We drove from river land into high desert and approached mountains.
“Arid prairies give way to craggy bluffs, table-like mesas, rocky pillars and stark buttes that loom across the landscape.” https://traveltips.usatoday.com/landforms-geographic-features-nebraska-59083.html There were almost more terrain changes than we could process. Our senses were highly tuned to watching out the windows and marveling at the differences 100 miles could make. Overall that day we saw countless Sandhill Cranes, 11 Hawks, 2 Eagle nests and wild Turkeys.

I already posted about Gothenburg and the Pony Express, decorating fences with cattle skulls and some of the other sights. Below is Chimney Rock in Nebraska. It rises about 300 feet above the North Platte River valley. It’s peak is 4,228 feet above sea level. It was a landmark for those traveling west in the mid-19th century. The shape has changed over the years due to lightning strikes, storms and erosion. At the Visitor Center run by History Nebraska, a woman told us of the recent five foot snow in her area. One man had to hook the tractor to the car and drag it to the road. Then loaded his family on the tractor wagon and took them to the car so they could get out to go to school!