My month in Nebraska

My take on Nebraska

where I went this month

Nebraska's land

It felt like I did a lot of hard driving but this map looks like I didn't go much of anywhere.  Nebraska is the 16th largest state, but it doesn't have the physical barriers like California's mountains to use as an excuse.  Still, I did the best I could and just ran out of time.

I should have looked more closely at the research I did before I started this trip.  If I had, I'd have known that both those national forests I sneered at (without having seen) were manmade.  In fact, the Nebraska National Forest is the largest planted forest in the country.  In 1902, thousands of Ponderosa Pine seedlings were planted, hoping it would result in an easy source of lumber that would entice settlers to the region.  

I expected Nebraska to be mostly flat and was surprised to find that it's definitely not.  It's true that there isn't much in the way of mountains (none), and for much of the state the sandhills provide the only relief.  But the lowest point - 840' - is on the Missouri River at the southeast border with Kansas; the highest point - 5,424' - is Panorama Point in the far southwest near Wyoming.  That's a big difference.  All on the southern edge of the state, but the RV's AC told me we were definitely climbing when we went west.  Lots of hills in the western part of the state, too, not even counting the buttes.  Not what I expected.

Nebraska is the only state to lie entirely in the drainage area of the Missouri River.  All the state's rivers and streams flow into it.  Many of its water bodies are shallow - as I thought when I was at Lake McConaughy, the largest manmade lake.  Actually, it's the largest lake, period, because though there are hundreds of natural lakes, they're all small.

Dating back to the early European settlers, the Platte River (the state's most important) was said to be "a mile wide and an inch deep."  This means it floods easily during heavy rain, as do the other shallow water areas.

In fact, Nebraska is a sort of crossroads for weather events: floods, droughts, blizzards, hailstorms, violent thunderstorms, Chinook winds off the Rockies, tornadoes.  This fact is a product of warm humid air coming up from the Gulf of Mexico and colliding with cool dry air from the Rockies and Canada.  It's a sitting duck.

Farms and ranches make up 95% of Nebraska's land use.  It's certainly not being used for people to live on: the state ranks 37th among the states for population.  Coupled with its large land area, that makes Nebraska rank 43rd in population density.  The 2020 census said there were fewer than 2,000,000 people living here.  So if you're looking for room to breathe, this is a good place to look.

Nebraska's people

I met a lot of really nice people here, almost all very accommodating and kind in the face of my total disorganization (thanks to the kitten acquisition).  I ran into only one unpleasant person in the whole month (that KOA lady in Ogallala) while everyone else was pleasant and willing to talk.

Oddly, very few of them told me they liked where they lived; almost everyone said they'd much rather be living elsewhere, though none of them specified an alternative.  They all had different reasons - too big, too small, nothing to do, no shops stayed long, et cetera.  They just didn't like whichever town they were in.  It didn't seem to matter if they lived in a large town or small one.  Actually, my cousin in Bellevue was one of the few who really like where she lived.  And I thought Omaha seemed like a nice place to live.

I thought it was interesting that almost every small town had its own little RV campground.  I haven't seen that anywhere else.  Even the really small ones - remember that campground I found in Cody, pop. 154?  Makes me wonder why towns in other states don't do this.  It shows a creative approach to bringing in some tourist money without going to a lot of expense.

Driving in Nebraska

The reason it felt like I covered more of the state than I did was that driving on these roads is hard.  Nebraska shares a kinship with Montana for its acceptance of unpaved roads (unlike Texas, for instance, which has paved everything that hasn't actually been planted on).  And even the paved ones are not in good shape, are bumpy and hard to drive on.  I thought this was an interesting and attractive state but just not much fun to drive in.  A shame.

There were some license plates that didn't look like this - most notably those supporting the University of Nebraska's football team.  But this is the one I saw almost everywhere.

What I didn't see that I wanted to see

My daily posts are full of things I missed and I won't repeat them here.  But in addition, I'd wanted to get up to the Oglala National Grassland in the far northwestern corner and to Panorama Point in the far southwestern corner.

The National Museum of Roller Skating is in Lincoln, admission is free, and it sounds like fun.  I just didn't have time for it.

But the main thing I'd have liked to see wasn't available: the Sandhill Crane migration that arrives in March near Grand Island on the Platte River.  One of the best viewing spots is the Fort Kearney State Recreation Area not far southwest of Grand Island.  I think a sight like that would be worth a separate trip here, just to see it.

My conclusion

I don't think I've mentioned before that the one souvenir I've gotten in every state is a t-shirt.  They're light, easy to store, and useful - some of them I wear pretty often.  They don't even all mention the state's name, but they have something that reminds me of my time there.

This one will be at the top of my favorites list for its brutal honesty.  "Nebraska.  Honestly, it's not for everyone."  So, honestly, I don't think I could sum up my impression of Nebraska any clearer than that.