Econo Lodge Kearney

... of rail in 1869 and cars in 1918 on highway 30 to now this mega highway I - 80.<br><br>Fort Kearny (notice the spelling has changed) Historical Park and State Park is about 4 miles south of town on the south of the Platt River.<br>The Fort was the only defence for the wagon trains going west in the early days so again all the different Trails converged here which enabled repairs and supplies. 

... had to go single file and left large ruts in the ground still visible today. Chimney rock was a unique looking landmark that indicated that the journey was about 1/3 over. &#8211; See Nebraska isn't completely flat.<br><br>At Chimney Rock, my powers as a rain god increased to include hail. While inside the visitor center a thunder storm came through ...

... with period dress and pioneer demonstrations. (At least that's what Tish told Tom.) So we made the trek south of I-80, our concerns growing as we passed a series of cheesy signs for "Harold Warp's Pioneer Village." (Harold Warp made big money as the inventor of Flex-o-glass, for those of you trivia buffs in the crowd.)<br> <br>Well...our fears were realized ...

The drive to Kearney, NB today was very long. This was the first time in three trips West that I have encountered extended traffic stops on the interstate. My luck finally ran out. We stopped at Cabela's. This is my second trip to this store. It is fabulous. I bought some new assault rifles to defend myself when I get to California. Check out my photo with the bear. It is in the entrance of Cabela's store.<br>

... many towns in the Midwest use Lewis and Clark as a tourist attraction. I wanted to ride the buffalo, but the docent went nuts. I wanted to try on Sacajawea's bison skin , but they didn't like that either. This is a great stop if you are ever in the area ...

So after five weeks of enduring America's public transport system, it comes as a relief to head west from Chicago in a car. I'm sharing the petrol and driving with a fella moving West from Chicago, who turns out to be a bit of a character. The first day takes us 800 miles over the Great Plains through Iowa to Western Nebraska - thoroughly uninteresting landscape but pretty stunning skies.

... past 110 on a straight stretch of freeway, trying to get ahead of the storm as the first few golfball-sized hailstones fell around us. Got past it just before it crossed the freeway. Didn't need a broken windshield and dented up car a few hours after fixing the oil leak. Once we were past it, it put on a spectacular lightning show and gave us a chance to stop for some dramatic photographs.

Today's blog is pretty boring. I left Dubois this morning and did get to enjoy some beautiful scenery for a couple of hours - cattle country straight out of the Western movies. By 1pm though I was on the I-80 heading east and after that there was nothing worth seeing, or taking pictures of for that matter. The only thing on my mind was making as much distance as possible. I hit two bad thunderstorms ...

Today was a long long drive. To make it worse, I was just plain sick. I did make a run by the famous "Rock City" that I always saw the "See Rock City" signs as a kid. I did not bother to pay to go in. I was not feeling well. I got to the hotel and crashed hard.

We stopped in Kearney to see Jim and Sue. It was a nice afternoon and evening. Jim cooked us Mahi Mahi for dinner. He also cooked us a big breakfast. Nancy and Lydia were there. Sarah, Walter and their two kids also came in late at night.