The surprise of Nebraska/ and the education of an East Coast snob

I am sitting in a Best Western hotel in Ogallala, Nebraska which I might have stayed in once before with Chip. I know we stayed in a Stagecoach Inn, Best Western, but I think there are several here in the West. We would have been coming down from South Dakota on our way to Colorado if we had been here. It looks and sounds familiar to me, but I cannot quite settle it in my mind. At any rate, Travelling Rose - my special travel agent -  always told me that Best Westerns were generally the best of the inexpensive hotels and my experience in this trip has certainly born that out.  

I really don't understand the hotel industry. In these under 100/night places (1) dogs are welcome; (2) breakfast is included; (3) wireless Internet access is free; (4) there are refrigerators and often microwaves in the room and (5) there is a guest laundry. In the fancy hotels guests get much prettier lobbies and furnishings (tho with the Marriott chain that is actually questionable)  and, of course, better towels and sheets, but - if they take pets, there's a charge, Internet access has a charge, a refrigerator in the room (which I need for this medication I am taking) has a charge, forget laundry - god help us if we need something washed or ironed, and generally breakfast is absurdly expensive. I've brought my own big towel so I'm not at all sure the somewhat better mattress and more spacious lobby is really worth a couple of hundred dollars/night more!! Actually, let me restate that. I'm pretty sure it is not.  (And as you know, I'm not at all adverse to luxury...)




I have totally reassessed my opinion of Nebraska now that I've driven through the state from East to West. As I said before, I had driven through parts of the state on other trips and do not remember it as anything other than flat corn fields.  Nebraska is middle America in every sense.  It is geographically in the middle, obviously.  But I think it is in the middle by size and population as well.  So, my recollection was that there was little special about the state.  This trip has given me a wholly different view.  I had an absolutely beautiful ride. It turns out about 25% of the state is what is called the Sandhills area and that is what I traversed yesterday. There is no single Sandhills park - at least none that I could find.  Rather, it is an area - and the pastoral beauty is something special.  This was one of Charles Kuralt's (remember him on Sunday Morning? Gosh, I miss him) most favorite drives and now I understand why. He thought Nebraska’s Highway 2 "one of America’s 10 most beautiful highways".  Now I have to correct him.  This road is most definitely NOT a highway.  It is a two lane county road.  But, as to the effect it has on you as you drive it?  He was right on:


           Like the sea the emptiness of the Sandhills gives the traveler a strange sense of comfort. Highway 2 is not just another highway that goes somewhere Highway 2 is somewhere.

This is a cow nursing her calf high up a steep hill. (Believe it or not)

I tried to take pictures that would capture the landscape - who knew there were such rolling hills in Nebraska - but my little point and shoot camera cannot capture the changes in depth that our eyes register. At least, I don't know how to make it do that.  Mostly, where the plains are flattest, corn covers the earth from the road to the horizon. Where the hills overlap, it is cattle. Small herds appear as black spots dotting the bright, rich green background. And then, who would have thought it? There are beaches in Nebraska. There are small beaches along rivers good for wading and sitting on rocks dangling toes in the clear fresh waters.  And there are large lakes made from damming up those rivers.  These man-made lakes have sandy shores - I'm not sure how,  and it looks and feels a lot like New Hampshire or Wisconsin.  Amazing.

I haven't met many people, but those I have interacted with are open and friendly and seem quite content with their lives.  Mostly I talked with Tina, the innkeeper of the Farwell Arms and her husband who works in insurance sales and has travelled extensively    Tina told me her entire life story as we sat over coffee and could not have been more generous or concerned about me, Tramp, and our comfort. Her daughter in Grand Island just turned 40 and Tina is concerned about how liberal she has become in her political and social views and behaviors.  She also told me a story of driving a long tunnel from Illinois into Maryland (a very long tunnel! ) but other than that, she is clearly a woman with dreams who - despite being 66 already - is planning on living those dreams and I admire her for that.

Cody Park in North Platt

Today I drive into Boulder. I talked with Edward this morning. He and his girlfriend are already there and staying with other friends. They are all going to a wedding this afternoon and I'll meet them and spend the day with them tomorrow. There is a heat wave in Colorado this weekend - it will be sunny but in the high 90's. Clearly we will have to find a beach somewhere. No hiking in that heat.