Super 8 Motel Kearney

We left Omaha in the  morning and decided to travel the back roads that most closely followed the original settlers and their wagon trains as they headed west. In the  evening we arrived at Kearney and stayed at a very nice state park adjacent to the old fort.Nebraska is already surprising us, and we are thoroughly enjoying our time here. <br>So the town is called Kearney but it is pronounce ...

... 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.

Oil leak fixed, $45 motel, and within 1-day's range of our motel. Now we're doing a little better. Caught up to a storm front in Nevada around sunset, when thunderstorms are at their most powerful. As we drove past, under the rain-free base, just to the Southeast of the storm, a massive downburst developed with powerful straight-line winds and threatening-looking clouds. I pushed the ...

... 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

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.

... smells bad. Since we don't have issues with each other's driving, and since we've accepted the fact that we both smell, there's no tension. Even though we haven't really gotten out of the car to explore the mid-west, there are some qualities that are pretty clear just from the car. Rachel deemed one such characteristic the "unabashed Christianity of middle America." (see pictures for example) Also, there are a lot of ...