Well, its been a sunny day on our motorcycles, reaching our home for the evening at the Candlelight Inn in Scottsbluff, NE here on the edge of the prairie! Today we did less than 200 miles, driving north out of Sidney on 385. Another wonderful 2-laner over rolling hillside and prairie. Lots of rangeland with cattle and a smattering of horses (and goats!). Today the pace was slow enough that we managed to stop along the way for a couple of nice photos.
Our first destination was Chimney Rock National Historic sight just west of Bridgeport. You can google for all the good information. Bridgeport got its name from having a 2,000 foot long private toll bridge across the North Platte River. enterpreneurship at its best.
We had a very nice conversation at Chimney Rock with a fellow from the SF Bay Area traveling solo on his Honda sport tourer. He's got several weeks off and has been down to Colorado and is now heading to Devil's Tower.
Filling up this morning I met another fellow traveling solo from Arkansas and was heading BACK east after a few weeks on the road.
At Chimney Rock we had a nice video about the western migration and the Oregon Trail during the mid 19th century. Like Gettysburg, it would be great to really dig in to the history of the Manifest Destiny. Maybe in retirement! Huh!
From Chimney Rock we headed in to Scottsbluff proper on a few errands, then backtracked to the town of Gering and over to Scottsbluff National Park/Monument. There was a little more history about the Oregon Trail, two covered wagons, and a very cool ride up Scottsbluff to its summit (see photos). the folks who were in charge of National Parks in the old days knew that in order to make them endearing, they had to be accessible. There is no way in today's America that the National Park Service would build a road up this incredible monument; it was probably built during the great depression. Hmmm, maybe we can get a road out to Monomoy Island! I'll get in touch with US Fish and Wildlife as soon as I'm back.
We took some photos and a nice girl asked if we wanted to have her take our photo together. Very nice. I often see people taking photos of eachother and often offer as well. Its a nice thing to do.
I can't say enough about how much we've enjoyed Nebraska. There is clearly a lot more to see and at a slower pace one could really get in to the history, see all the forts and so on.
We were off the road again around 3PM. The Candlelight is dated but the rooms are nice, just like the sign says. Clean, recently painted and carpeted. The Whiskey Creek Wood Fire Grill is next door and I've got a 10% coupon!
Tomorrow it is off to Boulder/Superior, CO to see Marcela (one "L") Morales, Martha's sister, and her family. About 230 miles; nice and easy. Four turns. 26 West to 71 South to 14 West to 287 South to 128 West.
That's it for today. Its really hot and I've taken to having a Budweiser once off the road and the blog is done.
Lone Ranger and Tonto
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