Hampton Inn 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. 

... pea sized hail for about 20 minutes. <br><br>From Chimney Rock I went up to Carhenge in Alliance NE. This is a replica of Stonehenge but it is made of cars, to the correct dimensions of Stonehenge. Kind of tacky but definitely an icon of western Nebraska. <br><br>After Carhenge I continued east, again getting more rain, and spent the night in Kearney NE.

... village consisted of a collection of metal quonset (sp?) huts crammed full of "historical items" (i.e. junk). Some replicas of old-time buildings did exist but the only period dress we saw were some grandmas dressed in housecoats. (No offense to the Grandmas in our viewing audience.)<br>Enjoy the attached video for more historical sites (I mean, hysterical sights).

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>

... next stop was Kearney. I stopped at the Cabelas - a huge sporting goods store. This place has more guns than a small army. The customers at this store were real men. I heard on the radio that it might snow tomorrow. I hate snow. Who would live where it snows?

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.

... the first one only lasted 30 minutes but the rain was severe, causing some drivers to pull over. The second storm, this time in Nebraska, was about an hour with high winds but the rain was lighter. It did serve to drop the temperatures from the low 30sC to the low 20sC, which was a nice break. I stopped for the night in Kearney, Nebraska (about half-way across the state). Total mileage today: 1087km

We reached Kearney, Nebraska about 8:30 central time tonight......I really have not been sure of the correct time,day or date for almost a month now........the beauty of vacation!!! It will be a little hard getting back to the real world( we have been getting introduced to the cold and snowy weather today) but we are on the last leg of what has been an AWSOME Journey with Garmin , Harley and each other!!!!!!!!We have had such fun all ...