Nebraska

We started off again this morning on I-90, following it as far as Murdo, South Dakota.  From there we picked up two-lane State Highway 83 and headed south.We crossed into Nebraska just north of the little town of Valentine. We crossed the Niobrara River which brought back great memories of canoeing down the river with Daughter Mary Mae and Son-in-law Scott many years ago.  The river was quite shallow and warm and a lot of fun to play in.  We actually had to give MM and Scott a call to try to decide if it was before or after Grandson Varick was born.  Scott couldn't remember either, but MM knew it had been way before when she was working for the National Park Service.

I dearly dislike driving on cement roads!  They give an extremely bumpy ride and I could hear everything in the coach shaking loose as we went.  Hwy 83 is not a very busy road that heads straight south through the state.

This part of Nebraska is mile after mile of grassland and hayfields.  There are occasional working old-fashioned windmills with round stock tanks, often surrounded by thirsty cattle.  It's not hard to imagine the view that homesteaders had as they headed into the vast prairie to stake their claims.

We put on more miles then usual today, ending up making camp in North Platte, Nebraska. We are camped at a place called Lakeside Camping.  The lady sounded a little funny on the phone when I asked about making reservations, but when we got here we could see why. There are only two other rigs here.  This park closes next week for the season.

The North Platte River was still very high and full when we crossed over.  You can still see lots of sand bags around nearby businesses.