Lincoln Hwy Day 3
Today was a mixed bag of good and not so good.
Two days ago Nebraska had a lot of rain and when we checked into our motel last night there was a small lake of water in the parking lot. Our room was at the end of the motel so we parked near the back door. The puddle of water was behind the car and not really a problem, or so we thought.
Now the not so good happened when Steve went out to load our car up with our luggage. Someone or ones decided it would be fun to take their 4 wheelers and kick up as much mud as they could onto our car! The back end and drivers side was caked with mud! Twelve dollars later we had a fairly clean car again, but in pressure washing it some of the paint came off the back fender. I guess it could have been worse. At least no dents or broken windows.
We drove on an older section of the Lincoln Highway and came across Cozad, a very small town with a huge sign above the road stating Cozad 100th Meridian. We thought it was worthy of a picture.
Well, as I was promised we made stops today. The first was in Gothenburg, NE. We stopped at a historic Pony Express station/museum. The not so good was we’d been there before in 2016 on another Model A trip. It was still an enjoyable stop and Steve even recognized the woman running the museum.
In North Platt, NE we planned on going to the Buffalo Bill Cody museum. The first problem was finding it. We drove around in circles and when we did find it, it wasn’t open. So on we went.
We didn’t stop again for sightseeing until we got to Kimball, NE, another small town. Kimball’s main attraction is the historic Wheat Grower Hotel. It’s being renovated and will be rented to small businesses when it’s completed. The town looked deserted, but maybe it’s because it was Sunday.
I gave up on Steve’s phone map. I couldn’t figure out how to use it and it just frustrated me. As I sat in the car I decided to look at the book Steve brought along called “The Lincoln Highway, The Great American Road Trip”. I didn’t realize this book is full of information on what each town has to offer.
I had just finished reading about the State Line Truck Stop that straddled NE and WY in Pine Bluffs, WY. At one time it was a roadside oasis with 18 gas pumps and a café. Interstate 80 killed it and by the early 1990’s it was a goner. If I hadn’t read about it we would have driven by, but now we stopped and took pictures of the remains.
Just a short distance away is a 40 foot Our Lady of Peace Shrine. It’s said to be the tallest Virgin Mary in the United States. I made Steve drive to that for a picture, too.
We did have a small mishap. As we just got back onto the Lincoln Highway the car stopped running. We pulled over, Steve checked under the hood, loosened the gas line and rapped on the carburetor. That’s all it took to get it started again and away we went.
We were stopping in Cheyenne for the night and because I read the book, I wanted to stay at the historic Great Plains Hotel, built in 1911. We have been staying in cheaper motels and I thought we could splurge.
Although, the hotel is historic, I think it’s overrated. Our room is on a busy thoroughfare and I swear there must be a motorcycle race going on! The rooms are nice, but not as nice as the St. James Hotel in Red Wing, MN or the Strater in Durango, CO. The historic restaurant has been closed since COVID, so no breakfast here, only coffee. I don’t think I’d recommend this hotel to anyone.
We’re ahead of schedule, but now that I have this book to read I think that might change and we’ll be stopping more.
Somewhere in Nebraska the time changed and now we’re on Mountain Time!
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