07.22.2023 - goodby wyoming, hello nebraska
in the morning, i packed up and headed east, riding through the rest of the town. turns out there was another highway exit on the other side of town. found a coffee house, blend coffee, and settled in for a chai and breakfast on a slow moving saturday morning. a pleasant surprise.
after breakfast, i headed southeast. at orin, i turned east onto rte 18 and towards the nebraska line, leaving i-25 frontage road. i pulled into a sinclair gas/covenience store (remember siclair, with dino the dinosaur). harold saw my bike and struck up a conversation, he thought it was so cool. turned out he and his wife were from chadron, where i had a warm shower aranged in two nights. they insisted on paying for my food.
i could stop and photograph or sketch constantly. the environment is so exotic, even sand hills and gulleys and sage are interesting. and the views in the distance.
i'm following rte. 18, 'old yellowstone highway', to lusk. then u.s. 20 across the remainer of wyoming and all of nebraska. similar to u.s. rte 2 i followed across montana on my last trip. a 2-laner, it parallels a rairoad track, actually two tracks, for 20 miles east of lusk, wy. i saw 5 trains each made up of over 100 coal cars . 3 going west empty and 2 heading east full of coal. there must be a power plant burning coal nearby.
the further east i go, the more things look planned. rather than unattended fields of grasses and sage brush there are some attempts at cultivation and harvest. more cattle start appearing. these must be the summer grazing lands? and the grasses actually do look greener.
several people i talked to said they had a colder than usual winter and a wetter than usual spring/early summer. it's only in the last week or so that it's gotten so dry. the nights are still cool. that may be changing, the forecast for the next week is high in the 90's, low in the mid-60's.
i think about my dad sometimes as i ride. he never understood my joy in cycling and touring, but more than that, he thought it was just plain stupid that i would ride. he disapproved. i remember him asking "it doesn't matter what i say, does it?" well, no, i think at 60 years of age (at that time) i've thought it through. he never followed my blog or asked me questions.
i think of my mother, she would have been proud. she was the competitor of the two. fair, even, in perspectve, but a competitor.
where the plains meet the mountains
coal train passing the remains of a previous wreck. don't know how long it's been sitting there, but it sure is a powerful reminder of what can happen if one is not paying attention.
parts of the area feel like a giant golf course with sand traps everywhere or, perhaps more appropriately, a beachfront property.
but first a burger and ale at the only town's only local bar/restaurant.
then, the town of harrison
and a park with picnic shelters, toilets, water, swimming pool and unidentified sprinkler system. "rv's and tents welcome."
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