Heritage Gateways

Wendy Westergard Journals

May 13, 1997

Location: Gothenburg, Nebraska - Location: 40:55:46N 100:09:37W Elevation: 2567 feet

Summary: Lung-bustin' singing, tickling, dirt, and zits.

Journal entry: Greetings from the Great Plains of Nebraska

Today Elizabeth Pround, Jamie Sukosky and I rode in the back of a people mover wagon. I didn't like it because it only felt like "a wagon ride." After first break we switched to Paul Merrill's wagon. He drives a freight wagon. We piled in the back of the wagon. We had an awesome time.

Jaine had brought her CD player and CD's. We listened to music on her earphones. I sang at the top of my lungs to the songs I knew. Everyone got hyper after that. I know that I sounded like a wounded dog. Bob Lowe, one of the wagon masters, rode up on his horse and asked if anyone was dying inside. Christina Dickens would sometimes ride behind us. It was awesome. It was a really weird thing to be listening to music that was digitally mastered and in a 19th century wagon.

We arrived in Gothenberg around 12 noon. Just in time for lunch. We set up camp and explored our new area. This a really nice area. They have nicly manacured grass and beautiful houses. Tomorrow will be an "education day" for the city of Gothenberg and anyone who wants to come. It is an open gathering.

A bunch of us got into a tickle war. It was our little group of young people that are going all the way. 3 of the guys here are VERY ticklish. It is so fun to get them held down and tickle them. They scream and scream. it's great. Now I'm not the only one that is ticklish.

This trek hs been one of the neatest experiences of my life. Each night we circle the wagons. All of my stuff is stored in one of our wagons. At first I had it in a couple of really big bags. That was a pain because I could never find anything. Finally about a week and a half ago I bought a bunch of littler bags. I'm still not organized to my satisfaction, but I'm much better.

One thing I've noticed is all good personal habits seem to go down the tube. Washing my face at night is near impossible. It is too cold and then we are too tired to wash our face. Then in the morning things are so hectic and freezing that we don't think about washing our faces. This is why we all look so leathery and dirty. Some of us are even breaking out.