Last fall I posted a blog about the first day of our two-day trip to the northeast part of our state and promised that I would post about our adventures on the second day in the near future. I guess “near future” is a relative term as I fully expected to post that report much sooner than four months later. Oh well! There were just too many other things to talk about in the meantime.
Day two began with what turned out to be the highlight of the trip - a stop at Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park near Royal. We arrived about the same time as a bus full of middle school students from Harrington-Newcastle. At first we were a little apprehensive about being there at the same time but it ended up being a good thing. We followed along on their tour and learned a lot about the site and the fossils that have been found there. It was so interesting to see the fossils and the work that is being done to undercover more in the Rhino Barn. To think that these fossils have been discovered in Nebraska is just amazing. It makes it a must-see destination for every Nebraskan.
Next we traveled to Neleigh to tour the Neleigh Flour Mill. We had a very knowledgeable guide on our personal tour of all four floors of the mill.
Next on the itinerary were two stops in Norfolk. The first was at 4th Street Sweets - a nice little candy store where they make their own chocolates. We each picked out a small candy to enjoy and purchased a bag of chocolate-covered caramel popcorn to take home.
The second stop in Norfolk was just around the corner from the candy store - I Bee Quiltin’ - a stop in the Quilt Passport. In that store I purchased some fabric from the Sincerely Yours collection by Sherri and Chelsea to make a pillowcase to match the quilt that I’m making for Ruby.
Next we headed to Clarkson to Sandhills Boutique - a cute store filled with fun clothes for all members of the family. I came home with two tops that I have worn a lot since the weather has turned colder.
We did a drive-by stamp in Schuyler at Goldmine Antiques on our way to three stops in Columbus. We would have been interested in stopping at this shop but they were not open.
Our first stop in Columbus was Terrace Books located in a rather run-down section of town. It was a nice store that had a wide selection of children’s books. We purchased a new book by Tom Osborne called The Legacy of Leadership.
Our second stop was at Claus’en Paus Quilt Shop in downtown Columbus in a unique old building - another stop on the Quilt Passport. There I purchased two yards of patriotic backing for my Quilt of Valor group to use.
Our last stop of the day was another Quilt Passport stop - Sew What Needle Arts & Quilting. This store is jam packed with all sorts of crafting items. I purchased some thread, buttons, and fat quarters. Even though I had previously been to each of the quilt shops during our travels today, it was fun to collect stamps for the Passport and do some quilty shopping.
So on this second day we collected six stamps on the Nebraska Tourism Passport and three stamps on the Quilt Passport. All in all we made 13 Nebraska Tourism Passport stops, one Nebraska Wine Passport stop, and six Quilt Shop Passport stops - a total of 577.8 miles. It was fun to get away even if it was only for a short time. And we saw another beautiful part of our state.