In Alma, Nebraska, we were amazed to find a populated town with an actual coffee shops — the first one we'd seen
since New Mexico. "Get 'Joe Camera and take a photo!"Finally reunited with my sister Jan. We hadn't seen each other in five years!Dinner with Jan, her daughter-in-law Carol, and Carol's son Johnny and daughter Mary.
Praying mantis on the wall at Jan's apartment.On Thursday, Ronnie joined us for lunch, making the drive from her new home
in Omaha with her son DJ and her daughter Kyleigh
Ann.Geeking out with Uncle Dennis.That evening we were invited to meet Tim and Carol in Deweese, a semi-ghost-town in a lush
valley along the Little Blue River. Tim and Carol and their friends have been buying up historic buildings and renovating them, and
have converted a former implement dealership into a summer playground full of salvaged tools, a wood boat, and a bar where the original parts
counter
once stood.The Deweese Yacht Club.Salvaged neon sign from Rock City, Kansas.Dang, I could have had a V8!At the old parts counter in Deweese.We all went to dinner at an astonishingly good restaurant in an old storefront in nearby Fairfield,
Nebraska. Then Dennis and I set up the camper on the site of an old farm along the river on the edge of town. It was a dreamy
location, so quiet and so lush. We got up in the middle of the night to watch the Perseids meteor shower, and we could hear the tinkle of
wind chimes in the distance (I bought a big set of wind chimes for our yard when we got home).Deweese to Lake Texoma
