaha and walked into the Winter Quarters Visitors Center. We were met by "Sister Jessup", a very comely young LDS missionary. Now, it's not often that you get such a good looking LDS female missionary. Typically, they're the 21 year old females in the church that haven't snagged a husband and started having babies. Well, Sister Jessup was a hottie...... So anyway, we got the standard LDS movie and then were met for our private tour of the museum/visitor center. It was actually very well done and Sister Jessup was quite knowledgeable. We made a stop in the library to see if we could find any additional Spencer history and lo and behold found another amazing story. Daniel Jr had brought most of his family into the church and we had heard references to Augustine, the “black sheep” of the family. It turns out that Augustine had brought the charges against Joseph Smith that forced his arrest and incarceration in the Carthage jail (where he was murdered). Sister Jessup took this news without flinching…although, we could imagine the stories she would tell after we left.
We had one more stop on our Mormon pilgrimage- a trip to Council Bluffs and the tabernacle where Brigham Young was confirmed as the second President of the Church. We got another LDS movie- this time about the Mormon Brigade and another personal tour of the tabernacle.
On Wednesday, we decided to head to Omaha for a Mormon experience. Winter Quarters was about the last stop on the Mormon trail for us. We had seen most of the other major sites last summer and this gave us the chance to see one more LDS movie and meet some more new friends trolling for our souls. Winter Quarters is now a northern suburb of Omaha, but for the Mormons, it was the gathering point for the "Saints" when they were thrown out of Nauvoo, Illinois. Here they gathered before the long trek across the plains and the Rocky Mountains to get to "Zion"--today known as Salt Lake City, Utah. Well, we drove the 1 1/2 hours into Omaha and walked into the Winter Quarters Visitors Center. We were met by "Sister Jessup", a very comely young LDS missionary. Now, it's not often that you get such a good looking LDS female missionary. Typically, they're the 21 year old females in the church that haven't snagged a husband and started having babies. Well, Sister Jessup was a hottie...... So anyway, we got the standard LDS movie and then were met for our private tour of the museum/visitor center. It was actually very well done and Sister Jessup was quite knowledgeable. We made a stop in the library to see if we could find any additional Spencer history and lo and behold found another amazing story. Daniel Jr had brought most of his family into the church and we had heard references to Augustine, the “black sheep” of the family. It turns out that Augustine had brought the charges against Joseph Smith that forced his arrest and incarceration in the Carthage jail (where he was murdered). Sister Jessup took this news without flinching…although, we could imagine the stories she would tell after we left.
We had one more stop on our Mormon pilgrimage- a trip to Council Bluffs and the tabernacle where Brigham Young was confirmed as the second President of the Church. We got another LDS movie- this time about the Mormon Brigade and another personal tour of the tabernacle.
Our 3 Day adventure at Blue Ox turned into a 3.5 day adventure. Finally, at about 1:00 on Friday afternoon, our new friend, Steven, called to tell us that the tow bar was ready. We quickly packed up and hustled over to the parking lot of Blue Ox to get the bar attached and get on the road. We got on the road at 2:30, hoping to make the 6 hour drive to Minneapolis. Two hours into the drive and we knew it was a fruitless exercise. We decided to stop at a Walmart at 5:30 and enjoy what was left of our evening.
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