We left Valentine at around 06:50 this morning. We are trying to get on the road earlier so that we can miss as much of the afternoon heat as possible. 
Valentine was still sleeping. Saturday night must have been tough. Both of us had a short night, as we could not sleep well.
This is a morning view of the Valentine Rail Trail Depot. We left two bottles of chain lube here and trust they will be used by the right people. There are no bike shops in Valentine.
We rreached the end of the paved trail on the edge of Valentine. From here the trail is defined and earmarked, but the State Government has not been able to allocate funds for the extension further west to Chadron.
We saw this interesting barn next to the road and
enjoyed the early morning light on the farms along the road.
This is a view of the unfinished trail with Christine cycling on the road.
So many of the structures seem to be complete. It is a pity that the entire trail has not yet been completed.
Interesting flowers.
We were happy to pass into the Mountain Time Zone.
You can see the unfinished Cowboy Trail on the right.
Beautiful hills. We agree with the Nebraskans that we met further east. They mentioned the beauty of the Sandhills and we can now vouch for it.
The Town of Nenzel officially has 20 inhabitiants according to the last Census, but they have this beautiful little Centennial Memorial Forest where we stopped for a snack. The town was closed.
After about 7 miles we reached Cody NE.
We stopped for a soda pop from the vending machine behind me. And, I had to get in a short ride on the local pony.
Cody has this beautiful garage, but there is not a lot of movement here either.
We cycled past this marsh dam
and these beautiful horses.
We soon saw Merriman in the distance and
camped out in the City Park. The building on the left has a hot/cold shower and a toilet - all for free.
While resting after our 61 miles, we met up with two fellow cyclists from Grand Island NE. Bill and Jude Lammert came over with cold beers and we chatted the afternoon away. They arranged their trip a little differently and we thoroughly enjoyed the advice we received on what lies ahead. We shall certainly change our routes a bit to take this into account.
In the end we had dinner with them in their camper and the chats just continued. It is a pity that we cannot cycle together for some time. However, we know we shall meet again.
We had some thunderstorms tonight and I was very glad for the picnic shelter. We would not be able to pitch the tent though and we shall sleep on the tables tonight. There is always something new.
Ohh..my back aches from the thought of sleeping on picnic tables! The flower is, I think, a wild begonia, also called veiny dock. I have only been in the Mountain Time Zone once when I took my youth group from the church in Tulsa, OK, where I was minister to children and youth, to El Paso, TX, 1992. Blessings and prayers, Jim
ReplyDeleteIt is great to hear your stories and see the changing scenery as you trek west. You both are doing a great job of making the best of whatever situation or weather you come across, and that picnic table sleeping does sound challenging!
ReplyDeleteThe height of those two barns pictured is very puzzling. In a tornado area, they would seem to be very at risk
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