North of here and just a tad east lies the Nebraska panhandle. The most famous things in the western panhandle are Oregon Trail landmarks like Chimney Rock and Scotts Bluff. The most beautiful things in western Nebraska are the miles and miles of empty country. When you look a nearby ridgeline or hill top, you expect to see a Sioux hunting party or a mighty herd of buffalo stretching for miles and miles.
I try to make a loop up into Nebraska every year, sometimes twice. Yesterday's was special because I was going to meet forum member Jim Moore. Jim lives in the busy metropolis of Whitney, between Chadron (home of one of the best museums I've visited, The Museum of the Fur Trade) and Crawford, which is three miles east of Fort Robinson, a 19th century US Calvary Fort whee Crazy Horse was killed. Whitney supposedly has 89 souls but Jim says he hasn't met that many people, and he's lived there for several years.
Jim runs the boilers for Chadron State University and they are fired by wood chips. about three truckloads a day. The chips come from the slash piles around the pine-logging operations in the Nebraska State Forest. (Yes, boys and girls, Nebraska really does have a State Forest. It's beautiful!) He's got four bikes, his NT, which he rides to work nearly every day; an FJR1300; a Honda Valkryie tourer, and (probably the most interesting) a red Ural Tourist. The Tourist is a sidecar rig and is really neat. Jim says his grandkids love riding it it.
It was supposed to be in the high 60s in northern Nebraska yesterday, but if it got there it was after Jim and I parted ways at 3PM. I had gotten almost to the state line when it got cloudy, and a little north of Kimball, it started raining lightly. I never got wet, but it was interesting on 71 north of Kimball to watch the southbound traffic throwing up clouds of spray, while the northbound side of the road, maybe 50 yards away was dry.
I bought gas in Scotts Bluff at the Route 26 Diner, which recreates a 50's atmosphere and has a 57 Chevy on the roof. It reminded me of something I saw in Kingman, AZ on Route 66.
North of Scotts Bluff, the country gets a wilder look, with some badlands and incredible vistas. When I turned onto Nebraska 2, a few miles west of Hemmingford, I was soon past Marsland and into the Pine Ridge country south of Crawford.
When I got to Jim's we had a cup of coffee and then rode west past Fort Robinson to Harrison, Nebraska's "Top Town." "Top" is in terms of elevation. 4800' -- which is not the highest place in Nebraskas. That honor goes to the piece of land that adjoins Colorado and Wyoming in the SW corner of the Panhandle. Harrison is also home to the world's largest Aeromotor windmill and windmill parts dealer. My guess is that when you see a windmill pumping water for livestock, that the chances are about even it was made by Aeromotor.
We had a good hamburger at the local saloon, and then Jim went to a meeting and I headed home. South of Harrison is the Agate Fossil Beds National Monument. It's 5-6 miles of the highway and I didn't go there yesterday. I saw a magnificent golden eagle feeding on an extremely ripe pronghorn antelope -- that's kind of rare, because they don't become road kill anywhere near as often as deer do. Saw plenty of live pronghorn, too. They are (I think) the second fastest mammal, only slightly slower than a cheetah. I've clocked them at 50-60 mph. Since I was doing 65-70, it took me a while to get past the one I saw that was running in my direction. They are amazing animals -- even if they are not antelope. They're more closely related to goats and are a North America-only species.
I stopped for gas in Mitchell and a service guy for some internet provider pulled in behind me. As I finished topping off the tank, I realized that he was looking at the bike very closely. He saw my roundel and thought, at first, it was new BMW. But then he realized it was a Honda. He asked lots of questions and was very interested. I was able to tell him that the Honda dealer in Chadron has a red one that he can't sell because it is so slow.
He said he might have to take a run to Chadron to check it out. Jim, I told him to tell Dave that "Jim Moore's buddy sent him!"
On the way north, I'd been bucking a strong headwind. 25-35 mph, with stronger gusts. Just a typical eastern Colorado-western Nebraska day. "Breezy," as we say. When I filled up in Scotts Bluff, I was getting 42mpg. Of the 180 miles I rode from Scotts Bluff back to Mitchell, I had a headwind for about 90. And when I stared going dead downwind at Harrison, it started to die. By the time I got to Mitchell, it was only 15-20 mph with 25mph gusts. By the time I got to Kimball, it switched to the SE and picked up again. I still ended up getting 47mpg for the 428 mile trip.
It was a great day, even if the weather was 24 hours away from getting GREAT!!!
I uploaded some pictures from the trip into an album called "My Nebraska Loop": http://www.nt-owners.org/forums/album.php?albumid=76
I try to make a loop up into Nebraska every year, sometimes twice. Yesterday's was special because I was going to meet forum member Jim Moore. Jim lives in the busy metropolis of Whitney, between Chadron (home of one of the best museums I've visited, The Museum of the Fur Trade) and Crawford, which is three miles east of Fort Robinson, a 19th century US Calvary Fort whee Crazy Horse was killed. Whitney supposedly has 89 souls but Jim says he hasn't met that many people, and he's lived there for several years.
Jim runs the boilers for Chadron State University and they are fired by wood chips. about three truckloads a day. The chips come from the slash piles around the pine-logging operations in the Nebraska State Forest. (Yes, boys and girls, Nebraska really does have a State Forest. It's beautiful!) He's got four bikes, his NT, which he rides to work nearly every day; an FJR1300; a Honda Valkryie tourer, and (probably the most interesting) a red Ural Tourist. The Tourist is a sidecar rig and is really neat. Jim says his grandkids love riding it it.
It was supposed to be in the high 60s in northern Nebraska yesterday, but if it got there it was after Jim and I parted ways at 3PM. I had gotten almost to the state line when it got cloudy, and a little north of Kimball, it started raining lightly. I never got wet, but it was interesting on 71 north of Kimball to watch the southbound traffic throwing up clouds of spray, while the northbound side of the road, maybe 50 yards away was dry.
I bought gas in Scotts Bluff at the Route 26 Diner, which recreates a 50's atmosphere and has a 57 Chevy on the roof. It reminded me of something I saw in Kingman, AZ on Route 66.
North of Scotts Bluff, the country gets a wilder look, with some badlands and incredible vistas. When I turned onto Nebraska 2, a few miles west of Hemmingford, I was soon past Marsland and into the Pine Ridge country south of Crawford.
When I got to Jim's we had a cup of coffee and then rode west past Fort Robinson to Harrison, Nebraska's "Top Town." "Top" is in terms of elevation. 4800' -- which is not the highest place in Nebraskas. That honor goes to the piece of land that adjoins Colorado and Wyoming in the SW corner of the Panhandle. Harrison is also home to the world's largest Aeromotor windmill and windmill parts dealer. My guess is that when you see a windmill pumping water for livestock, that the chances are about even it was made by Aeromotor.
We had a good hamburger at the local saloon, and then Jim went to a meeting and I headed home. South of Harrison is the Agate Fossil Beds National Monument. It's 5-6 miles of the highway and I didn't go there yesterday. I saw a magnificent golden eagle feeding on an extremely ripe pronghorn antelope -- that's kind of rare, because they don't become road kill anywhere near as often as deer do. Saw plenty of live pronghorn, too. They are (I think) the second fastest mammal, only slightly slower than a cheetah. I've clocked them at 50-60 mph. Since I was doing 65-70, it took me a while to get past the one I saw that was running in my direction. They are amazing animals -- even if they are not antelope. They're more closely related to goats and are a North America-only species.
I stopped for gas in Mitchell and a service guy for some internet provider pulled in behind me. As I finished topping off the tank, I realized that he was looking at the bike very closely. He saw my roundel and thought, at first, it was new BMW. But then he realized it was a Honda. He asked lots of questions and was very interested. I was able to tell him that the Honda dealer in Chadron has a red one that he can't sell because it is so slow.
He said he might have to take a run to Chadron to check it out. Jim, I told him to tell Dave that "Jim Moore's buddy sent him!"On the way north, I'd been bucking a strong headwind. 25-35 mph, with stronger gusts. Just a typical eastern Colorado-western Nebraska day. "Breezy," as we say. When I filled up in Scotts Bluff, I was getting 42mpg. Of the 180 miles I rode from Scotts Bluff back to Mitchell, I had a headwind for about 90. And when I stared going dead downwind at Harrison, it started to die. By the time I got to Mitchell, it was only 15-20 mph with 25mph gusts. By the time I got to Kimball, it switched to the SE and picked up again. I still ended up getting 47mpg for the 428 mile trip.
It was a great day, even if the weather was 24 hours away from getting GREAT!!!
I uploaded some pictures from the trip into an album called "My Nebraska Loop": http://www.nt-owners.org/forums/album.php?albumid=76
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