Kearney, NE

In the tyre marks of one of the first transcontinental highways … some days you just have to get from A to B !

We duly vacated Scottsbluff, as suggested by the gas station attendant, and made our way up to the top of the bluff above the Visitor Centre. The views were vast and we found that the name of the bluff was due to Hiram Scott who had died there. It is believed that he was returning to St. Louis from the American Fur Traders 1828 rendezvous in Utah when he contracted a severe illness and died near the bluff – which now bears his name.

About 25 miles southeast, Chimney Rock was another unique outcrop and landmark which could be seen for miles by the hardy travellers.

With workers back for Monday, we had more road works to deal with and more “Pilot Cars”. This one was a bit more complex as we came in from a side road which merely had a sign “Wait for Pilot Car”. We waited but there seemed to be no movement of cars from either direction. Eventually it appeared from our right – with its line of cars in tow – and shortly after returned for us to “tag along” as it passed.

We followed our own ever present landmarks – corn fields, train lines and the North Platte river – ever east, aiming for a stop at McConaughy Lake, near Ogallala, for a coffee stop. Unfortunately it is a bit of a tacky “holiday by the lake” destination and everywhere is governed by Nebraska State Parks “pay per use” fees so we decided to move onto North Platte where we found a nice park, Cody Park, on the river.

The big attraction in North Platte is the Golden Spike Tower, towering over the Union Pacific’s Bailey Yards, the largest rail classification complex in the world. The yard is 8 miles long and 1.5 to 2 miles wide with 301 sets of rails set on 2,850 acres. Personnel there sort, service and repair locomotives and cars headed all across North America. The tower is about 8 stories high and gives a broad view of the activity in the yard – from servicing the locomotives to the movement of the cars.

A somewhat more dubious attraction was Fort Cody Trading Post. The building is a frontier fort with soldiers manning the parapets and an enormous “Buffalo Bill Cody” statue out front. Inside, it is just another souvenir shop. Amazing what things people must buy !

Along with the migration of the thousands along the Oregon Trail, the Pony Express mail service plied its trade through these parts also. It delivered messages, newspapers, and mail using relays of horse-mounted riders for the relatively short timeframe of April 3, 1860, to October 1861. It ran between Missouri and California before the transcontinental telegraph was established (October 24, 1861). We stopped at one of the original Pony Express Stations, now in a park in the town of Gothenburg.

Before hitting the interstate for our last part of the drive today, we drove along part of the old “Lincoln Highway”. It was  one of the earliest transcontinental highway routes for cars across the USA. It opened on October 31, 1913 and ran coast-to-coast from Times Square in New York City west to Lincoln Park in San Francisco. At times it covered 14 states but has now been largely bypassed by the interstate system.

As we neared our final destination of Kearney late in the day, a massive structure spans the interstate (I80). The Great Platte River Road Archway Monument spans more than 300 feet over the roadway and within the structure features a historical exhibit of Nebraska’s and the Platte River Valley’s role in the building of America – very disneyesque but very interesting. We did the audio tour then headed for our hotel.

We had a quick drink at the “Evening Social” at the hotel then walked next door to a new chain restaurant – Old Chicago – one we had not come across before. The food was good – Adrienne had what was essentially a beef casserole and I had Chicken Fried Chicken !

Not far to go tomorrow but a long drive …..

Today’s Tour Trivia – Kearney, Nebraska is located exactly between Boston and San Francisco. And in nearby Blue Hill, Nebraska, there was an old law that “no female wearing ‘a hat that would scare a timid person’ can be seen eating onions in public” ! We certainly didn’t see any so it must have worked ! 😂