Day Seven

When you wake up with Zoey scratching at your door, you know it’s going to be a good day. A cold day, to be sure, as low as –5 this morning, but I wore four layers with long underwear, wool socks, and a sweet hat from Nepal. One thing I’ve learned out here on the panhandle: Nature matters.

Today we jumped right into that theme from the get-go, stopping at a family farm where creation is in full view.


This stop was kind of special for me: I have grandparents in northwestern Iowa (hi Papa and Grandma if you’re reading this); we often visited their friends who lived on farms, and this farm was so similar to those that it brought back memories from visits long ago. There are more cattle here instead of pigs, some of the equipment is different, but that feel of being inside a family farmhouse with really friendly people who have lots of stories to tell…that sense was just the same somehow. We enjoyed brownies and cookies and some delicious cinnamon coffee before being on our way.

From there we headed out to Ogallala, once called the “Gomorrah of the West” for its abundance of brothels and bars and lack of church steeples. Ogallala’s a bit more tame now, but the Ogallala Livestock Auction is still going strong.


We walked along the catwalk and watched the cattle being herded around by cowboys (real live cowboys! yes we’re urban nerds alright), then headed inside to experience the actual sales. Doors open on the right, cattle rush in and walk around in circles while the auctioneer does his thing, and then the doors open on the left and the cattle rush out…then it starts all over again.


At the auction Kent, our fearless Nebraskan leader, ran into his brother. Either Kent has them all planted for effect, or finding friends and family at every turn seems to be a common theme out here…either way, it’s pretty cool.

We grabbed some lunch (or dinner, I suppose) before making our way to Lake McConaughy. That’s right, there’s a lake in western Nebraska. I wouldn’t have believed it either! Look, I have pictures to prove it.


And here’s the ridiculously awesome thing about Lake McConaughy – they have bald eagles! Let me repeat that: They. Have. Bald. Eagles! In Nebraska!


We used the binoculars at the viewing station to enjoy some stunning views of our national bird sitting in trees and soaring through the sky, and even took digital pictures through the scoping lenses. (Stephen Colbert would be so proud of us right now.)


After our wildlife tour we drove along the Platte River, stopping to check out little country churches along the way, until we arrived at Berea Evangelical Lutheran Church, otherwise known as “the Swedish church.” (And right now my Swedish neighbors back home would be so proud of us.)



Berea is part of the Tri-County Parish, a four-point (I think) parish consisting of smaller outlying country churches like itself. For being a small parish out in the country, we were surprised to find new ELW hymnals filling the pews. We were not surprised to find fresh hot coffee, though the brownie with ice cream and chocolate syrup was pretty awesome even by the high hospitality standards we’ve already encountered out here. We had a good discussion, but had to hop in the car again because the night was far from over.


You see, this is the weekend of the Minuteman Activities Conference basketball tournament, hosted by the Creek Valley Storm. The Creek Valley Storm has pretty much one of the coolest mascot logos ever. It’s a cyclone or tornado with angry eyes. Their fans call themselves the Creek Valley “Storm Chasers.” That’s just too cool for words. Despite all of this it was hard for us to cheer for Creek Valley, because Kent had a niece playing for Leyton, Creek Valley’s opposing team in the girls bracket, and then I think a nephew playing for another team in the boys bracket…it’s hard to keep track. It’s a rural cliché that everybody’s connected, but how do you manage that when they’re all on opposing basketball teams? Now there’s a real rural ministry question. In any case, the Leyton Lady Warriors beat Creek Valley in a comeback overtime thriller. Back at LSTC Thursday night is basketball night, so Adam and I were thrilled to get our fix, at least from the stands, at the MAC tourney.

From there we headed back to Sidney, where we were to enjoy wine and cheese with Pastor Schambach and his wife Betty. Wine and cheese? Apparently they didn’t get the message, because they lavished us with all sorts of delicious goodies and assorted drinks, including a fantastic North Carolina-style barbecue. (Zach, you should be so jealous right now – this was really good stuff!) We enjoyed conversation and fellowship in their warm and beautiful home until it was time even for Kent, our Energizer bunny of a leader, to call it quits. Another day done.


MCK