From Lincoln we were headed west for home. Michael found a quite unique place for us to stop at and break up the monotony of just driving at Pioneer Village in Minden, NE. Having not actually seen anything about it before we got there I must saw my mental view of it was much less than the reality. As we drove up there was a fence enclosed area that held several buildings, looked overgrown, and frankly I thought in somewhat of a dilapidated state. We walked around to the front of the building that looked like its prime had been in the 60s and entered. Upon entering I was able to put the pieces together. In 1953, Harold Warp (a self-made man who invented flexiglass that was a canvas like-material coated in wax that was used for chickens and other livestock as well as other products) opened the Pioneer Village with his old one room school house that was going to be destroyed. With this began his passion to collect and share items of all variety to show the progression of life from the pioneer to modern era (1980s). The entire place is set up chronologically for the most part. He has hundreds of cars, buggies, dolls, lamps, household goods from every era and every type, China and glass, ag equipment, blacksmithing, household appliances, hobby collections, a church, a soddy, a railroad depot, the school house, a home, blacksmith shop, a small cabin, an old pioneer store, a stockade building, a pony express building, an old diner that was actually used to serve ice cream and sodas, an old wooden, hand carved carousel that still works, and numerous out buildings. Every one of these buildings was not only original they were all also stocked full with collectibles. One of the out buildings had bedrooms, kitchens, and professional "rooms" fully set up as if they were working spaces. To fully explain this place could take pages, but to say the least this place was much more amazing than you would have ever expected from viewing the outside. The collecting was done by Warp himself and family members over the years. To say there is millions of dollars there is no exaggeration. The downside to this place is that it is now after many years of little upkeep in need of some serious repair and maintenance. Due to my allergy of mold I did not enter several of the buildings as it was possible to smell the mold in the air. It was not a dirty place in that aspect, it was just that the roofs had apparently had leaked over time and the mold was growing to an excess of moisture only.

I was admittedly pleasantly surprised at the level of interest that the kids had in it all. There were some really fascinating and completely unusual things to be seen here. We spent at least two hours and could have spent many more but we were in a time crunch. We would suggest anyone go see it. Don't drink the water however as that looked a little more than sketchy when the girls refilled a water bottle. There is an RV park and a motel associated with the village for travelers. This place is a homage to days long past and is time well spent in attending. We even bought a handmade broom that was made using old ways and original equipment!