Day 17 - ending at Oshkosh, NE - Nebraska on the Open Road

August 21, 2019

Day 17 - ending at Oshkosh, NE

Starting at 11:30pm last night - 10 minutes after I was in bed - there were severe storms here. I don't know if they were officially "severe", I'm just going by what I heard during the storm, and what others said at breakfast. I was so glad to be inside during that!

I was out of bed this morning at 5:40am, and turning my key in at 8:12am. Breakfast next at the Riverview Bar & Grill, to use the 50% off breakfast coupon I received from the motel when I checked in last night. Done at 9:00am. Outside I talked on the phone with my wife for eighteen minutes. She sounds as busy as I am.

My destination for today is Oregon Trail Campground in Oshkosh. Starting out, I didn't pay as much attention to my waypoint turns as I should have, and missed one early on. That was probably a good thing, since I would have been on wet county roads otherwise. However, I missed seeing Courthouse and Jail Rocks. Anyway, the route I took was south through Bridgeport on US-385, then southeast on NE-92 to Broadwater, then US-26/NE-92 to Oshkosh.

At 10:28am I was at the junction where US-385 curves south, and NE-92 goes to no paved shoulder. This no-shoulder road was the best - smooth road, no traffic, and beautiful scenery.

When I crossed the North Platte River just south of Broadwater at 11:25am, I could see fish in a shallow side pool. What struck me was how muddy the main channel was. There was a definite line between clear and muddy.

At noon I was east of Broadwater. A set of double railroad tracks was on my right. The tracks are Union Pacific, with trains pulling full coal cars east and empties west. So many opportunities for pictures, it was hard to decide which ones to include in the report. After noting the noon mileage (20.2), I took a break for Gatorade and a Carrot Cake Clif Bar. The carrot cake one is pretty good.

Back riding at 12:23pm. There were bluffs to my left, but the highway stayed out of them. At 1:52pm I was at Lisco, and found shade in the shadow of a silo at their grain elevator for a break from the sun.

Afternoon riding was as pleasant as it was in the morning. Still stopping to photograph trains. The engineers always acknowledged me with a wave and sometimes also with their whistle.

The first "real climb" of the day was the overpass over the UP tracks just before I arrived in Oshkosh. I was at the self check-in station for the Oregon Trail Campground at 4:07pm. It took me until 4:30pm to commit to stay here. That was because of the weather forecast, which predicted a chance of storms overnight.

I set up on a slight rise near the highway next to one of the electricity boxes. All set up at 5:15pm, I headed downtown on the empty bike. I rode past the Shady Rest Motel on my way. It looked nice. I needed to stop questioning my place-to-stay decision!

I arrived for supper at The Patriot Grill. No one was there at the moment except employees, but they were busy taking carryout orders over the phone. Waitress Zoe was patient with me as I looked over the menu. I made the drink choice fairly quickly: lemonade. The menu item "James Burger" was different: a burger with bacon, cheese, and an egg! Sort of breakfast and supper together! I had Homemade Chips with that, and a refill of lemonade from Zoe. A great meal!

The cook, Ryan, stopped by to hear some about my trip. He told me a story about three guys who were on a mission to eat a piece of pie in every county in Nebraska. They had called ahead of arrival, asking Ryan to make a pie for them, since pie wasn't a menu item at The Patriot Grill. Those guys had strawberry rhubarb pie in Garden County, thanks to Ryan.

It was fun watching carryout customers come and go. Definitely small-town friendliness here. I surprisingly received some of that friendliness - Ryan paid for my meal! I told Ryan I'd need a picture. Zoe backed away as fast as my wife does when she sees a camera, but Ryan complied. Thanks, Ryan and Zoe, for giving me such a warm Oshkosh welcome!

I toured town a little more after supper, taking another train picture I didn't need. Back at camp at 7:05pm.

The campground owner stopped by with a welcome as I worked on the report at a picnic table. Later, because of mosquitoes, I had to move into the tent. At 11:15pm, with lightning in the distance, I rigged up three corners of the tent with guy lines. As I was doing that, Brent, a nearby trailer camper, told me to come over to his trailer if the weather got bad later in the night. How kind!

Finally ready for the storm, as much as possible, at 11:45pm. Time to sleep.

Jeff

Spent: $3.38 (Gatorade) + $5.52 plus $3 (breakfast using coupon) + $15 (campsite) + $0 plus $2.50 (supper) = $29.40.

Day 17 - Bridgeport, NE to Oshkosh, NE

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