Nebraska - Our 50th State

We left St. Joseph on July 20, drove through the southwest corner of Iowa and into Nebraska. This was a milestone day for us. Over the past decade, we managed to visit every state with the exception of Nebraska. Thus, Nebraska became “our” 50th state. Touring all the states was not our objective, but things fell into place, the circuit was completed and we feel good about the rather unique accomplishment. We are also humbled that there’s so much to see and do in the U.S. and we’ve barely scratched the surface.

Ron hadn’t had a haircut since April. He was looking like a caveman and getting some strange looks from people. So, after setting up camp, we drove into York, Nebraska, stopped at the first barber shop we saw and had him properly sheared.  Our campground in nearby Waco was adjacent to a pond and golf course.  Can't complain about those neighbors.

One thing we noticed through many of the central states was the abundance of grass.  Acres and acres of beautiful lush green grass everywhere and homes with huge lawns.  Riding lawn mowers are buzzing around everywhere, even along the roads and freeways, trimming the shoulders and medians.  Never again will Ron complain about mowing our tiny lawn.
 Our next stop was North Platte, home of William Frederick Cody, better known as Buffalo Bill.  He was born in 1846, died in 1917 and is buried on Lookout Mountain near Denver. He lived a colorful life.  He was a Pony Express rider, Union Army scout, stage coach driver and wild west show personality. He was also a renowned buffalo hunter. Rumor has it that he killed 4,280 buffalo in just 8 months in 1867, thus earning the name Buffalo Bill.

His 1886 home and ranch have been restored and made a state historical park. The site of Buffalo Bill’s first rodeos and wild west shows is now Cody Park. Near the freeway is Fort Cody, a cheap tourist trap for those in a hurry or just too lazy to visit the historical park. The fort consists of a large gift shop and a “free museum” with an assortment of old wagons and a couple early log buildings. It happened to be near Applebee’s, so we had dinner and a quick look at the fort.

A small railroad museum adjacent to Cody park attracted Ron's attention.  The museum features a restored depot from Hershey, Nebraska, several train cars and one of the largest locomotives ever built.

Union Pacific’s Challenger (locomotive #3977) was built in 1943 and is the only one of its class on display in the world. It’s enormous! It weighs more than a million pounds. Its tender holds nearly 6,000 gallons of oil and 25,000 gallons of water. That’s as much water as 416 average size motor homes carry. This engine was built to pull passenger and freight trains at speeds up to 80 mph. When diesel engines took over, the old steam engines were phased out and old #3977 was retired in 1961. It’s good that one of these great steam engines has been saved. It’s a sight to see.

This is what a typical Challenger engineer might have looked like.  Or, maybe not.

We learned that North Platte is one of the most important railroad cities in America. It’s central location is perfect for servicing locomotives and assembling trains to be dispatched in all directions. Today, Union Pacific’s Bailey Yard is the largest rail yard in the world. It stretches for eight miles and covers 2,850 acres. About 10,000 freight cars are handled every day and about 80 fully loaded coal trains pass through every day.

Adjacent to Bailey Yard is the Golden Spike Tower. This 8-story lookout provides panoramic views of the entire rail yard, all the train operations, and much of the countryside around North Platte. From the observation deck, we watched as trains were being assembled and cars moved around. Very interesting to watch.

The Bailey Yard includes a huge Union Pacific maintenance facility that services and repairs an average of 750 engines every month. Another area called the East Run Through is like a gas station for trains. In an average day, 300 locomotives are serviced and sent on their way. The yard pumps 14 million gallons of diesel fuel every month. It’s quite a facility.

Our final stop in Nebraska was Scottsbluff. We took a scenic route to avoid highway construction. It added 30 miles to the trip, but we had the road nearly to ourselves. It was a relaxing drive through the rolling hills and farms of western Nebraska and past Pilot Rock, an important Oregon Trail landmark.

Scotts Bluff (the landform) was also a pioneer landmark.  (The photo below was taken in the morning from our campground.)  After learning its history at the visitors center, we drove to the top of the bluff for a panoramic view of the city and surrounding areas.

There are only three tunnels in the state of Nebraska and all three are on this road to the top of Scotts Bluff.

Bonnie was a little apprehensive about going up since the sky was black, the wind was starting to blow and a severe storm watch was in effect. The storm held off and the views were worth the drive.

Pioneers and wagon trains passed by Scotts Bluff and through Mitchell Pass.

This trip taught us that Great Plains weather is unpredictable and frequently severe, especially this summer.  We watched this storm from a distance as it bombed a nearby area with heavy rain and hail.

People rely heavily on weather radios these days. Bonnie is a weather watcher and not a fan of severe weather, especially tornadoes. She heard about weather radios and made sure we had one.  Now, wherever we go, we set the radio to the local frequency and it’s sure to wake us up three or four times in the middle of the night to warn us that something severe is approaching, is overhead, or is somewhere in the vicinity. Weather Radio . . . we love it and won’t leave home without it.

Our final night in Nebraska was calm.  We got a good night's sleep before moving west into Wyoming the next day.