Niobrara River Experience

The summer of 2008 I spent five weeks out at the ranch getting the house emptied, sorting through over a hundred forty years of family archives, trash, and other interesting things. Labor Day weekend the rest of the family joined me. Kelby said that he had never been down to the river to swim and since this was the last time he would be there let’s all take a break and go swimming. Hayden and Austin loved it. Tam and I sat on the bank and enjoyed the kids while Kelby and Lester waded and kept watch over the boys. Terrill, Kelby’s dog was crazy about the water but Maxwell, my little schnauzer was very frightened. He jumped out and ran through the sandburs. Then he was in worse shape, POOR THING! That was just the beginning. When the men went to leave they had a flat tire and could not get the tire off. I went eight miles back to the ranch for better tools. When I arrived back at the river they had the tire off and were in route to the closest gas station, twelve mile away.


The tire could not be fixed. We ended up having to buy two new tires. So much for a break from our labor...