For me, driving across country didn't feel really strange until we reached Nebraska. I'm not saying anything negative about the state of Nebraska; in fact it was beautiful. But for two girls from New England, it was in Nebraska that things suddenly seemed very very foreign. For one thing, they aren't joking about the big sky country. It's hard to capture in photos taken through a car window on an iPhone, but the sky really is enormous!
And from Route 80, at least, it appears that nothing but corn is grown in Nebraska. I could elaborate on what effect all that corn has on the environment, but I wont. Suffice it to say that if Nebraska is part of the breadbasket of this country, then all we should expect is corn bread!
Actually, there are quite a few cows in Nebraska, as well. Meghan and I decided these were Black Angus cattle because they were black and we started to see them around Omaha.
The wind really goes whipping across those plains, too! It took us all day to drive across Nebraska, and the wind never stopped blowing the car off the road! It also never ceased to increase in elevation across the state. We began at about 1200 feet above sea level, and ended at about 5000 feel elevation. I drove for about seven hours that day, and then I fell apart with the strain of trying to keep the car on the road while the wind and the trucks conspired to blow us away. Oh, and the NEVER ENDING construction on the interstate didn't help me relax at all!
By the time these pictures were taken, however, Meg was driving and I was enjoying the scenery. We followed the North Platte River for endless miles, and it was not only beautiful, but I think I saw two flocks of Sandhill Cranes in flight. Seeing Sandhill Cranes would have been a big thrill, but Meg was not even close to being enthused enough to stop the car. Despite the fact that I missed out on a lifetime bird, I found the state of Nebraska both beautiful and exotic - and so did my daughter. If you've never been there, you really should visit!
