Carhenge (7/9/23 Sun)

I had a good nights sleep at the Rocket Motel and packed up leasurely in the morning. I selected a nice breakfast place in town called Our Place, that wasn't far from the Chalet. On my way to breakfast I stopped by the Chalet and asked for Michelle. I had come to Custer specifically to stop at the Chalet which was owned by Michelle Lamphere. Who wrote about her motorcycle trip covering most of America (North and South) in a book called "The Butterfly Route".

Today Michelle was arounnd and we had a good long conversation. I felt bad keeping her from her workday, but it was nice to talk with her. Nate wanted a signed copy of her book, which I did get. As well as a sticker for my bike and one for Nate as well. I did take a picture of Michelle with my bike, after she asked for one of me with my bike. It would have been the photo for this blog entry, but Carhenge just won out (sorry Michelle).

Breakfast was good and I had decided to head south into Nebraska. Last time I was in South Dakota we rode out in South Dakota by Wall Drug and just dipped into Nebraska. It was near Omaha that my GPS failed and continuously rebooted from there until reaching NH many days later. So I had no fond memories of Nebraska and wanted to give it a second chance.

Todays ride was nice. Nebraska apears to be mostly lumpy farmland. There are a lot of large farms growing hay or corn. Lots of cattle and many horses. The lumpy small hills make it interesting, and parts of it has bad-land like ravInes that add interest. A few high points would show off more endless small hills and giant feilds.

One odd observation was that Nebraska cattle all seemed to huddle together in tight groups inside their enormous fields. My observations of cattle in other states they would spread out thinly at times. But nearly all of them in Nebraska grouped up tight. My only guess is they feed them with some sort of automation that generates a wide path as they move, or creates circles. I saw both square and circular patterns. It just seemed odd.

The other cool thing was the many long trains I saw. I tried hard to get a photo of one where it went off to infinity. I may have one or two on the cheap camera. Some had more than five engines. The longest did look empty, but another one looked like it hauled cars full of coal. They didn't make much noise while I was passing at 70mph, but they did seem endless.

At one point I caught a glimpse of a billboard for Carhenge. I recalled learning of it's existance on a TV show years ago. Once I knew it was close I had to ensure it was on my route, or it soon would be. Turns out my randomely selecte gps route took me very close, so I eventually made it. Carhenge more than lived up to my faded memory from the show. I think they've added a lot more "art" after the original installation. I was very happy to photograph it and to find they sold stickers.

Honestly I may now have more stickers than surface area on my motorcyle luggage. I need to take a bit of time to clean the box surfaces and add another dozen stickers.

The weather today was wonderful. It did reach 85F, but that didn't seem hot at 70mph. Tomorrow looks like it will rain here in the mid-afternoon. I should be much further east by then, but the line of storms is long and headed that way. So it could overtake me, or at least pass over while I sleep tomorrow night. I'm more worried about high termperatures and it looks like I'll still be able to avoid those for at least the next few days. It sure helps to have no time preasure or specific path. I plan to head east from here to Kansas City and then later through Saint Louis. Possible contacting friends and relatives as I pass by each. I'm leaning toward staying in the US for the rest of my ride home. But better weather could still send me up over some of the great lakes and into Canada. Options are a good thing, and I'm lucky to have a near endless supply at the moment.