DO YOU WANT CORN WITH THAT?

Neil's eaten a tad too much since we arrived LOL

The view from atop the museum, looking over the Lincoln highway

What a day of contrasts!

Before we left Kearney, Nebraska this a.m. we first went to the Great Platte River Gateway Arch – I thought this was just a wooden arch from the times when Kearney was a fort. Wrong!  It was totally awesome and overwhelming.  You arrive up the freeway about 2 miles from Kearney to see this wooden  fort type face span the freeway.

It’s so much more – and travellers – definitely worth a stop.  You enter the museum to see a huge elevator going up into the roof span, a movie visual at t the top of the pioneers coming across the region.  Either side of the elevator it’s as if you are climbing a rock face with models of people depicting the pioneers. Oh, and you are greeted by everyone in period costume!  The guy at the front was quite young – early 20s and told us all about the Indians in the area.

Once up the elevator you enter another world – a walking/talking tour of 120 years of American history of this Lincoln Highway.  The pioneers and what they went thru – horrible at times – the development of the railway, the road from its inception up until today- you wear a headset and there are people talking as if they are reading from their diaries, talks of the hardships, the death and disease etc.  Sounds gruesome, but really it was fabulous and I couldn’t recommend it highly enough.

Hard to see but these are the states the Lincoln highway traverses

A sod house the indians used

Outside there are walks along the river, a sod house which is what the local Indians lived in – all very educational.

Next on our agenda was going to the Classic Car Collection – awesome – over 5 million dollars in cars and over 170 cars.  We got to talk to the guy I had been in email contact with the last few months and he and Neil talked about the cars.  Great visit.

1956 Ford Victoria

1921 Willys (like Neil's car)

A 1956 Kaiser

We had to head east then, the day was moving along.  Left Kearney (pronounced Karney) and the landscape changed gradually.  Still flat, still LOTS OF CORN.  I mean it went on for really about 300 miles!! Yes, true.  And it went back as far as the horizon.  Apparently they use some of it to make ethanol.   

The landscape by the time we hit Omaha, Nebraska changed to a very green and a gentle roll.  Very pleasant and relaxing after long straight roads and the rocky scape of Nevada and parts of Colorado.

But the traffic – what can I say!!! Scary! And the freeway interchange. Some observances – Americans drive very fast – most freeways are 75mph – which is about 120km and scary as heck because you have to change lanes if someone is parked up on the shoulder and the cars behind are moving lanes too and don’t wait around for slower kiwis!  We got thru the interchange but it was nerve wracking.  We decided however we would keep going and decided that we would ‘sail’ through our original stop which was to be Des Moines – which we hit at rush hour!  Dumb.

But actually it wasn’t as hair raising as Omaha.  We now parked at Newton, Iowa and have decided to forgo Chicago.  

One of the other interesting things on the journey today was the huge (I know I say that word a lot but it’s very appropriate for the USA!  Everything is big to us kiwis.  Anyway, we passed a huge wind farm, and then a bunch of long haul trucks went passed all afternoon and they were carrying the blades - one per truck, and the central column – a span per truck. And funnily enough when we arrived at our motel tonight, a bunch of truckers were here ready for the morning to haul these things across the country!  Would have loved to photograph them, but haven’t had a chance yet.  For the men reading this, the trucks are 217 feet long (I think that is just the trailers).

Anyway… we’ve settled down for the night – had a lovely salad at Taco bell – after venturing across the road!

See you back here tomorrow

Jane and Neil