Council Bluffs, Iowa

We were really looking forward to reaching the Council Bluffs area because it is the area that Lewis and Clark first met a Native American tribe. We decided that we would stay at Lake Manawa State Park very close to where the first actual tribal council was held.

Our arrival at the park was a major disappointment. Iowa has probably the worst state parks I've ever seen. The entire place was trashy and in disrepair. But it was the only convenient place to camp and we figured it was only for one night.

Around 5 pm on this day Cindy started to complain that her stomach hurt. By dinner time, she wasn't hungry so Hayley, Jack and I went across the Missouri River to Omaha, Nebraska for dinner. We returned from dinner to find that Cindy hadn't improved. Then, shortly after arrival back at the camper, Hayley got suddenly sick. So we knew we were in bad shape. But we decided to just try to get some sleep and see what happened in the morning. Well, Cindy woke us up about 4 am to let us know she had gotten much worse. So we all got in the car and headed to Council Bluffs Mercy Hospital. They gave Cindy several doses of morphine for her pain and that really seemed to help. She entered the hospital panting in pain but after two shots of morphine she turned to me with a big smile and said , "You know, I have a really high tolerance for pain!" About that time, Hayley started vomiting in the emergency room waiting area. So we had nurses tending to Cindy and the emergency room receptionist tending to Hayley. Anyway, after several hours of tests (including a Cat Scan for Cindy) the doctor determined that the girls just had the same stomach bug Jack had suffered before them. He just said that it affects adults in a more severe manner. The entire next day was spent at rest and both Cindy and Hayley improved rapidly.

After the girls felt better, we finally got to see the Lewis and Clark Trail exhibits in the Council Bluffs/Omaha area. This picture is of statues displaying the first meeting between the Corps and the Oto Indians. Lewis is handing a Jefferson Peace Medal to the chief of the tribe while his Newfoundland Dog "Seaman" stands guard. Sam really seemed to like the "Seaman" statue.