Northern Iowa & Nebraska (CoD Mid August-Mid September, 1804)

The last State Park we visited in Iowa was Lewis & Clark (what else?). It’s on a lovely oxbow lake, with the campground in a grove of cottonwood trees. Oxbow refers to a meandering river, where the river actually cuts off a U shaped bow of the river, crossing the head of the U. By crossing the U, or filling it in, the Oxbow shaped lake is created next to the river itself.
As can be seen from the first photo, there is a working replica of the L & C keelboat on this lake. They actually let you climb around on this boat, which you can see.
At Sioux City Iowa, the Missouri turns west and starts cutting through the great Planes. Here the river forms the boundary between Nebraska and South Dakota. L&C were surprised and pleased by the great planes, with their miles and miles of waving grass prairies. The native grasses are 3 to 4 feet high and look like a sea when the wind blows. Of course this is where they also found the vast Bison herds.
We stayed at Niobrara State Park on the Nebraska side of the river, about 100 miles west of Sioux City. It is at the confluence of the Niobrara River with the Missouri. The second photo is shot behind our campsite, showing the grass mentioned above. The third photo shows the front of the RV. Once again we have this place almost to ourselves.
We were surprised last night when large wild turkeys came through our campsite. There are quite a few here.
We were expecting some severe weather last night, but fortunately it never materialized
The Missouri has a number of dams in this area of the river. These were built in the 50s and 60s to tame the wild floods that used to occur. The “lakes” that result are very large and there are many recreational areas here. One of our guidebooks estimates over 1000 campsites.