I only saw one thing in Nebraska, and it was awesome

7/13/17

I woke to find that last night’s storm had cleared, leaving behind a kind of crappy cloudy day and an absolutely filthy mudball of a Mustang. I wondered how so much mud had managed to accumulate on her in the space of one day, but then remembered that I had driven through pretty much the entirety of the Dust Bowl and, well, it’s pretty dusty.

I decided not to clean her, instead opting to work on her “fresh barn find” look. A certain amount of ragged scraggliness (just made that up) gives me a feeling of accomplishment. Also, I’m lazy.

We set off north and pretty immediately hit the Nebraska border. I was informed that I was now living “the good life”.

I noticed no difference in the amount of corn grown, though Nebraska towns were more friendly feeling, which I guess maybe counts as the good life. A few hours in, I figured out that if I drive fast enough, all of the corn kind of blurs together and maybe looks like grass which is a nice change. I did also find grass a couple times.

A short five hours of driving later (yes, five hours now counts as “short” in my book… ugh) and we arrived at a destination! Because I ended up losing time on the front end of this trip, I had to forego some of my intended Nebraska destinations: Scottsbluff, Chimney Rock, and Agate Fossil Beds. But there was one attraction that I was not about to miss: Carhenge!

Alliance, Nebraska is home to this spectacularly redneck tribute to England’s Stonehenge. Apparently, a fellow got a wild hair one day and decided that he really liked Stonehenge, and really wanted his own here in America… and then built it out of junker cars, because that’s what he had on hand. According to a sign at the site, “the original 25 cars were erected during a Reinders family reunion in 6 days”.

The cars range in years, body style, and completeness, though it was hard to tell what all was there because all of it was halfway buried in the ground and painted silver. I thought it was hilarious that they didn’t even bother to pull the engines or anything – just stuck them in the ground like daisies with the engines hoisted a good eight feet up into the air!

Yep, oil filter and all!

This is by far one of the most peculiar roadside attractions I’ve ever seen, ranking up there with some of the most famous Route 66 stops such as Cadillac Ranch. Just a weird, weird place in the middle of nowhere. So of course I loved it! I really liked that they had opted to turn it into an art exhibit with other “car art” surrounding the main attraction as well.

Because why not build a "Spawning Salmon" out of car parts in the middle of a cornfield in Nebraska?

The "Fourd" Seasons

After some ogling and an adequate amount of gleeful cackling, Jane and I were ready to head on to our final destination for the day: the Black Hills. But first, we had some photos to take and an old favorite pastime to rekindle.

Kind of feels like I'm in one of those "Cars" movies.

Yes!! I get to take pictures of people taking pictures of my car again! My favorite. I cheated by luring them in with the popped hood.

Fortunately, our campsite in the Black Hills was only a quick 2-hr jaunt away through a couple more fields (this time filled with hay). We left Nebraska behind, me being entirely satisfied with my single destination choice for the state and Jane being less disgruntled than usual. 

Hmm yes, those hills do indeed look black...

Eventually we made it to the campground and set up camp in a nice little flat spot nestled in the midst of a stand of Ponderosa pines. If you’ve never experienced a Ponderosa pine before, you’re missing out – they give off the most incredible vanilla-pine scent. I was ecstatic to be there in my little home away from home. Even better, the weather was finally cool, my hamburger dinner was great, Jane was happy as a clam and as disgusting as an unwashed hog, and all was right with the world. 

People say that attaining perfection is a difficult thing, but it’s not. Perfection is nice weather, some good food, a comfortable place to sleep, and a car waiting to carry you forward to the next horizon.

Kelly signing out.