Fort Robinson, Nebraska to Gordon, Nebraska

June 24, 2016

We woke up early this morning so decided to get started. Bill met Dale Ackerman in the campground last night and he expressed his desire to ride today for the first 20 miles. After we got morning chores done, we met up with him and his wife, Marilyn. We took pictures, 

prayed together and the guys were on their way. Someone was waiting for the dump station where I was parked so I said good-bye to Marilyn and drove away. The first 15 miles went really well…tailwinds today. Bill was impressed with the recumbent bicycle that Dale was riding. He could go faster with less effort and he didn’t hurt his back or neck while riding.

They had some water and snacks and took off.

Dale for 5 more miles before turning back,

Bill for another 15. I arrived in Chadron and saw some road construction up ahead. When I got to the top of the hill, I realized that it went for quite a ways. An Arbys was on the left so I pulled in there to turn around.  It was a quick left and then right after I got out of the parking lot and with the road construction, I didn’t have enough swing coming out onto the main road and something on a telephone pole snagged the edge of the awning. I looked in the side mirror and saw a 3 foot strip of awning fluttering in the wind.

Oh my, my nice awning that keeps out the sun! I’m not sure if we can patch it but I am not looking forward to Bill’s arrival this time. When he pedaled up I said, “You’d better kiss me now…” Then I showed him what happened. He didn’t fuss at me, just hugged me as I sobbed. He said it was just an awning and he could patch it this weekend. Bill taped it in place temporarily with some aluminum tape and hugged me again. He drove through the construction then hopped on his bike and pedaled off. This is the second small town we’ve gone through where they totally rip up the whole main street at once. Probably more cost effective but difficult to drive through pulling a camper. On the way past “the telephone pole”, I noticed a metal sign fastened to it at awning height….that’s what ripped the awning. So for now we have a redneck awning and I’m sure our “bumper to bumper protection plan’ won’t cover that either. We stopped at the city park in Hay Springs to have some lunch. 92 degrees and we are laid out in the camper. After resting for a few minutes, we were back on the road. 12 miles to  Rushville City Park. I found the park but no way to park under the trees. The truck idled while I tried to stay cool…up to 100 degrees now. Bill pedaled up, spotted a police car and went over to say Thank-You! We decided to head to Clinton, Nebraska about 7 miles away where I’m sitting right now. 101 degrees! I bet if I was next to a corn field, you could hear the corn grow. Its 8 more miles to Gordon where there’s a campground. After wandering around in Gordon for awhile, we found the campground just in time…a storm was brewing in the west. Full hookups but no wi-fi, no laundry facilities…that’s okay, I didn’t want to do laundry tonight anyway…;) Thanks for reading.