Day 23 - ending at Alma, NE - Nebraska on the Open Road

August 27, 2019

Day 23 - ending at Alma, NE

Awake and up at 5:00am. It was cool and very damp out. I stayed in the tent working on yesterday's report. At 7:00am the wife of the farmer I met last night, and three of their daughters, show up with breakfast for me: biscuits and gravy, fresh peaches, and coffee! How thoughtful and kind of all of them! The family quickly left to get ready for school, while I sat down for the best breakfast of this trip.

At 8:40am the sun came out and warmed me up a bit. Sunshine would come and go as I packed. Finally ready to leave at 10:30am. It wasn't until I was at the highway that I noticed it might rain today. I had had no internet connection back at Wilsonville, so no weather radar. Seeing the sky, I did then recall the weather report my sister, Laurie, had emailed me earlier: "Slight chance of sprinkles before 1:00pm."

My destination for today was Alma RV Park, next to Harlan County Reservoir, which I had listed as 43 miles away. Most of the day would be on NE-89, heading east. The road to Hendley was flat, and I was there at 11:22am. A few hills after Hendley. I didn't quite make it to Beaver City before noon. But I was close enough to hear Beaver City's noon whistle. The noon report for today is 13.3 miles.

At 12:21pm I arrived at the Beaver Bar & Grill in Beaver City for lunch. I had a Stuffed Beaver Burger (Swiss cheese, mushrooms, onions) and lemonade. All done with lunch and picture taking around town, I was back on NE-89 at 1:17pm.

So far I'd not been rained on. I now had an internet connection, sort of, and was able to check the weather radar. There were spotty rain lines north and south of me, moving ESE. When I got to Stamford, I decided to find the town park by riding around town and looking for it. I found the park at 2:48pm and it has a shelter!

Light rain started at 2:56pm. This was really light rain. I wouldn't even call it sprinkles. Looks like rain on the radar. And more is coming. Same "light rain" at 3:41pm. This wasn't worth taking cover for. Not even worth covering anything with plastic (which I hadn't). But, I did use the time for finishing up yesterday's report, and that was worth the break.

At 4:22pm I was back to bicycling. At 5:08pm I was where US-136 joins NE-89, which is just before Orleans. NE-89 turns south at the center of Orleans, but I continued going east on US-136. My turn south came later - at 5:58pm - a few miles north of Alma. It was a downhill coast for me from there into Alma, until I stopped at 6:15pm for supper at the Dairy Barn. I ordered a little more than I could eat: Reuben sandwich, onion rings, and a large cherry shake. There were two small booths outside and I sat at one of them. It was pleasant.

I left at 7:10pm for the short ride to the RV park by the lake. The last bit of riding was on a bike trail. I checked in with the camp host. There were no sites available for tenting with electricity, but the host said I could charge my stuff at his outlet box. The host's wife came out to hear what my trip was about. They were very accommodating, even asking if I'd had any supper.

I had the tent area all to myself. It is nice, with a view of the lake. The restroom was very clean, and I was tempted to take a shower, but I was just too tired. In bed asleep at 9:35pm.

Jeff

Spent: $6.59 plus $2 (lunch) + $14.31 plus $2.62 (supper) + $15 (campsite) = $40.52.

Day 23 - Wilsonville, NE to Alma, NE

Heart

Comment

Link