Week 14    BLOG

Monday August 4, 2014

Travel Day

 

We left Julesburg CO at 8:30 and headed east on I-76 into Nebraska and then I-80 east . A few miles into Nebraska we crossed into the central time zone and lost an hour travel time. I-80 was the first transcontinental Interstate highway, New York to San Francisco, in the interstate system that was authorized by President Eisenhower. The interstate highway paralleled and in some areas replaced US Highway 30, the Lincoln Highway, which was the first paved
transcontinental highway, and through Nebraska it followed the historic pioneer trails. At exit 164 on I-80 we left the interstate and traveled east along the Lincoln Highway through the city of North Platte before returning to I-80.  There was nothing different to see along this road, but it was a nice ride through the farm land. At Gothenburg we exited the interstate to visit an original Pony Express building, it turned out to be only a small log cabin; we had expected a barn, corral and other buildings, so we did not linger. In the city of Kearney we stopped at “The Great Platte River Road Archway”; this is a history museum that is a memorial to all of the pioneers that crossed the country to settle the west. The building is in the shape of a large arch that spans the interstate highway, giving it a distinctive shape. We are spending the night at the “Kearney RV Park & Campground”. Nebraska is primarily a farming state, so the drive has been somewhat uninteresting.