We left Loveland, Colorado this morning around 7AM. As we drove east Tour Guide Martha told us to take our last look at the mountains because they will soon be out of our view. It seemed a very short time until they were gone and in their place were the prairies.
Cattle feedlots were plentiful on both sides of the road, some of them with 100,000 cows being fed and fattened in preparation for slaughter. Large grain silos were nearby and double-decker cattle trucks passed us as we sped down the expressway.
Acres and acres of corn stretched out as far as the eyes could see, not so much as a hill in sight. The weather was quite warm, a big change from the past week we spent in the mountains. We packed away our coats and pulled out short-sleeves again.
Our first stop was at The Great Platte River Road Monument. A catered lunch was waiting for us inside with delicious food, but not a drop too much. We were each allowed ONE piece of chicken and our hostess had to tell us, when she saw the farm boy size scoops of mashed potatoes being taken, that this is all there is. Paul said later it might have been a good idea not to let us help ourselves since it’s rationed but rather they should have ladled it onto our plates themselves. At any rate we all had enough to eat in the end. One thing that Holmes County cannot be accused of is stinginess when it comes to food service. But then, looking at most of us, cutting back might not be a bad idea.
A large structure crossed high above Interstate 80 near Kearney, Nebraska. Housed inside were displays depicting the explorers and settlers who came to the area via wagon train, horseback and on foot. We were all given a small hand-held speaker for a self-guided tour throughout where we heard about the dangers and hardships in the wilderness days. From wartime hazards to conflicts with Native Americans to countless other challenges the hardy and adventurous settlers faced, the museum did a great job of showing the progression of development in the west all the way to the present day.
After spending a couple of hours exploring the museum we drove a short distance to the very first Cabella’s. It was small, with low ceilings and a few deer heads on the walls and bore little resemblance to the large, trophy filled complexes in Wheeling, WV, Spokane, WA and Dundee, MI.
I’m not a shopper so I took my copy of Hillbilly Elegy and found a shady spot outside and read. It’s a page-turner so I didn’t mind. A train rumbled by and when I saw it was pulled by three engines I counted the cars. One hundred and fifty-six!
We stopped in York, NE for the night. We walked to Runza, a nearby sandwich place for supper. Back at the hotel a few of us ladies played the first card game of the season! I’ve never been on one of these trips where we didn’t play any cards, or gather for music in the evenings. It feels like we are extra busy this time. Most nights it’s 7 or 8 before we’re back to our rooms after supper and everyone is just too tired. Or maybe we are all just getting old.
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