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| Duke |
We said our farewells to Bev and Dave. Their dog, Duke, must have sensed we were
leaving as he attempted to get under the RV again. He did this on our previous visit last year
just before we left; it was as if he didn’t want us to go. Two days later Cheyenne had a terrific hail storm, with hail over 1 inch in size. This could have done a lot of damage to the motorhome.
The 260 miles along I-80 must have been downhill; Cheyenne is at 6300ft and North Platte at 2700ft.
Last year we visited 28 states. This is our first time into Nebraska so this
makes State Number 29!
We also enter another time zone.
21st June – Nebraska Land Days Rodeo
It turns out that this is North Platte Rodeo week, which
they call Nebraskaland Days.
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| View of west bound "Hump" |
In the morning we visited the Golden Spike Tower which
provided a panoramic view of Union Pacific Bailey’s Yard – the world’s largest
train yard of it's type. We learnt many things today.
We now understand how the diesel engines (which regularly number 3 per train) do not ‘pull’ the trains but generate electricity to power the train. Also the wheels and the axles are not actually attached to the cars, they just rest in place by sheer weight.
We also learnt
how train ‘cars’ from the west get directed to their eastern destination and
vice versa; via Humps.
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| Part of the parade |
We then headed into town for the 1pm Rodeo Parade through
the streets. The children in the crowd
seemed more intent with collecting the sweets that were being thrown to them
than what was actually going on in the Parade.
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| Bill Cody's Ranch House |
Afterwards we visited ‘Buffalo Bill’ Cody’s Ranch. Bill Cody
certainly had a varied life. At age 14 he was the youngest rider for The Pony Express, riding 322 miles in 21 hours.He earned the name ‘Buffalo Bill’ whilst employed to provide bison meat for the Railroad workers in Kansas.
In 1877 he established this ranch and then went on to gain international frame with his famous Wild West Shows which toured USA and Europe and England during the late 1890s and early 1900s. His show came to Salisbury on 6 August 1903. One of the original carpets in his house was Royal Wilton. He also brought thoroughbred horses and Hereford and Angus cattle onto his ranch.
22nd June – North Platte to Omaha, NE
We drove further east along the I-80 to meet up with friends
Jo and Woody who were travelling from North Carolina to Oregon.
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| Great Platte River Road Archway |
On the way we passed under The Great Platte River Road Arch way which not only commemorates the important part the river played in the development of the West but also marks the middle of the USA.
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| Relaxing by the lake. |
We met up in the Louisville State Park, just
outside the city of Omaha, and were horrified to discover there was a quarry
right beside the park with trains running twice an hour, day and night.
23rd June – Louisville, NE
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| Kingfisher on the other side of the lake |
When trains weren’t running this as a lovely spot by the
North Platte River. We were surrounded
by Cottonwood trees which were shedding their downy seed in the slight breeze. Camped next to a lake Paul caught a couple of
small catfish. We saw several birds such
as Heron, Kingfishers, Orioles, Robins.
Blackbirds were nesting just above us and took exception to Pumpkin, Jo
and Woody’s cat. They made a lot of noise and periodically would dive bomb her. At 16 years of age she was not
about to start climbing trees!
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| Pumpkin |
Tomorrow (24th) we head for Iowa.
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