Day 52 - ending at Neligh, NE - Tri-points on the Tri-speed

July 4, 2013

Day 52 - ending at Neligh, NE

Posted via email Fri Jul 5 06:45:02 2013 PDT

It was very calm and pleasant overnight, and I could have slept longer, but got up at 5:07am to work on yesterday's report. Had a cool breeze once the sun was up. The bike battery recovered, thanks to its overnight charge from the "Battery Tender" plugged into the AC outlet. This morning's unloaded battery voltage was 12.8v.

Left at 9:46am. Back through town to US-20, then east. Arrived at McDonald's at 10:02am. Ordered their Big Breakfast with Hot Cakes, two Cinnamon Melts, orange juice, and coffee. Finished report and sent it in. Left at 11:25am. Certainly not the early start I was hoping for.

A strong south wind on this southeast highway today. Passed Inman at 12:12pm. They apparently have camping at their park, though I didn't go and check it out. I turned on the radio and this time got KBRX (Country) out of O'Neill. At 1:05pm, I arrived where US-20 and US-275 split. I took US-275 - actually everybody did - it was the detour for US-20 for a while.

Arrived in Ewing at 2:07pm, and stopped at the Westend Mini Mart for chocolate milk. There was an air hose where I parked the bike, so I took this opportunity to raise the pressure in each tire from 53psi to 70psi. Continued on through Ewing to Schmidt Park. The city's Fourth-of-July activities were going on at the park, but no one was at the pavilion where I was taking my break.

Back on the road at 2:40pm. I turned off the radio, since the wind was making it too hard to hear. I wanted to make it to Norfolk today, but that now looked beyond reasonable reach. Well, maybe I'll go for Tilden.

Arrived in Clearwater at 3:55pm. Stopped at the Shell Hy-way Food Mart for an apple pie and Dr Pepper. As I left, I met Rick Nolze, who recited a story he claims Sir Winston Churchill told him when he was eight years old. It was a speech, actually. He did it very well. Apparently, Clearwater has a connection to Churchill, with a house there being offered to Churchill for his use, after he was made an honorary US citizen. I ran into Rick again when I was taking a picture of downtown Clearwater. He told other stories about the flagpole, the town, and how the neighbors have competition on who has the best fireworks show. He also said I should camp in Neligh, since they have ash trees there, and ash trees provide the best shade. After saying farewell to Rick, I left at 4:32pm. A little farther down the road, I stopped to check, using the BlackBerry, camping and Fourth-of-July activities. It looked to me like Tilden was having fireworks at their camping park. Neligh wasn't. OK, I'll settle for Neligh, as long as I get the report done tonight for an early start in the morning.

Arrived at the city limits at 5:37pm. A Pizza Hut was ahead - and open - so I stopped there. Had a personal-size Supreme Pizza and a Dr Pepper. Left there at 6:22pm to find Riverside Park. Up the hill, curve right, then down the hill brought me to the park. Rode over to the camping area. They were almost full, but at 6:41pm I found an empty site where kids were filling balloons with water from the hydrant. They came over to the bike and asked questions about my trip for forty-five minutes. When I mentioned I'd bicycled through Clearwater, some of the kids said they live there. I told them about meeting a gentleman in Clearwater who knew a lot about the town. They said, "That must have been Rick Nolze. He likes to tell stories." One girl gave me a feather so I could remember them. Another younger girl asked if my tent was big or little. I said big. After I had the tent set up, she said, "That's not a big tent. That's a little tent. My tent is bigger than that!" Then they went back to filling water balloons. The tent didn't get too wet from all the water flying around.

I checked the bike tires, and replaced one spoke. This one had been replaced before and was a steel "Huffy" one!

As it started getting dark, most of the campers drove off to watch the city fireworks at the airport. I took a shower and feel so much better. I was able to watch the fireworks from here - both the city's and ones from a nearby neighborhood. Worked on report. It's almost midnight. Fireworks are still going off in the campground, and it has started to sprinkle. I don't think that was predicted.

Jeff

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Spent: $11.94 (breakfast) + $2.25 (chocolate milk) + $1.71 (pie, soda) + $6.26 plus $1.50 (supper) + $5 (campsite) = $28.66.

Day 52 - O'Neill, NE to Neligh, NE

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+ plus signs indicate pictures added after returning home from the trip +