Cody Park

Although the city parks in the Midwest all seem to have beautiful grounds with lots of amenities like tennis and basketball courts, giant swimming pools, and plenty of picnic areas, Cody Park in North Platte, NE, beats all the rest we saw.  The 100-acre park contains carnival rides including this carousel which was lovingly restored by volunteers.

And a small zoo.  (You can see our rig and car behind Mr. Elk.)

Fallow deer

American Bison

Some animals were pretty friendly, like this Sicilian Donkey.

I don't know where these animals came from, but, except for the bison, they were all free to intermingle and seemed to coexist happily.  Even these nesting peahens didn't seem to mind the looming llama.

The peacock was putting on quite a show.

But here's something I never thought I'd see.  Have you ever seen a white peacock?

I went back the next day and caught him resting.  Just look at those feathers - more beautiful than any wedding gown train.

Being North Platte, it wouldn't be right if they didn't have a couple of locomotives on display.  This 4-6-6-4 Challenger Mallet was built in 1943 and was converted from coal to oil a couple of years later.  There's nothing prettier than a sparkling steam engine.

And this monster is a 'Centennial' type and uses two 3,300 hp diesel engines.  It is the most powerful single-unit diesel locomotive ever built.

I forgot to mention the most important thing in the park.  They have an ice cream stand!  All these attractions really bring in the people from miles around.  It's nice to see families out on a summer evening.