Wednesday, 30 June 2021
I'd found online that Grand Island (NE) has a recycling drop-off place, so I stopped there on our way out of town - only to learn that they take hazardous waste only. They told me the only way to recycle in Grand Island is to put it in my residential bin (and too bad that I don't reside there). It's only been a week and a half since I last dumped my recycling, and I don't even save everything that could be recycled because of not wanting to use the amount of water I'd need to clean some containers - butter, for instance. But I still had more stuff than I had room in my bathroom for, so I was really disappointed in Grand Island.
On my way out of town on US-34, I saw a sign saying it was the Henry Fonda Memorial Highway. Turns out Grand Island was his childhood home, and he was so proud of that fact that he took steps to save the actual house at a local museum.
On US-281, I crossed the Platte River, which is as close to the town as I'd thought a few days ago when I was wondering about flooding. And it's a big river, too. Wikipedia says it's 310 miles long, so I expect I'll be seeing plenty of it when I spend my month in Nebraska.
All day I saw lots of Red-winged Blackbirds. Lots of corn and harvested grain. Lots of cows and calves; grazing land, vineyards, green rolling hills. Agriculture quite clearly plays a strong role in the life and economy of this state.
I saw only one Trump flag today, this one just north of Greeley.
Those ghastly insect bites have finally stopped hurting on their own, though they come alive with a vengeance at the slightest touch. It's incredible how many days they've been such an enormous nuisance. And lest you think I'm exaggerating, here are 2 of the reasons I can't wear flip flops these days.
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| I didn't scratch these - they swelled up like this on their own, as did many others. |
We stopped for a break at the city park of the tiny town of Bartlett. The area is cared for by the local garden club, and they've created a certified butterfly garden there. Some seriously old trees at least 4' in diameter, lots of shade and nice cool grass. The dogs and I loved it.
Back on the road I saw 2 deer up ahead crossing the road. They both leapt a fence into a field, then turned around and jumped back over the fence and barely waited for me to pass before running back across the road again.
I've passed a surprising amount of bulrushes along the road, which may help explain all the Red-winged Blackbirds.
I was saddened to see the body of a very young fawn lying beside the road. I imagine somewhere there's a distraught mother who's missing her baby.
I entered South Dakota at Gregory County, which includes the town of Gregory as well. I'll expect to come back through here in August during my SD month.
I've heard several times in the last day or so that the governor of South Dakota has accepted funding from a private source (apparently a wealthy Tennessean) to pay the costs of sending the SD National Guard down to the Mexico border at the request of the Texas governor. I am concerned, as apparently are many others, that this unprecedented decision looks like rich people can buy their own "well regulated militias," to quote the 2nd Amendment.
But a bigger question I have, now that I've driven in South Dakota, is why didn't the governor ask that donor to provide all that money to upgrade SD's roads instead? We had a very bumpy and uncomfortable ride beginning at the border and going for the rest of the day. Reminds me of the contrast between the roads in West Virginia (not bad) and those in Ohio (terrible).
In South Dakota, I was still seeing rolling hills, but they were definitely different from those in Nebraska. I'm not sure I can explain what the difference was, but it was clear. Nebraska's were green, grassy and rounded; South Dakota's were more brown and not rounded but with odd peaks - though definitely hills and not mountains. Odd.
I saw lots of calves today all during the drive.
As I was driving along, minding my own business, the "check engine" light started flashing. Actually, it didn't say "check engine," it was just a little picture. As soon as I could, I pulled over (narrow road, no shoulders, I had to wait for a wide spot where a road turned off) and sat and thought about it a bit. I was pretty nervous about having anything flashing on my gauges, and when I figured out that little picture was probably supposed to be an engine, I continued to be really nervous. And then it stopped. Not just stopped flashing, it disappeared. I was only very slightly reassured - just enough that I decided to try driving down the road and see what happened next.
It never came on again. When I got to tonight's campground, of course I looked it up online and learned that it could indicate a wide range of problems, from the gas cap not being on right to major engine problems. But Kennebec, population about 300, isn't exactly a metropolis, and I had a lot of rural South Dakota to drive through the next day. Because the light never came back on again, I decided to compromise on checking my gas cap and planning to get the engine codes checked as soon as I get to Bismarck (area population about 130,000). But it's very worrying.
The campground made a point of telling us campers that the "regional water authority has placed us under severe water restrictions." I contributed my bit by not using their water at all, but instead sticking to what I have in my water tank. The campground looked like it was in drought, too - mostly brown except for sturdy native plants. But I was curious and looked up the latest drought map. https://droughtmonitor.edu-Current-Map What that showed me is that yes, South Dakota's got drought problems, but they're absolutely nothing in comparison with those in North Dakota. I can foresee a very dry month there.
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