Still on the road
Some days are more interesting than others. Today was mostly one of the others, but there were a few things worth notice.
First off, this is beautiful country. People talk about Nebraska as “flyover country”, but driving it is breathtakingly gorgeous. The scenery changes slowly, starting out in the semi-big city urbanism of Omaha, morphing into endless corn or wheat fields on broad flat prairie which then becomes hillier and less even ranch land with huge herds of cattle as the ground begins to climb towards the mountains of Wyoming.
The relentless winds across the plains keep the trees from growing tall–I don’t think I saw a tree more than 30 feet high all day, and most were half that size. They only grow naturally near the rivers and lakes–but every homestead is surrounded by trees planted as a wind break and shade creator. Thus do people affect the ecology of an area.
Lee’s Legendary Marble Museum
As with yesterday, I passed many museums and points of interest I wish I had time to investigate. This is the one I most regret–Lee’s Legendary Marble Museum and Collectables. in York, Nebraska. It’s sort of a tribute to eccentricity. The bottom of their web page has a counter so you can see how many people have looked at it. The counter goes to 12 digits, so they can represent hits into the quadrillions. At the present, there have been 1661. Hope springs eternal in the mid-western breast.
The driving is easy. Nebraska has a speed limit of 75, Wyoming is posted at 80. My truck will go 76 and no more, but I had it right at the top almost every inch of the day. Outside of the towns, there are very few cars on the road, just trucks. The few cars I saw blew past me quickly, even the high speed limits are just a suggestion.
I know that this is the end of May, but it was snowing as I came through Cheyenne Wyoming today. Not hard, but snowing nonetheless. Rain had been falling off and on all day, but Cheyenne is at 6000 feet and the rain turned white.
Clear roads and high speeds meant I was making great time, so I drove 100 miles further than planned, and have stopped for the night in Rawlins, Wy. After checking into the Hampton Inn, I found a Thai restaurant and had a mediocre dinner of steak salad and pad thai chicken. Some salad was desperately needed after subsisting on fat and sugar all day with truck stop junk food.
Gail and I played two hideous tournaments on Bridge Base–i zigged when i should have zagged every time.
In the morning I have to check out the town library and see if there is anything to be learned about Gail’s father’s family–he was born here about 1909. Then on to Elko, and home on Friday.
Totally Unauthorized 
Chris, you’re bringing back fond memories of my drive across Nebraska a third of a century ago.