SUSAN: Breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express does not start until 7 am so we had to sit in the lobby and wait to eat. It gives me some time to catch up on my journaling. Also breakfast at hotels are never great so I only ate a little bit which is OK because I generally do not eat breakfast.
Our first destination today is Carhenge located just north of Alliance on Highway 87. This was on Jim's list of must see, I am certainly glad I got to see it. It is literally in the middle of nowhere and the way it is constructed certainly is a tribute to Stonehenge. It was created by a Nebraska native who worked in England and wanted to replicate Stonehenge, England’s ancient mystical alignment of stones that mark the sun and moon phases. He was an engineer and studied the design and purpose of Stonehenge. He wanted to replicate it and he got his family members together on the family farm in Nebraska during the summer solstice of of 1987. Carhenge is the result. There have been additions to it over the years and it has been donated to the City of Alliance, NE. We were pretty much there by ourselves and walked in and out of the exhibit. There were tons of pigeons nesting in the tops of the cars so there is pigeon poop all over the place which is kind of gross. I do have to say, it was astounding to see.
JAMES: Cool again this morning. 49 degrees and overcast. Stopped at Carhenge one more time so Susan could experience the magic. Our plan for today will be to visit Chimney Rock on our way to Scotts Bluff. Chimney Rock is way out in the boonies. You turn off of the main highway and then drive another six miles on a lonely stretch of two-lane blacktop past broken down farms and scrubby fields. You pass through one basically abandoned town. Pretty depressing. Eventually you come to the visitor center. It sits all by itself about a 1/4 mile from Chimney Rock. Chimney Rock is arresting. It sticks up prominently from the surrounding flat lands. Since it was situated on the Oregon Trail, it was said that it was the most written about object on the whole journey. Settlers would scan the horizon hoping the be the first to spot the landmark. We checked out the gift shop and then drove to a parking lot closer to the rock. The parking lot lies about a 1/2 mile from the base of the rock. You can park and then walk on a sidewalk to a point about 1/4 mile away. Visitors are not allowed close to the rock. I got my obligatory selfie (Susan was afraid to leave the sidewalk for fear of rattlesnakes) and then we were back on the road.
SUSAN: Chimney Rock is an iconic geological formation which is visible for miles in south western Nebraska. It was a significant landmark for emigrants' as they trekked west. It was mentioned in more emigrant diaries than any other landmark on the Oregon Trail! We took a short walk to view it a little closer. It looked a bit bigger but it looked just as gigantic from far away!
JAMES: Scotts Bluff is only 25 minutes from Chimney Rock. There is an excellent visitor center and very helpful staff. It was a Sunday so there were quite a few guests there. There were also Wild West settler reenactors and some ranger-led talks. We were informed that there were three tunnels for the roads that lead to the lookouts on top, the only highway tunnels in Nebraska. Our plan was to walk to the top of Scotts Bluff for a bird’s eye view of the surrounding countryside. The walk is paved all of the way, 1.6 miles to the top. We walk a three mile loop around our park everyday, so how hard could it be? Pretty hard as it turns out. Not only are you at a 4400’ elevation at the bottom, but the path takes a very steep angle to the top. We got about 1/3 of the way before Susan had to bail. She headed back down and I continued on. It is a very dramatic climb. The path hugs the walls of a very steep ravine that eventually drops straight down to the bottom of canyon about 500 feet below. There is no guard rail either. Quite vertigo inducing. I would hate to walk the path during high winds! One of the key features of the path is a short tunnel through the rock. The view on top is spectacular. You can see for miles and miles in all directions. Ironically after a 90 minute challenging hike, you end up in the parking lot. You can drive to the top. I spent 20 minutes taking in the view and then started back down. You practically run. It took about 30 minutes.
SUSAN: Final destination for the day was Fort Collings. We arrived around 4 pm. As we drove up we saw Tim lying on his belly on the lawn with his hands in a hole fixing the sprinkler. Margo was all ready for us and their Sunday family dinner with the table set for dinner. Tim prepared a wonderful pork roast, mashed potatoes with gravy and peas. It was a lovely meal. Ellen, Micah, Clark and Layne as well as Molly and Joel were all there. I enjoyed just sitting around and talking, catching up. Margo shared a photo album she had with images from Ragnvald‘s time in the Navy in the early 1900‘s. Interesting photos of when they crossed the equator. We played a couple of rounds of the game Mantis which was fun as Layne was able to play with us. She won one game and Molly won the other. The kids left and we settled in to go to bed. Then Ceily stopped over after her time at the Renaissance Festival in Colorado Springs. Nice to see her too! After folding our clean clothes, I went to bed!