Stephen H. Long Trail 1819 — 1820

Day 12: September 4th, 2008 Grand Island — North Platte

Map Grand Island to North_Platte

Thanks to my nice neighbors I am awake by half past six due to slamming doors. So I get up at a quarter past seven and jump under the shower. Then I put my stuff into the car and check out. Around nine I leave the motel.

Today I will try the new restaurant, which has been recommended to me yesterday. But even at the end of town I am not able to find it. But maybe it is down at the Interstate where also the Motel 6 is located. I drive this endless road down to the Interstate. But there is nothing, not even the motel. Have I mixed things up?!

On my way back I slowly remember. The Motel 6 was one exit further. Therefore the Pam’s must be within the city limits. On my way back I finally encounter it at the spot, where I had the directions to. I am still wondering why I haven’t seen it on exiting here before. But okay…

I enter the restaurant and realize, that it is a real small family restaurant. There are only locals around here. Now I am really wondering if the breakfast is really as good as it was described. I order my usual eggs, bacon and hashbrowns with white toast. The breakfast is served really quickly and everything is made fresh. The bacon really tastes like bacon and also the hashbrowns look like homemade. And so it really tastes. This is really what has been promised to me.

Highway 2/Locust St, Grand Island, NE

Around ten I pay and walk to my car. There I get my laptop out and hook everything up. Then I mount my camera. After this I drive over to the next gas station. The first gas station that catches my eye on my way into the city is Casey’s. Therefore I gas up there. There is also detergent in the water to clean the windshield. This is really exceptional! Just before half past ten I am able to depart. First I drive Locust St to the south.

Backroad, NE

On backroads I follow the Platte River course. Alternately, on gravel and paved roads I make really good miles.

W Denman Rd, NE

Backroad, NE

Then I continue through Denman in Nebraska,

Elm Island Rd, South Platte River, NE

Elm Island Rd, South Platte River, NE

Elm Island Rd, NE

CR50A, NE

CR50A, NE

CR50A, NE

CR50A, NE

CR50A, NE

When it is slowly time for a lunch break I am not able to find a nice spot. But instead I receive a nice view of the South Platte River.

Backroad, NE

Backroad, Platte River, NE

H Rd, NE

88 S10 Blazer, Backroad, NE

Backroad, NE

Not before 2pm I find an okay place to have my lunch break. There I stop for a brief bio–brake and take some pictures. Then I realize that my car is surrounded by a countless number of bees. It seems like they have their nest around here or they are looking for the blooming weed that is growing everywhere around here. Anyways, I skip my plan for a lunch break and try to get back in my car as quick as possible without also having a bee entering my truck.

Lucky me, it works out and I travel on. Sometimes my planned roads are again private property and I must look for a new way around it. This works really well with my GPS software because you have a good map overview on the screen. At one of the gravel roads the road looks pretty much grown over. But there is no “No Outlet” sign to see. Therefore I give it a try.

Wahlgren Rd, NE

Wahlgren Rd, NE

Wahlgren Rd, NE

Kaneb Rd, NE

Bridge Out, Kaneb Rd, NE

88 S10 Blazer, Bridge Out, Kaneb Rd, NE

Kaneb Rd, NE

Kaneb Rd, NE

SE State Farm Rd, NE

SE State Farm Rd, NE

SE State Farm Rd, NE

SE State Farm Rd, NE

When the road turns from northern to western direction I suddenly see a sign that the bridge is out. And the “road” is now completely grown over. But I still decide to take a look at the bridge and see, if there is any chance of driving around. Finally I am able to throw in 4–Low to drive in second gear and lock up the torque converter.

When I arrive at the bridge I must realize that there is no way around. It once went over the canal, which is really deep and there is also a lot of current. There is no way through. Therefore I drive back and follow my GPS software.

Again, I am alternately driving on gravel and pavement until I arrive at a quarter to five at the Motel 6. There I am already familiar with the area. Therefore I am not forced to search around to get to the Motel 6 due to the weird layout of the road. It seems like the whole area is so weird in the road layout.

I ask for an upstairs room because you are not able to park in front of your room here anyway. But I receive a room facing the street, which is not really great. Up to now I always had the luck to get a room facing the other side. I get my stuff out of the truck and put them into my room. Then I drive over to Wal–Mart. There I buy CDs first. Then I continue to the drinking water. Unfortunately, they don’t have the Sam’s flat bottles. Therefore I must buy the Nestle bottles. But at least they have the regular sized apples and not these miniature apples like in Pittsburgh.

Around half past five I pay and walk over to my car. There a guy with his hot rod car asks me what I am doing with my camera setup. He also assumed that I am a storm chaser. I put my apples and water in the cooler. Then I drive back to my motel. Back there I first check my video taping of today. Then I am writing my diary.

Around half past seven I have finished everything and I type in all my receipts. Now I am ready for my dinner at Applebee’s. They are already busy like hell and I must wait a quarter for an hour for my table. Again, I have my Fiesta Lime Chicken. Around nine I pay and drive back to my motel.

There I am taking again care of my waypoints. All in all, I have not finished yet to rework all waypoints. However, I have just reached day 28. Hopefully I have enough time to rework all the other waypoints. While doing this, I listen again to my CDs, which I have bought in Pittsburgh. And after this I still have the ones, which I just bought at Wal–Mart. With prices between $9 and $12 I was not able to resist. Around eleven I make myself ready for going to bed. Eventually I am starting to miss sleep…

The next day is in preparation…