Zig-Zagin'

Hamilton County

On Thursday July 29th, we ventured to Aurora for the Hamilton County Fair. Upon our arrival, the 4-H bake sale was taking place where we purchased homemade monkey bread! Yummy! We had the opportunity to chat with a local 4-Her who was a member of a Hamilton County 4-H Club that received one of the Governor’s Ag Excellence Awards given out by our office!

While discussing the various Hamilton County 4-H activities, we learned that they have almost 60 Clover Kids!! The Hamilton County Junior Leaders Club along with their Extension Assistant Kae Russell hosted 4 workshops for the Clover Kids. They also held several other workshops for all 4-H members. Kae hosted an embroidery workshop that brought in 27 Hamilton County 4-H Members along with 6 boys! They also held a workshop where 4-Hers made dresses for children in Hattii to help with the disaster relief.




Polk County

We left Aurora around mid afternoon and headed up and over to Osceola to the Polk County Fair! We got to set up shop right next to the free barbeque sponsored by the Polk County Fairboard. For entertainment, a local artist Ashton Jackson sang and there was also a free rodeo for the community to attend. It was a beautiful evening with many community members in attendance.

Polk County even had a horse and buggy ride that rode around the fairgrounds perimeter – which was a hit with the little ones! We also bought some FFA honey from the local FFA Chapter!



Once we packed up after our wonderful evening, we started our long journey to Halsey to the Nebraska State 4-H Camp to spend the night. All the way there, we watched lightening flash in the distance. It wasn’t until we were 5 MINUTES from our destination, did it start to downpour on us! We’re not talking a nice downpour, but more like cats ‘n dogs, can’t see in front of you downpour! We arrived at the Lodge of the 4-H Camp and began our search for our key our cabin. Reese, being from Iowa, has never been to this 4-H Camp, and Molly has not been there since she you a young 4-Her herself, made finding the 4-H Office in the pouring rain a tad bit hard! After getting drenched, we both agreed to go to the staff house and ask for help! Thank goodness they were still up! Instead of making us dash clear our to our cabin in the middle of nowhere, they let us stay in the staff house with them! Thank you soo much 4-H Camp Staff!!




Sioux County

The next morning, we left at 7:30 AM CST on Highway 2 – Nebraska Scenic Byway –Sandhills Journey - to Harrison in Sioux County. What a gorgeous drive! It is truly a drive that everyone needs to take! Along the way, we stopped at Fort Robinson at Crawford, and even managed to cross the border into Wyoming –a first for both Molly and Reese!

Fun fact: Harrison is the only town in Sioux County and is located 9 miles from the Wyoming border and 28 miles from the South Dakota border!


At the Sioux County Fair, we parked the 4-H Truck in the “arena” during the livestock show. The show ring was the space between three buildings, lined with parents and grandparents in lawn chairs and one set of bleachers. It was completely open but got the job done!

Everyone was very happy to have us and kept thanking us for coming all the way out! Thank you Harrison, you gave an excuse to come up to the very north-west corner! We also had yet another free BBQ and enjoyed the sandwiches and chips. Thanks!

We then traveled down the lonely road of Highway 29 south of Harrison and did not meet a sole until we hit the town of Mitchell for over almost 60 miles! Along Highways 92 and 26, we ran into several fields of sugar beets between Scottsbluff and Bridgeport.





Morrill County

We arrived in Bridgeport in Morrill County right on time and made our way to the free bbq sponsored by the 4-H Council. It was our first fair burgers of the summer! The entire meal was a huge potluck - homemade salads, pies, desserts, and even fresh watermelon! It was by far the best free food we have encountered so far!

While selling tickets, we met a nice farming couple from the area who were very knowledgeable about sugar beets. We drilled him with just a few questions as we were very curious about them! We had such a great time at the Morrill County Fair that evening! There was even no humidity! :)

That night we headed back down to Sidney to stay with Molly's family friends once again. In the morning, we went to the original Cabela's so Reese could say she has been there! Then we started our long journey to Burwell for Nebraska's Big Rodeo! We took Interstate 80 to Ogallala, then highway 61 north to Arthur, and then highway 92 all the way to Stapleton where we stopped for lunch at a local cafe! We continued on Hwy 92 and kept zig-zagging all the way until we hit Burwell.



Garfield County

We arrived in Burwell just in time to set up and sell tickets at the end of the first rodeo performance of the day. The next performance did not start until 7:30 later that evening. In the meantime, we had some shaved ice and chatted with the locals. As crowds started to pour in, we put our game face on and got to work! Thanks to Andrea (the NE 4-H Foundation Intern last year), we were able to drive in the Grand Entrance of Nebraska's Big Rodeo where we spotted several of our fans from across the state! It was great seeing everyone! What a great night! We had a blast and sold several tickets for the 4-H Truck Raffle! Thanks Garfield County for inviting us!

After the rodeo, we drove all the away back to Lincoln since Reese's family -from Iowa- came to visit her on our days off! It will be nice to have a couple days rest before we start our next LONG journey! Can't wait!