August 6 - We ran into a couple at breakfast who have done a lot of touring in Mexico so talked to them for awhile. We left O'Neill after 8 with a lot of clouds which kept it cool and nice for riding. We had been riding past these fields for awhile and were pretty sure they were soybeans but Donna had to make sure.
This is flat tire #1, Donna's back tire. It must be a Monday.
And this is flat tire #2, Doug's front tire. It took us until lunch to get to Orchard, a mere 24 miles! It started really raining while we were eating lunch but we only had to ride it it about half an hour. Trouble was it got windy and while Donna was drafting she got a little too close and snagged the tent poles with her handlebars. Down she went. It really is a Monday! Fortunately a little road rash on the elbow and a bruised hip were the only result.
A few hours later at the Klown Museum in Plainview. One woman's collection has over 2,000 items and she bought only 8 of them. Very few are duplicates either. There are several other smaller collections or families as they call them. Mary was our tour guide.
The biggest clown of all ... your pick. All the motels in Plainview were full of construction workers due to expansion of a local ethanol plant so we stayed in the city park across the street from the museum. It had 4 camp spots set up next to the rest room. Yes it is still Monday.
Donna met these 2 young ladies at the pool when she went to take shower and they started asking lots of questions about our trip and the bikes, etc. Kelly (5th grade ) and Brianne (6th grade) are cousins. After they finished swimming they came over and "interviewed" us (their term) for over an hour until it started getting dark. They asked lots of great questions and we really enjoyed our visit with them. Completely made up for it being a Monday.
August 7 - The ethanol plant that is undergoing expansion. We got a slow start again today as Donna's back tire went flat overnight. Flat #3 for Nebraska (we've only had 1 per state until now!)
Another long rolling stretch of road typical of this part of Nebraska. Had breakfast #2 in Osmond at the Petal and Pastries where Doug had his first really good cup of coffee since Bend, OR.
A roadside memorial for Iraq veterans.
This is a typical farm in the rolling hills section of eastern Nebraska. It does look a lot like the Sand Hills but the hills are shaped differently and there aren't the large flatter areas in between the hills. We ended up spending the night in Laurel after waiting out a thunderstorm at the library in Randolph for a couple of hours.
August 8 - There weren't any places to eat breakfast in Laurel so we grabbed a donut at the gas station/convenience store on our way out of town. Our maps didn't show anything between Laurel and Jackson so we were pleasantly surprised to see this place show up at the top of a hill at mile 20 and it was open!
Not only did we get great breakfasts for really cheap (total of $7.50) but we got a personal history lesson too. The building had been a bootlegger's speakeasy, restaurant, brothel, and apartments before it was abandoned. It took the owners 3 years to restore the inside. The floor was really beautiful oak and the bar was an antique from Yankton.
It started raining about 10 miles into the day and rained all day. It was in the 70's with no wind so it really was pretty decent riding. And the road had a great shoulder.
A fine collection of wind mills just outside of South Sioux City.
The Missouri River and the end of our time in Nebraska. It was sort of sad as we really enjoyed the land and the people there.
Crossing the state line into Iowa.
We visited Albrecht's Bike Shop in Sioux City and they cleaned our chains and bikes for free even though we offered to pay. We ended up stopping for the day not long after that because we were totally soaked and it just kept raining harder and harder.
August 6 - We ran into a couple at breakfast who have done a lot of touring in Mexico so talked to them for awhile. We left O'Neill after 8 with a lot of clouds which kept it cool and nice for riding. We had been riding past these fields for awhile and were pretty sure they were soybeans but Donna had to make sure.
This is flat tire #1, Donna's back tire. It must be a Monday.
And this is flat tire #2, Doug's front tire. It took us until lunch to get to Orchard, a mere 24 miles! It started really raining while we were eating lunch but we only had to ride it it about half an hour. Trouble was it got windy and while Donna was drafting she got a little too close and snagged the tent poles with her handlebars. Down she went. It really is a Monday! Fortunately a little road rash on the elbow and a bruised hip were the only result.
A few hours later at the Klown Museum in Plainview. One woman's collection has over 2,000 items and she bought only 8 of them. Very few are duplicates either. There are several other smaller collections or families as they call them. Mary was our tour guide.
The biggest clown of all ... your pick. All the motels in Plainview were full of construction workers due to expansion of a local ethanol plant so we stayed in the city park across the street from the museum. It had 4 camp spots set up next to the rest room. Yes it is still Monday.
Donna met these 2 young ladies at the pool when she went to take shower and they started asking lots of questions about our trip and the bikes, etc. Kelly (5th grade ) and Brianne (6th grade) are cousins. After they finished swimming they came over and "interviewed" us (their term) for over an hour until it started getting dark. They asked lots of great questions and we really enjoyed our visit with them. Completely made up for it being a Monday.
August 7 - The ethanol plant that is undergoing expansion. We got a slow start again today as Donna's back tire went flat overnight. Flat #3 for Nebraska (we've only had 1 per state until now!)
Another long rolling stretch of road typical of this part of Nebraska. Had breakfast #2 in Osmond at the Petal and Pastries where Doug had his first really good cup of coffee since Bend, OR.
A roadside memorial for Iraq veterans.
This is a typical farm in the rolling hills section of eastern Nebraska. It does look a lot like the Sand Hills but the hills are shaped differently and there aren't the large flatter areas in between the hills. We ended up spending the night in Laurel after waiting out a thunderstorm at the library in Randolph for a couple of hours.
August 8 - There weren't any places to eat breakfast in Laurel so we grabbed a donut at the gas station/convenience store on our way out of town. Our maps didn't show anything between Laurel and Jackson so we were pleasantly surprised to see this place show up at the top of a hill at mile 20 and it was open!
Not only did we get great breakfasts for really cheap (total of $7.50) but we got a personal history lesson too. The building had been a bootlegger's speakeasy, restaurant, brothel, and apartments before it was abandoned. It took the owners 3 years to restore the inside. The floor was really beautiful oak and the bar was an antique from Yankton.
It started raining about 10 miles into the day and rained all day. It was in the 70's with no wind so it really was pretty decent riding. And the road had a great shoulder.
A fine collection of wind mills just outside of South Sioux City.
The Missouri River and the end of our time in Nebraska. It was sort of sad as we really enjoyed the land and the people there.
Crossing the state line into Iowa.
We visited Albrecht's Bike Shop in Sioux City and they cleaned our chains and bikes for free even though we offered to pay. We ended up stopping for the day not long after that because we were totally soaked and it just kept raining harder and harder.
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