We headed north out of Scottsbluff for our next Nebraska destination.
Enjoyed loads of wide open...
Mixed in with more bluffs...
When someone says, "Nebraska"...
... is this what you picture?
"The openness of rural Nebraska certainly influenced me. That openness, in a way, fosters the imagination." - Matthew Sweet
Our destination draws closer.
Love seeing these old homesteads along the way!
A section of the Nebraska National Forest.
It is worth noting that the Nebraska National Forest is the second largest hand planted forest in the world. Although we love our forests we were exploring grasslands, bluffs and sandstone formations during this visit. So, we viewed this particular National Forest from a distance this time around.
How do you like our new home? Just kidding...
We are almost there! After having reached the end of the paved road to our next destination we knew that we had two options of gravel.
The first did not have great reviews but since we came to it first and it was reportedly shorter we thought we'd check it out for ourselves. The first 1/2 mile we were saying, "This isn't bad at all. What were they all talking about?" And, then..... what would you call a washboard road on top of a washboard road with icing made out of a washboard road? Yup. We knew we had been putting off some suspension work but it was obvious that even with brand new suspension this was not going to be the way we would get to our destination!
So, we headed on down the road a bit more to the next option.
This would be the road we drove to our desired destination. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 miles or so.
The National Forest in these parts includes the Oglala National Grasslands - and you know how we love our grasslands!
There is some water running through the grasslands and some of the area has been shaped by it.
Ah.... Mixed Grass Prairie
"The prairie, in all its expressions, is a massive, subtle place, with a long history of contradiction and misunderstanding.
But it is worth the effort at comprehension. It is, after all, at the center of our national identity."
- Wayne Fields
That seems like a good place and with a good thought to leave you for now; in the beginning of the long dirt road drive to our next Nebraska destination.
While the blog is still in Nebraska, Nicole is working hard in GA to get Annie put back together so that we can head south to warmer weather! While she's been outside these last few days Sandhill Cranes have been flying south by the hundreds (several hundreds). You know what that means. We'd better be doing the same soon!
See ya next time.