Nebraska, Corn, flat, Corn, feed lots, guess to use up all the Corn. We left the beauty, romance and history of Alcove Springs behind and headed down the highway, aiming to stop at Ft. Kearney. Pronounced Karney, all this time I had been pronouncing it incorrectly. They say pronouncing something wrong is not bad, as it means you are a reader. So, I forgive myself as an avid bibliophile.
A bit of history, before we don’t go there.
Ft. Kearny was established in 1848 and discontinued in 1871. For a while it became home to homesteaders, who levelled all the historic buildings. In 1920 it was purchased by the Ft. Kearny Memorial Assoc., and became a state park in 1959. http://outdoornebraska.gov/fortkearny/
The great thing about travelling with my husband is we are both flexible when it comes to road trips. After checking our guide, we decided not to head toward the Fort, as time was getting short, and we had miles to go before we slept. We opted for a slight detour to Rock Creek Station. It was well worth the stop.
As previously mentioned, this trip was to glean more knowledge of what it was like to travel the Oregon Trail for my upcoming book. Rock Creek gave me insight into the difficulties experienced crossing even the smallest creek, and how toll bridges, could be a God send, or a headache, depending on your financials.
While Rock Creek was a pony express way station, it is also infamous as the sight of a shoot out involving Wild Bill Hickock. Somehow, it is my belief, he may have gotten away with murder. https://youtu.be/tXTlGj0joYg
We drove past many wind farms. The wind out here is continuous. I can’t imagine what it must have felt like to have to spend hours in the wind and blowing dust. I have trouble keeping the dust off my furniture, let alone have it in everything. Makes those bonnets the women wore make total sense.
My ever patient husband has finally resigned himself that his wife does NOT like interstates, and will go way out of her way just to avoid them. On the flip side, and in my defense, turn about is fair play as they say. HIS ever patient wife will allow him to drag her miles and hours out of the way to go to a gun shop. He deals in antique firearms and is always on the hunt for a good gun. antiquesandguns.com. So, instead of bopping up to route 80, we took route 4 to 10 and up to Kearney, our next stop, having decided to pass up the Fort. We did drive by the fort entrance. Heading to Kearney, the town, we drove under the archway and research advised a stop, which we planned for the next day. A definite plus.
The museum packs a lot of information in one stop. And, best of all, a plethora (I love that word) of informational books for free. (They were available elsewhere, for a fee) Will be great research when I work toward finishing my book. I didn’t take any photographs, as there was a lot of information. More information can be found on their website. https://archway.org/
And so, the majority of my research ends, as we point our bright red car toward Wyoming. Sarge wanted to go to Cheyenne, lots of gun shops there, so we headed down route 80. As we cruise at 80 + down the highway, to our left, a small band of wild horses. Looking healthy thank goodness. Hard to keep my eyes on the road, did I mention going 80+? A horsewoman always has to look at the horses. Getting good at taking in a lot with a quick view. In fact, I even saw a loan coyote ambling through one of the fields.
This hater of interstates, hooked up with route 30 for a while. (We had stopped at a great gift and gun shop there) Much more fun that 80 and we still were going 65. Love those straight midwestern roads. Next state: Wyoming; full of treasures. Stay tuned.
Self Employed Again 