Platte-i-tudes
Trip Start
Aug 15, 2011
1
15
33
Trip End
Oct 01, 2011
What I did
Fixed Bike, Worked, Build Fires, Worked
Kearney, Nebraska
Monday, September 5, 2011
Had a long way to go, so I mosied back out onto I-80. I tried to pick a spot that was about halfway between the Great RIver and the Mile High City, and the arrow landed on Kearney Nebraska. After driving through Omaha (a pretty impressive city much like Columbus, OH), and then Lincoln, things pretty much leveled out. I even rolled through my second York of the tour (apparently PA ripped off the British with York and Lancaster and then Nebraska and South Carolina ripped off PA) and got into Kearny pretty late in the day. The rec area had electrical hookups and a cell signal, but no water or wireless Internet. But, the infamous pay shower made its first appearance - a true test of efficiency and a race against time! Our campsite was right on a lake that TJ had all to himself, and he wasted prescious little time swimming out into the cool water. Only problem - it was almost dark and I now had a wet mutt on my hands. I started up a fire to dry him off, but he preferred to jump into the RV and skank it up. Nothing like falling asleep to the sound of crickets and the smell of wet dog.
Tuesday I got up and road into the town of Kerney proper in search of an Internet signal, which I found once again at McDonalds where I camped in the parking lot to get caught up on email and get some work done. From there, I located the only bike shop in town and bought a new set of pdeals to replace the one that had fallen off somewhere between York, PA and Pittsburgh. For a small town, Kearney, Nebraska had a really thriving downtown with lots of cool little shops, including my bike shop. I thought for sure the only way this was possible was with the absence of the dreaded Wal-Mart, but no, there was one north of town! How was it that this little town was still thriving despite the presence of Mom & Pop killing soulless Wal-Mart? Well, just a little ingenuity and community spirit. The Main St is town was paved with bricks and thus called "The Bricks". A clever dentist had converted the old movie theater into his practice and made it a unique movie-themed experience to visit the dentist. Other unique shops abounded, and even on a Tuesday there were tons of cars parked in town, the old barber shop was busy, and things were booming. I'm sure it took a concentrated civic effort to pull this off, and my hat's off to whoever helped make it happen - bravo, go, Mom & Pop!
So, back to the site I went for the afternoon to work, shower, and take a bike ride on a rail trail over across the Platte River. I have to tell you, the Platte is one of my favorite rivers (in case you haven't grasped the theme, I'm a water nut). I read James Michener's "Centennial" years back about the westward migration from Pennsylvania Dutch Country to Colorado, roughly the trek I'm on now and was fascinated with the discussion of the Platte and how it guided settlers west along the Oregon Trail - keeping animals and people hydrated. In fact Ft. Kearney was the first major stop along the Oregon trail after one crossed the Mississippi, so I felt it appropriate to make it my resting place as well.
Anyway, the Platte really has no banks....it's almost surreal looking, like the water is flowing on top of the land. It comes down out of the Rocky Mountains, splits into two major forks and fans out across the midwest irragated a helluva lot of land. Sadly, water grabs upstream have lessened the flow downstream, destroying a lot of the habitat, like the nesting grounds for the famous Sand Hill Cranes. Water is going to be a major consideration for the world in the not too distant future. More on that later.
I wrapped up my work dried off my dog yet again and said good night to Ft. Kearney.
