Day 5 - Red Haw State Park to Valentine, NE

Again I started early, this time slightly after dawn. Thankfully, I didn't get lost for a third driving day in a row. I was, however, making pretty good time today, so I decided to go farther than I initially planned. You'll also note the first pictures of my trusty steed (turtle?) for this journey. I thought it was time that everyone could see how this trip was being done. Here was today's route:


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The rest of Iowa progressed uneventfully. It's a rather pretty state. But I was glad to get to reach the Missouri River and the Iowa Welcome Center/Western Trails History Museum, where I found free wireless access to update the blog this morning. In front of the museum was a large polished monolith that depicts a cross section of the West from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean.


From there, I crossed into Nebraska, hoping for a change from the ruthless sameness of corn field, corn field, soybean field, corn field, soybean field, soybean field, corn field of Illinois and Iowa--for the love of god, could we grow something else?! But eastern Nebraska disappointed. It wouldn't be until well across the state that the scene began to change.

The change occurred at roughly the 100th meridian, which incidentally is the somewhat mythic beginning of the West. The 100th meridian roughly corresponds to where the 30 inches of rain per year line is in the Plains. West of the line, it rains less than 30 inches, and east of the line it rains more than 30 inches. For comparison, New York City gets about 44 inches per year. I stopped at the 100th meridian at about 5pm and shot these pics. The first is looking west, and the second is looking back east. I don't see any difference.



Kidding. Actually the change is surprisingly dramatic. Suddenly, you go from the corn and soybean farms to ranch land. It is as if the trees have been plucked en masse from the land, leaving nothing but tough prairie grasses and sandy hills. This pic was taken just east of the 100th meridian, and you can see the trees already disappearing.


I finally pulled in for the evening at the Riverside Campground on the banks of the lovely Niobrara River just outside of Valentine, NE. It's a lovely, shady, inexpensive little place with free wireless internet. How lucky!

The view of the river from the camp.



My campsite.


Tomorrow will be a shorter driving day, as I head into South Dakota. I'm hoping to stay in Wind Cave National Park, which, if I can find a campsite, will be my first National Park of the trip. However, there's a chance that I won't be able to find a spot because the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is currently happening, and if my experience from moving to NY three years ago at the same time of year was prescient, campsites may be few and far between. All part of the adventure...