Be My Valentine

So the best laid plans almost always never work out the way you want them to in the end. Such as yesterday. Since I knew I would be arriving in Valentine, Nebraska this evening, I knew I'd be crossing over into the Central Time Zone. Here's a good way to fool yourself for this; set your hotel alarm clock to that time zone and get up then. It worked for me in Washington, so I figured it would work again. Well, it only works when you actually turn the alarm on. So instead of waking up 5:30 AM local time Casper, I woke up at 7:00 AM instead without an alarm.

So much for getting a jump down at the breakfast bar! I was upset at first and then figured, hey, I got a place to stay at the end of the day, why do I need to rush and get upset? So I took my time getting ready, had a good breakfast and enjoyed the start of the day. There aren't going to be too many more left.

Man, was it a gorgeous day outside! The bluest of skies and absolutely, NO CLOUDS. Oh yeah, it was above 30 for the first time in 4 days! Hopped on I-25 to get over to 20 East and there was absolutely no one on the interstate. It was all mine and I blazed across it. Little did you know but Douglas, WY is the Jackalope capital of the world. Who knew?

Once I got on 20, it'll be my home for the next couple of days. Unless I spy something interesting off on the map. But so far so good. If the sights keep looking like this, I'll be plenty happy.




Crossed over into Nebraska a lot sooner than I had expected. I know it seems weird, but I've been really anxious to see this state. I think people take for granted our Midwestern area and see it as nothing more than a barren land and a place to hurry across to get to the "good stuff."

I blew into Chadron and grabbed a great bite to eat at Helen's All Day Breakfast Cafe. No I did not have breakfast but a tasty sandwich and baked beans. Hit the spot! I got a pleasant surprise when I started the bike. The gas gauge began working again (as well as the camcorder). I struck off into the Sand Hills. Man, what a sensation riding through this area.




One interesting thing about these hills, is that they sit atop the massive Ogallala Aquifer, and marshes and temporary and permanent shallow lakes are common in low-lying parts of the Sand Hills. Which explains why I saw a lot of windmills out in the middle of nowhere. The windmills are being used to pump the water up for drinking water for the cattle roaming about.

With the wind at my back, I could watch the current of air sweep over the hills. They looked like they were covered in a soft velvet. I wanted to stop and run up on top of one of them and just lay down in the grass and hear the wind pass through the blades. It was a nice area to ride through. Very relaxing.




Ended up in Valentine and I'm gonna go looking for some ice cream tonight. It's in the high 70s here. I'm not used to this kind of weather any more. It's like I've gone through two seasons already (Winter and Spring) since getting here.

Tomorrow, I'm off to Sioux City, Iowa. Should be a short day which will be nice. I can find a great breakfast joint around here tomorrow and have a full on breakfast.

Today's Pictures