Wednesday, August 5 and Thursday, August 6
South Dakota
6:45, 60 degrees and
beautiful sunrise.
Coyotes last night, cows’ lowing this morning. Lovely yellow and black bird – meadowlark? – visiting the wildflowers, but too fast to get a picture.
We head
back to 79S which is rolling hills and prairie.
Hay, cattle, sheep, corn, a few pronghorns, and many hawks! Must have seen a couple dozen within a few
miles, on posts and bales of hay, looking for breakfast.
We cut over to 85S at Castle Rock (the town and the rock).
This has to be “home on the range” where the
deer and antelope play.
Didn’t hear a
discouraging word, either!
We stop at the town of Belle Forche (beautiful fork) which
is the geographical center of the US.
They have a nice museum tracing the history of this place which was
important to fur traders and later to cattle drives.
Cattle is still BIG business.
We continue south, past the exit for Sturgis. Motorcycles everywhere!
We wave at the crowded rv parks, gas
stations, etc. and can only imagine the crowds at Mt. Rushmore and the Black
Hills area.
We decide to bypass all that
and head south along the western edge of the Badlands.
Indian Reservation land with the usual
cattle, hay, farms and ranches, though sparsely settled.
Called and sang Happy Birthday to Tom as we entered the
northwest corner of Nebraska. You know the scenery is getting pretty boring as
our entertainment is now seeing how long a bug can hold on to the windshield
before being swept away. (They seem to give out around 60 mph).
Throughout the states we have seen various markers to indicate where people died in accidents. In Montana they were plain small crosses. Here is South Dakota they have these posts that say THINK
on one side and DON'T DIE on the other.
The folks at the Chadron Chamber of Commerce give us some
maps and other information. We decide to
visit the Museum of the Fur Trade, where we watch a short video and tour the
extensive museum. Went back to the fur trade in Europe and China up to today’s
fur farms which produce 80% of the billion furs still traded annually. Interesting point: in 1800 the standard price
for a large buck deer hide was $1 – thus the term “buck” for dollar.
This is an old trading post -
I thought these “canoe cups” were interesting as they were
individualized with carvings reflecting the owners who used them to grab a quick drink while on the water.
We couldn’t find “Spotted Tail” forest service campground,
so ended up boondocking next to the Chadron City Reservoir in a nice park-like
area. Greg talked with a local fisherman who parked near us for a while and said it was city property and we would have no problem staying there.
Spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. Pleasant evening to sit outside by the lake
until the clouds rolled in. Last night
we watched the lightning show from afar; tonight we were in the midst of
it!! Wild wind, some rain, thunder and
intense lightning!! Felt like we were in
a light box at times with flashes of dark! The storm gradually
passed, leaving a pleasant cool evening for sleeping.
The winds have done in one of the hinges on the cover on our
“fantastic fan” in the ceiling of the Trek.
Hoping the other holds!
Thursday, August 6
Nebraska
64 degrees at 6:30 this morning.
We continue down 385 – the Nebraska Gold Rush
Byway.
We pause at the town of Alliance,
whose main street is brick, and stop just outside at Carhenge.
Another “art” masterpiece, this one built by Jim Reinders
who was inspired by Stonehenge.
38 cars
which match the dimensions of the stones at Stonehenge have been placed in a
similar configuration.
There are a few
other pieces of art in the surrounding area.
This rabbit made a cozy home under one piece and probably enjoyed the
shade, which is in short supply around here.
We take Hwy 71 to go to Scottsbluff because someone told us
it was scenic – especially the Watson Ranch.
“Scenic” is a much overused and highly subjective word. Corn, hay, wheat….cattle, horses..repeat. Must be a windy area as there are rows of
trees planted around homes and between some fields as wind/snow breaks. We find
the Watson Ranch whose claim to fame seems to be a group of windmills on the
hill behind the house. Eh.
Greg gets out and
walks around and a lady comes out of the house and says the best view is from
her neighbor’s driveway, which is ok to use.
May be better at sunset?
We continue into the town of Scottsbluff where Greg gets the
oil changed while I do some grocery shopping.
Then we drive to Scott’s Bluff National Monument. We drive to the top of the bluff, passing
through three tunnels (the only ones in Nebraska a local tells us) and walk
some trails.
This was a huge landmark
for those traveling west.
After two
months of walking the semi-arid plains, this was a bittersweet sign that “Yeah
the hot, monotonous plains are behind us”
and “Oh boy, this is where it starts to get hilly, mountainous and
cold.”
The Oregon trail passed here, as
did the short-lived pony express (19 months) which ended when the first
transcontinental telegraph was introduced in 1865.
We stopped at the Visitor’s Center, did some reading and
moved eastward to another landmark, Chimney Rock. Interesting that a 25 million year old
saber-tooth tiger was uncovered near this site.
We stopped by the Petrified Wood Gallery in Ogallala next, but it closed
earlier than the website advertised, so we drove out by McConaughy Lake and The
Little Church.
It is a church built in
1908 in a tiny town called Keystone.
The
town couldn’t afford multiple churches, so they got permission from the Pope to
build this church for both Catholics and Protestants.
One end had a Catholic altar, the other end a
protestant one.
The pews were hinged so
that they could face either direction.
A few campgrounds around popular Lake McConaughy but they
were very crowded so we headed into town
of Ogallala and their Walmart. We
are the first RV there but in the morning we wake to a dozen more.
