GTTC: Day 2

We got our stuff all rounded up again this morning. Here it is:


We got on the road today about quarter to eight -- a little late by our normal standards.

From Columbia, we drove west on across Missouri. The Katy trail crossed the interstate twice, at Rocheport and again at Boonville.

At Kansas City, we turned north. We were never in Kansas but went up through St. Joseph on interstate 29 and into Iowa from Missouri. We were in Iowa for only about 12 miles, then turned west at Nebraska City into Nebraska on a two lane road. This let us avoid the congestion of Omaha and took us straight into Lincoln.

In Lincoln, we picked up interstate 80 and took it westward through the state, arriving at North Platte a little after 5:00 pm. As we drove into Nebraska, it started to rain and the temperature dropped. Yesterday, in Missouri, we had temperatures in the 90s. When we went for our walk in the evening, on the MKT trail, we were sweating -- it was quite warm. With the rain, the temperature dropped into the high 50s for a time. After we got past the rain, it didn't get above 70.

Here's our hotel (another Hampton Inn) in North Platte:


It's in the middle of a soy bean field!

Karen reminded me that yesterday we saw a McDonald's in the middle of a soybean field. We thought that was pretty ironic.

We were grateful for our reliable Vue when we saw the conveyances of some of the other guests in the parking lot:


Actually, our hotel sits right next to the "Cody Fort Trading Post", and the covered wagon was one of the displays outside the trading post.


There was also a buffalo statue.


And even a larger-than-life icon of Buffalo Bill himself.


The base provides a thumbnail sketch of his life.


From there we went walking for a bit. After a while, we found ourselves walking along Long Canal.


I wasn't sure whether is was called that because somebody named Long built it or paid for it, or because it stretched a great distance across the land. Most of the part we walked beside was very placid and slow moving. But after a while, it got a bit more exciting.


We saw these black-eyed Susans everywhere the last couple of days. They seem to be as common in this area as the little lavender periwinkles beside the roads are in Tennessee.


We circled back to the hotel on a track that brought us close to the soybean field. A lot of the soybeans didn't seem very happy.


But some were dark green and healthy looking, even though it looked like some of the stems had been eaten off.


As the sun was setting and it was getting chillier, we made our way back to the hotel to get ready for the night.


Now it's time for bed. More tomorrow.

Edited to add weather and temperature information.