Day 21: How Now Brown Cow! (and black, white, and spotted)

We headed out of North Platte this morning and hit Interstate 80 E. We discovered that Nebraska is a very beautiful state. I think sometimes we are just too rushed when we go through areas that are mostly flat. But, for those that are willing (and able) to take the time and not rush through, but instead take a moment to look closely, there is beauty that is otherwise easily missed. 

One of the things that we enjoyed today, without spending any money, was viewing the beautiful green, gold, and brown fields. We enjoyed lots of different crops that stretched out as far as our eyes could see, wild flowers of all sorts of shapes, sizes, and colors, and an up close and personal encounter with a herd of cows!  Not to mention tailgating again with pbj’s (hey… that’s an experience!). 

One thing that Jeff really wanted to see was the convergence of the North and South Platte River’s (they come together and form the Platte River at North Platte). We drove around and tried to take some roads that we thought would lead us there but we couldn’t get to the spot where they merge (we did find a road that led there but it was closed). We did see both rivers though and the levees that are there to contain the swollen rivers. Thankfully, they seem to have a good system in place (channels and wetland areas) so there didn’t appear to be damage from flooding.

One thing that I really wanted to do was get pix of a farmer working a field with a tractor, wild flowers (of course), and a cow, preferably with its calf. So, we spotted a herd of cows close to the road and stopped. As I approached the cows they started looking at me and then began walking toward me. Pretty soon, almost every cow in the field was right by the fence, some lined up! I have never experienced anything like that… it was sweet!  

Anyway, for today, we decided to take 80 E to Grand Island, 30 E to 81 N (both US HWY’s), then N of Yankton E to Interstate 29, and up to Sioux Falls where we’re crashing for the night.

By the way… so many awesome pix we had a very difficult time trying to decide which ones to put up. They were all taken in this lovely state and really show its subtle beauty.

Until tomorrow