In April of 2018, we had the opportunity to return to Nebraska for my son's wedding. We pulled the Jeep behind our RV in hopes of finding some off road fun, we loaded hiking gear and both my road bike and my fat bike all of which got very little action. It was very cold and unfriendly the entire time we were there and we spent most days in the RV staying warm and taking long naps. Fortunately, we found time to play with grandchildren and take short walks around Mormon Lake. 

After several days of overcast weather, wind, rain, snow and cold, the weather forecast was promising what I expected to be a glorious sunrise the following day.  Every day I had been listening to the frog like honks of the sandhill cranes as they flew over the lake where our RV was parked.  Every time I drove to town I would see cranes by the thousands in the otherwise empty cornfields.  I started to devise a plan to take a spectacular photo of the cranes in the sunrise. I awoke quietly at 5:00am the next day to clear skies and zero wind. These are two things you rarely have in central Nebraska. I quietly gathered my camera gear and took off in the Jeep to take photos of the cranes in a perfect sunrise.  I was right, the sunrise was glorious but not one sand crane showed up for the photo shoot.  You will see one beautiful picture of Mormon Lake at sunrise here but not a sand crane in sight. I guess there are some things you just can't plan.

Also, I took my granddaughter to a little play area by the lake and she found something buried under the sand.  I was actually scared to uncover it because I feared it was a dead bird. What we discovered was a naked barbie and my granddaughter aptly named the location "Dead Barbie Park". You will see a picture of her shoe as she stood in horror when we uncovered the dead barbie. Oddly enough, she decided to rebury the barbie so she could continue to revisit the grave and continue to exhume the body.