Blue Ox RV Park, Pender,NE

Date of Stay:  Monday September 5 - Wednesday September 7, 2016 (2 nights)

Rate: Free with service of Blue Ox product (tow bar and Trucenter)

Website:  Blue Ox RV Park
   Industrial Blvd/Mill Road
   Pender, NE 68047
   402-385-3051

Description:  Located in a very small town in northeast Nebraska.  Gravel roads with service sites having FHU (50A) with concrete pads and nicely landscaped.  We were in site 9 near the office/shelter building.  This park is open to the general public but most sites are boon dock only (storage).  Several have FHU but gravel pads.

Trash and Recycle:  Dumpster at the entry but no recycle.

Activities:  We have had a little trouble with our tow bar sticking and the Trucenter has never worked right so we came by the Blue Ox factory for service since we were in the area.  We traded in a damaged tow bar for a much nicer ($) one and the technician rewired the Trucenter.  Nice cg is right next to the factory but nothing to do in this quiet area.  We met up with Vel, Maggie and Dorothy (Maggie’s mom) for shopping and lunch at Mr. Stirfry in Sioux City, IA for a good Chinese Buffet.

 

On site 9

 

Blue Ox Welcome Center

Conestoga Lake State Recreation Area, Lincoln, NE

Date of Stay:  Thursday September 1 – Monday September 5, 2016 (4 nights)

Rate:  $17/night (plus $25 year or $5 day car pass)

Website:  Conestoga Recreation Area State Park (NE)
   3900 NW 105th (HQ)… corner of W Pioneer Blvd and SW 98th Street (CG)
   Lincoln, NE 68524
   402-796-2362

Description:  Located just a bit west of Lincoln, NE.  Gravel road and sites in the rv section with electric only so fill up with fresh water before setting up.  All sites are first come first serve with self check-in.  Most are 30A like ours, site 46, but there are a couple with 50A.  No bath house but a couple of vault toilets,  About 58 sites here with half of them tents only.  Conestoga Lake has been drained and heavy equipment was bulldozing the cove as a lake rehabilitation project.

Trash and Recycle:  Dumpsters at various locations in the cg but no recycle.  Nearby small town of Denton has a county recycle site.

Activities:  Vel and Maggie mentioned that this cg may be quieter for the holiday weekend since the lake was drained so we joined them for a few days.  Gin was experiencing vertigo (MS flare up) so we relaxed and enjoyed spending time with our friends who showed us a bit of downtown Lincoln one day.  At 7:00 one morning, we experienced an earthquake that was centered in Oklahoma.  It felt like someone was pushing on the MH or someone was jumping inside.  The park was very full with extra cars at each site but it was relatively quiet.

 

On site 46

 

Entry/exit                                               Self check-in

 

Conestoga Lake is only a puddle

 

Big equipment was noisy during the work week

Pawnee State Recreation Area (Lake View CG), Lincoln, NE

Date of Stay:  Monday August 22 – Thursday September 1, 2016 (10 nights)

Rate: $20/night (plus $25 year or $5 day car pass)

Website:  Pawnee Recreation Area State Park (NE)
   3900 NW 105th (HQ)… 5301 NW 112th Street (CG)
   Lincoln, NE 68524
   402-796-2362

Description:  Located just a bit west of Lincoln, NE on nice sized Pawnee Lake.  Paved roads and paved sites with a section of first come, first serve sites (about 35 sites or half of the electric ones) with electric only (a few have 50A like ours, site 73).  Our friends Maggie and Vel spend their summers in the area and arrived a couple of days before us to ”hold” our site.  A good water spigot is located just as you enter the camping area and a few others are dispersed in the cg.  The lake was closed due to a toxic algae bloom which meant that is was a little quieter than normal.  The nice dump station is located a couple of miles down the road near the Park Office.  There are a couple of day use areas located on the lake also with boat ramps.  A large tent only area (50 sites) is located next to the lake and there is only one bath house in the park in the RV loop with high pressure showers.  The cg is self registration.

Trash and Recycle:  Dumpsters at various locations in the cg but no recycle.  The town of Lincoln has a recycle site on W. O St. right beside a Dairy Queen that takes about everything.  We took advantage of that.  Also one in the nearby small town of Malcolm.

Activities:  We enjoyed hanging out with Vel and Maggie and getting a taste of their home town of Lincoln.  That taste included Runza, Famous Dave’s, and Valentino’s Pizza.  We had a cook out at the cg with their friends Joni, Ingrid, Barb, Jeff and Sheryl.  It was good to get to know them and put a face to a name.  I enjoyed walking the dogs with Vel several times.

 

Site 73 has a nice patio

 

Maggie and Vel were just a couple of sites from us

 

Old tree trunk was carved as an Indian

 

Entry/exit                                                Nice tent site

 

Pawnee Lake                                         Tent sites on the lake

 

Horses are popular here