This is the house that the movie star - Henry Fonda - was born in. His family did not actually own it but was renting when he was born. The house was originally located in Grand Island Nebraska but was moved a couple of miles south to the Stuhr Museum site.

The Stuhr Museum site is actually a very large tract of land that has many many interesting working demonstrations of Nebraska history. It also has traditional museum buildings with artifacts.

This is a part of a log cabin village at the Stuhr Museum site.

This sign marks the site of the Murdock Ruts. After this site was found and authenticated as a part of the mormon trail, Hall County Nebraska purchased it in order to preserve it. It is an interesting experience to see it but it is hard to find.

I camped on this spot next to the Mormon Trail. No one kicked me off but millions and millions of bugs tried to eat me.

When I first read about "wagon wheel ruts" I thought I was going to find the imprint of a wagon wheel sunk in the mud hardened to stone.

That is not even close to reality. What you really find is a path worn deep into the surrounding praire by thousands of wagon teams and people trekking along an unhardened dirt road. Over time the grasses have grown back over the trail. It is the same as a well used mountain trail worn deep by hundreds of people using it.

If you look close you can see the dip with both sides higher. It is lots easier to see in real life than it is in the picture. The light was not right to be able to see contour relief.

Blow this picture up and read the narrative. It gives a short account about a very interesting man. Joseph E Johnson was a mormon living among non mormons. Among other important pursuits he published a newspaper. I really got a kick out of the following:

"Johnson was a keen observer of the Nebraska scene which he discussed in a vigorous and breezy style suggested by his papers motto: "Independent in Everything, Neutral in Nothing".

He later migrated to Utah as per info on the plaque.

This Pony Express Station is in a public park in Gothenburg Nebraska. It is a free exhibit with interesting maps and history inside. There is a lady historian who will tell you everything about the Pony Express in Nebraska. She is a retired teacher and is very knowledgable.

The Pony Express Route was actually located a couple of miles south of here on the Platte River. This station was moved here from its original location.

I am changing the sequence that I enter pictures in the blog. This is the last picture of this part of the trip. I am entering it in the blog first so you will see it last.

Monday August 24, 2009

RIDE ACROSS NEBRASKA.

This blog entry will cover Wednesday August 19 through Monday August 24. Wednesday was a great day. Not a very good day for riding a bicycle because it rained all day. I just stayed in the “Mormon Trail Motel” and relaxed. Injuries incurred on my legs at Lake Powell needed time to heal anyway. I had time to plan the route and where I would attend Church on Sunday. I decided to go to Grand Island Nebraska. There are two wards there. It was about 160 miles away. I thought “no problem – I have three days, that is less than 60 miles per day”.

On the first day riding in Nebraska (Thursday 8/20) I did not encounter as many hills as I had in Iowa. However, there was a big problem: a 20 MPH headwind gusting to 30 MPH. A headwind makes a big difference. I was only able to ride between 7 – 8 MPH which means each mile takes 7 – 8 minutes of pain. My attitude suffered greatly because I was not able to see rapid progress as the miles passed so slowly. I rode 39 miles while expending more effort than 75 miles would normally take. I camped at a very nice “Fremont State Park Campground” that had a “Mormon Trail Historical Marker” nearby.

Friday 8/21 was more of the same. I fought really hard to ride 48 miles against a 20 MPH headwind blowing from the west. I camped at an abandoned Wal-Mart in Columbus, Nebraska. I did not arrive until after dark.

Saturday 8/22 I really had my work cut out for me. If I wanted to attend Church on Sunday I needed to ride 70 miles to Grand Island, Nebraska. Given my experience with the wind for the last two days it looked like a very hard day. However the wind died down and I was able to ride to Grand Island in time to take a shower and wash my clothes so I was all ready for Church. It was the easiest day of the past 3 days. Truck Stops are a great invention. The shower is expensive ($10.00) but you can wash your clothes while you shower and they usually have a restaurant so you can also eat while waiting for your clothes to wash and dry. It really saves a lot of time.

It is amazing how much a beautiful day – clear, sunny, cool, blue sky and no wind helps your attitude. It was fun to be outdoors riding a bicycle on Saturday. I watched the miles fly by at 4 minutes per mile. I helped a farmer catch a cow that had been wandering back and forth across the highway. The Platte River valley is absolutely flat. The little towns are about 10 miles apart. As soon as I left one town I could see the silos and water tower of the next town. It gave me a goal, something to ride to. The pioneers also made good progress through Nebraska.

The Nebraska Highways are in excellent shape. They are well maintained: no potholes, no cracks, no crumbling at the edges. But the most important thing is that they have a big wide shoulder for bicycles to ride on. Most of the shoulders are 6 foot wide. It is much safer for the bicyclist and for cars too. Cars do not have to cross over the centerline into oncoming traffic in order to pass a bicyclist without hitting him or scaring him.

Sunday August 23. I attended the Grand Island 2nd Ward at 9:00am. They had a great set of meetings. After church Bishop John Henderson and his wife Sylvia invited me to their house for dinner. They are an outstanding couple, fun to talk to with many family experiences and grandchild stories to relate. They also invited another interesting new ward member to dinner: Sister Jeanne Williams. We had a great dinner, a great discussion and even took a walk around the lake on their property. They have seven acres made to order for grandchild adventures. Sister Henderson related a number of extraordinary missionary experiences that her mother had as she strived to share the joy and happiness the gospel brings with friends and acquaintances. Everyone had interesting stories to tell. It was a pleasant, relaxing afternoon. They all seemed like family. I guess we are all brothers and sisters. Sunday night I stayed at the Comfort Inn so I could catch up on this blog.

Monday 8/24. I intend to go to the “Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer” and also find some 160 year old wagon ruts that have hardened in the mud.