I started my trip on a bad note. That is to say, I left key items behind at home. So, after my first day of riding my motorcycle across the middle part of Nebraska, I took a more direct route back home to pick up those forgotten items.

Actually, I took the scenic ride, the twistier way home, leaving at eight a.m. Finding my way down hi-way 30 from Grand Island to Lexington, then south and around Lake Johnson then to Elwood and west on hi-way 23 to Maywood and south to McCook.

People think Nebraska is flat and feature-less, this is far from the truth.

So I enjoyed the rolling hills and canons along the Medicine Creek valley. Winding my way between the small villages that dot the road. The morning was cool and partly cloudy, adding to the colorful contrast of the fertile landscape. Then I turned south for home at ten-forty-five a.m. This was more of a pit stop, I grabbed my forgotten stuff and hit the road again, leaving at twelve-o’-five p.m.

I took the direct route to Lincoln, Ne. And pulled into town at four-twenty p.m., very good time when you figure gas and cooling down stops. I stayed at the new Holiday Inn-Express.

I unpacked my gear in the room that had a floor to ceiling window overlooking O and 9th street. The room was very nice and comfortable.

That’s when I realized just how quiet Lincoln is on the forth of July. Everything was closed, except one Mexican restaurant was open until six p.m. So I ordered supper. I rarely order margaritas but it had been a long hot ride and I was needing a relaxing sourly-sweet drink, yes I drank it all but only touched my supper. So it’s been a good couple of days. Quiet, slow, beautiful scenery and a few miss-adventures, I can wait for tomorrow to see what happens on the rest of my vacation.