Pullin' Chocks

Nebraska, Who Knew?

We left Manhattan, KS on Monday this week April 28 after staying the extra night to let the big thunderstorms pass to the east.  We rode about 170 miles into the 30-40 mph headwind into York, Nebraska.  The trip to York, NE produced poor fuel economy to say the least, less than 6 mpg!  The new equipment; hitch, wheels, air bags, performed just as specified and that was very nice for our confidence.  York, NE is very close to the southern border of Nebraska so most of our trip was through Kansas the first day.  We started to appreciate The Great Plains; it is field upon field upon field of endless grasses.

The Great Plains of North Central Kansas

Welcome to Nebraska, the good life?  I am not so sure there is anything here...

We stopped at the trucker friendly Walmart in York... Then the rains came, again.  We ended up staying two nights at Walmart there.  We got our exercise in Walmart during the two days of 40 mph wind and rain (what else is new and different here?)  Our friend Chris P. was recently lamenting on the pitfalls associated with several available gyms back home, so we found a new solution on Aisle 32 at Walmart.

New Gym Model: Aisle 32 at Walmart - This is for you  Chris!

Finally we departed York and made our way to Lexington, NE situated along I-81.  Gari found a winery there that looked like a fun place to stop.  The family there, the MacFarlands, graciously allowed us to park overnight in their parking lot.  The mom & pop started the winery 10 years ago as a retirement hobby and it grew into a thriving business in the local area.  The two boys are running it now, one is the winemaker, the other the general manager.  We had a nice tasting session, finished with a bottle of white and a homemade Mac's Creek pizza.  It was a great stop.  Maybe there is the good life in Nebraska after all.  The wine was good and the grass grows incredibly lush, in fact everything was growing quite well...

Mac's Creek Winery, Lexington, NE

Pepe & Penelope parked for the night at Mac's Creek

Wine Fun

We were up early Wednesday and had our sights set on Valentine, NE up by the northern border of Nebraska.  This was going to be a longer ride, closer to 200 miles and across the great sand hills of Nebraska.  This was a very interesting day.  We first stopped and toured W.F Cody's (Buffalo Bill) Scout's Rest Ranch in North Platte, NE.  It is an historic site preserved to the requirements of historic sites, which is quite meticulous.  Buffalo Bill was into just about everything, and we learned a lot about him as we self toured the ranch.  He thought of himself as the "old scout" and was quite the animal handler.  We knew Buffalo Bill for his stint with the Pony Express, hunting Buffalo, and his Wild West Show; what we did not know was that his show toured in Europe for a couple of years, he was a pioneer in animal breeding in the US West along with the first efforts in irrigation here.  He had a stake in mining as well.  I noticed that he was quite the dapper fellow in the many photographs around the ranch and most had him surrounded by women.  I bet he was a rascal!

Scout's Rest Ranch

On through the Sand Hills of Nebraska... who knew that these sand hills are the largest in the northern hemisphere?  We didn't even know Nebraska had sand dunes.  It turns out Nebraska is in a very unique geographic location, where six ecosystems converge and overlap.  These include the northern boreal forest, ponderosa pine forest, eastern deciduous forest, tallgrass prairie, mixed-grass prairie, and shortgrass prairie.  We expected vast dunes of bare sand as we rode toward the sand hills; the funny thing was that the sand hills were covered with lush prairie grasses with plenty of cattle grazing throughout.  The even more surprising thing was all of the ponds of water.  They were all over the place.  Apparently the water table is down only about 10 or 20 feet and as the sand hills roll, artesian wells spring up everywhere.  Anyway, this all comes together to make Nebraska sort of a paradise in our mind.  Everything, especially the grasses are so lush here.

Sand Hills of Nebraska

 Artesian Wells at Niobrara National Park, Valentine, Nebraska

Bison and Prairie Dogs at Niobrara; we got closer to the PDs

On the way to Smith Falls State Park, Sparks, Nebraska

A Barn with Big Antlers

Turkeys were everywhere!

Scenic Overlook on the way to Smith Falls

A Wrong Turn... the Navigator was talking with Tonya, Hi Tonya :-) 

...glad we weren't pulling the trailer or the Navigator would have been in big trouble!

 Is it wide enough?

 The sign said 7 Tons...

We made it!

Smith Falls Trail...

Smith Falls, tallest waterfall in Nebraska!

Lovers Shot at Smith Falls!

On to Berry Falls... Berry Bridge and Berry Falls.

 Berry Falls from the Bridge

Finally Fort Falls, first the trail...

Fort Falls, a three falls bagger of a day!

What a fine day we had in Valentine, Nebraska!  Finally decent enough weather to get out and about and we were fortunate to visit some magnificent sites today.  Who knew Nebraska was known for waterfalls, had the incredible overlapping ecosystems and had the largest sand hills in the northern hemisphere all bubbling with fresh artesian wells?  Nebraska is a beautiful state and we look forward to a return visit.  I would like to try some fishing here.