July 5, 2019
Day Twenty-six: Gordon, Nebraska to Valentine, Nebraska
I was out early today. Most of my stuff was already packed and on the bike last night. I rarely have my act together to this degree.
No one else was stirring at the hotel before 6:00, so I tried to be quiet as I carried the bike down the stairs to the lobby, where I briefly examined what appeared to be a "wall of Fame" of 70s and 80s-era Nebraska celebrities.
US-20 was very empty this morning. The sky was dark behind me, and I saw a few flashes of lightning in my helmet mirror. I thought I might be able to out-ride it, but the rain eventually caught me, and I stopped and put on the rain jacket. I rode for five miles in a light drizzle, and then it was over.
The Sandhills were subtly beautiful, prettier than yesterday. There was a slight headwind, and of course some climbing, but I was in a better mood this morning.
The first town of the day was Merriman, population 128. Virtually every business was defunct or not open this morning.
I took a few photos, then walked into a service station, which was an actual, old-school service station where vehicles were worked on, not a convenience store.
There was a small area with a few cold drinks and snacks, though, so I walked in and bought a can of pop, then sat down at a table. As I looked around, I regretted giving the owners, who were sour and atypically unfriendly based on my prior experiences in Nebraska, even 75 cents of my money.
The walls were plastered with overtly political posters. There was one of the large yellow "Don't Tread on Me" flags hanging from the ceiling. The man had on a t-shirt announcing in the crudest terms his disdain for the roughly half of the population of the USA which doesn't share his political allegiance. It was kind of a hostile vibe, actually, so I left without spending any more money on snacks, as I'd planned when I walked in.
A few miles later, the sun came out.
And I had a tailwind.
Cody, only slightly larger than Merriman, was much, much nicer.
I walked into a nice little grocery store that is interesting for two reasons: It is operated by high school students, and it was constructed from bales of straw.
I bought some salted peanuts and a ripe banana from the kid running the store, then talked to a couple of older ladies. They had grown up in Cody, and were back for a family reunion.
They were very excited to tell me about Cody's recently famous enterprise: A vinegar production facility started by their "Cousin George."
"You must go see Cousin George!"
Sadly, I didn't have time today for a personal tour of Cousin George's vinegar factory.
There was a bar and grill in Cody, but it didn't open for another hour, so I took a few photos and then got back on the road.
I stopped in tiny Nenzel, where there were a few houses, a couple of defunct stores, and a Catholic church with shade trees and a comfortable bench where I sat and ate peanuts.
Down the road I stopped in Kilgore, population 77.
Kilgore had some falling down buildings, and, to my surprise, a nice, large bar and grill. I went in, sat at the bar, ordered french fries, ate them, then went outside to find that my tailwind was even stronger.
A few miles later I exited the Mountain time zone.
The tailwind was awesome now. I zoomed along until I arrived in Valentine, which seemed much, much busier than its population of 2,737 would indicate.
I first stopped at a super-busy McDonald's, where I used my phone to investigate lodging options, while half-listening to the conversation of a table of old ladies. One of them was 99, but seemed pretty blase about it.
I checked into the cheapest motel in town, which wasn't that cheap, then ordered a pizza from Casey's and brought it back to my room. I'd been dreaming about this pizza for twenty-six days. Finally.
I was tired now, and also possibly in a "pizza coma", as my wife calls it. I went to bed while it was still light outside.
Today's ride: 94 miles (151 km)
Total: 2,092 miles (3,367 km)
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