Nebraska is for farm and small town lovers

It took me four days, but I've made it through Nebraska. I've gone a total of 1900 miles thus far, and anticipate going another 1300 before the trip is over (I'm currently working on the route in the CSU library).

Day 17 - Nebraska City to Lincoln (50)
Day 18 -Lincoln to Hastings (105)
Day 19 - Hastings to Arapahoe (85)
Day 20 - Arapahoe to Haigler (115)

This may come as a surprise to some, but my four days in NE were probably my favorite ones to date. The riding wasn't terribly difficult--except from Hastings to Arapahoe when I ran into a day of insane head/crosswinds--the scenery was pretty descent, the people were awesome, and best of all there were very few cars and the best roads I've ridden on yet.

Nebaska city to lincoln was all on a 4-lane (Hwy 2) with hills reminiscent of those I'd thought I'd gotten done with in Iowa. It was only 50 miles, but short days are never easy; it always seems like they're so much harder than they should be because I always go into them expecting a walk in the park. However, once I got to Lincoln it was great. I went to Lazlo's and the Watering Hole where I had some quality brew and food and then met up with one of Fedor's good friends, Kara, who he met while studying in Sweden. We went to this insane bar with like 15 volleyball courts and played sand V-ball until way later than my bedtime. I should mention that the shower I got at her place was my 3rd one in 18 days. How's that for conserving water? The next morning Chase, her bf, she, and I all went to the Hiway diner, an establishment known for its 24 hour operating hours and one that both Kara and Chase had lots of memories from. Oh, and by the way, in case you've forgotten since civics class, Lincoln is the capitol of NE, and it's capitol building is one of those that's tough to forget.

In Hastings I got to knock another item off my list of things to do. I stayed in a homeless shelter. The funniest part of the whole experiences was the urine drug test I had to take in order to be admitted. Now I'm not sure how many of you do a lot of long bike rides, but your body doesn't seem to retain a lot of water, or at least it doesn't end up in your bladder. So, since I had just used the bathroom like 5 minutes before I went to the shelter there was no way I was going to be able to go again for a while. Anyway, to summarize, about 2 liters of water/coke and 2.5 hours later I was finally able to be admitted, eat some food, and get a shower. The shelter was run and funded by a christian group (I'm not sure if this is common or not), and so unlike at the salvation army, where the emphasis seemed to be solely on employment and saving, there was a huge focus placed on the walk to God at this shelter. There were morning devotionals and evening bible studies that it was highly encouraged that you attend. Just something to consider if you are ever confronted with the option of where to stay.

Arapahoe was a pretty peaceful place of around 1,000 where I slept on another picnic table in a mosquito infested park. I actually got inside my tent so that the mosquito netting would keep em off, and was awakened at like midnight by the freakin sprinkler system which so effectively doused everything with water that there was only a single dry picnic table that I could call home for the night. While there I also did a little dumpster diving at the grocery store across from the park where I found some pretty good looking, tasty, orange bell peppers. My final night in NE was spent in Haegler, the last town in Hwy 2 before you get to CO. It's a town of ~250, but it's got a little grocery store, a restaurant, and a bar. After riding for 115 miles that day I got there pretty late and went to the only place still open, the bar, to figure out where I could throw my bag down for the night. No joke, this was the coolest bar ever. The people were all farmers, and they had all brought in stuff from their gardens for everyone to eat. There were tomatoes, chips and homemade salsa (with pork), cucumbers, and lots of peppers. It was a great last night in NE even though I did get attacked by sprinklers again (gotta watch those NE parks).

Since I've been in CO for two days now there will soon be a picture or two coming with the first CO entry.