Well, I am heading back towards the East Coast today!! Got up at 4:30 am and packed up to head out at the crack of dawn this morning! Headed south on US 385 to Alliance, Nebraska and east on SR 2 through the sand hills of Nebraska. Got down between Custer and Hot Springs and had to stop for the buffalo in the road. I guess this was their early morning move to greener pastures!! Across from the buffalo were the prairie dogs. They are cute and fun to watch.
I think this was the king buffalo crossing here. He was huge!!! Really had wooly front legs! I guess that means something to other buffalo (probably, get the hell outta my way!!) I assume that was his "woman" by his side!!!!
I finally got past the buffalo and headed on down to Hot Springs. I had come through here back in 2005 which was the first time I came to Sturgis. I had forgot how neat this town was. Here was the old jail for the Hot Springs Dakota Territory back in the 1800's (thought it was a cool pic with my motorcycle!!).
This was the early morning downtown main street.
The stone architecture of the old downtown buildings was really unique and beautiful. Most of the downtown buildings were built in the 1800's using sandstone from a nearby quarry.
Geez, always have to include one riding self portrait!! Here I am heading down US 385. This was before it got hot and the watered down bandannas went on around the neck!! (The wind really does something to my beard!!)
Only in Nebraska!! This was a convenient rest stop. Just it time as I really had to go and the free wifi was very convenient!! Didn't stay long as it was gettin hot!!
Just had to stop at Carhenge. This is a really neat place. Check out their web site. It is an exact replica of Stonehenge just with old cars!! They even had a full concession/souvenir shop open every day with snacks & cold drinks!! I ended up being there at least an hour and probably 20 cars stopped by!! This is really out in the middle of nowhere too. It is not even on a major highway! It is 25 years old this year. Very well kept! Can you just imagine what someone will think a million years from now when they find this??
As I was sitting on a picnic table having a drink and a snack. A car pulls up and a man starts to unload boxes and a tripod. I finally figured out he was setting up an old box type camera. I walked over and started to talk with him. He and his wife were from California and were moving to New York. He was a retired golf course pro and she was a school teacher. They were driving across the country to New York!! His camera was a 1929 model made by Deardorff. He told me all about the camera and told me once he had it set up would be glad to show it to me in operation and let me take a peak under the hood as he took a shot!! That was cool. This particular wooden box camera was made from the wood of a bar top. Deardorff had bought up bar tops during the days of Prohibition back in the 1920's and used the wood to make their cameras. He has trouble finding the film for this type of camera now. He bought up a lot from Kodak before they stopped making it and has it in refrigerated storage. He also can and does use black & white X-ray film in the camera. They still make that, but I am sure it will go away at some time in the near future too. Anyway, you do meet some interesting people on a motorcycle travelling. I was just amazed at all the unpacking and packing he did just to get a black & white photo of Carhenge!! He told me he does have a digital camera on his iPhone, but that is it!!
On down to SR 2 and through the sand hills of Nebraska. My GPS told me "next turn in 269 miles" when I first turned onto SR 2!! The sand hills are interesting. There are areas of a lot of water and a lot of sand. Like miles and miles of low level sand dunes. Also, all of SR 2 follows along the BNSF railroad. It was just one long train after another carrying coal. Loaded cars (hauling Wyoming coal) heading east and empties heading west. So seeing the trains coming and going helped to pass the time!
This was my "cockpit" view for the best part of 5 hours today (when I wasn't passing a train and you can see one coming in this pic)!!
I stopped in Hyannis to gas up (didn't pass by a "town" with a gas station without topping the tank off). There I met a couple from Michigan on an Ultra. They were heading to Sturgis. We talked for awhile and they told me about a really neat motel in Grand Island they had stayed at the night before. He gave me a calling card he picked up in the lobby and had written on it "5 star hotel for $55". They said it was a great place they just stumbled upon with great people and very clean and comfortable with lots of food nearby! It was the Island Inn. I tried to call the place from the gas station on my cell phone. Each time I called I would get about less than a minute into the call and it would drop out. The cell phone coverage was very weak. It was funny, I asked a guy at the gas pumps where in "town" you could get a good cell phone signal and he just said "don't think you can anywhere, but some folks head up to the highest sand dune and seem to do OK". I wasn't about to climb up a sand dune to get a motel room. I finally got through enough the lady told me I have the room held for you and don't worry about a credit card. The best part too was that it was only $44!!
I stopped again at the "town" of Thedford and gassed up. I met the couple with the white Ultra and they were from Omaha. They were also pulling a trailer. They had also gone to Alaska in 2010 but in July instead of June. They had also taken this Ultra up the Dalton to the Arctic Circle. It was funny, we had both done almost the identical trip back in 2010 about 30 days apart. Only difference was they had had rain almost the entire trip! We enjoyed talking to each other about our trips!
This was the inside of the gas station in Thedford, NE. It was pretty neat with all the game heads along the walls. Probably at least 20 heads in there!
Finally made it to Grand Island and pulled into the Island Inn. The couple I had met earlier was right. It was a nice place and cheap!! Very nice, friendly people. A couple had owned and run the Inn for the past 14 years. She told me since I had said I was on a motorcycle that she knew I would want a room where I could park my bike in front of the door and window.
The room had the largest refrigerator I had ever seen in a motel!!
Now this is real service with a real fly swatter hanging on the wall! That really comes in handy in a motel room!
The local Grand Island Harley shop was one block away so I had to pay it a visit. Didn't buy anything but the folks there were very nice and friendly. Surprised they were open that late too, it was after 8pm already.
The Island Inn owner recommended a place just a couple blocks away to eat, Pam's Pub & Grub!! With a name like that you just can't pass up an opportunity to eat there on a motorcycle trip! I just knew it had to be good!!
It was a real local place with a nice waitress and local people eating there. It was getting late so it was well past their "rush hour".
My waitress recommended the roast beef when I told her I wanted something local to the area. She said it was excellent. WOW, was it ever good. This was two of the biggest "slabs" of roast beef I have ever had. No fat, just tender, melt in your mouth, ROAST BEEF!! Even REAL mashed potatoes!!
That was it for the day. I headed back to the Island Inn for a great night's sleep. Continuing to head east tomorrow!
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