May 31 - Swirls of Activity on the Wind

Wake up to potential thunderstorms / tornados / who knows? --

our first precip of trip,

so

beat a

hasty retreat east,

as the fronts scud southeast, and, in short order, in the clear, overland from the Platte River Valley

to the environs of

Lincoln,

for a supply stop,

then on towards Omaha,

over the Missouri into Iowa.

Council

Bluffs!

I-

o-

wuffs!

Near the

windmills

of

Avoca ("Acova" sic)

for re-fueling,

seemingly endless rolling hills of cornfields-to-be to a charming Vistors

Center

just about across the state,

and,

ta-da,

the

Mississipi River, soon (unlike most of Mark Twain [1835-1910]'s The Adventure Finn [1884]) on the Illinois side. 

A

charming second-for-the-daily-drive

petrol stop in Andover

(not quite our Massachusetts experience,

but reasonably reminiscent),

and we make a

play for

Peoria,

dining Mexicanishly once more,

this time al fresco at Kouri's Pub, before another delightful night...  61st day of summer back home, high up 3 to 81, with uncharacteristic, though minor, rain: .03, same as last moisture (April 19), for a total of 46.27 since July 1...

Kearney, 75
Des Moines, 78
Peoria, 76

May 30 - High Points

Still snow on

Rock Springs'

White Mountains,

as

we

head

up

Bitter Creek

Canyon,

into the

Great Divide

Basin /

Red

Desert,

and over the second Continental Divide marker,

to

Rawlins

for

Conoco

petrol,

then

cross

town

to

City 

Market

for

sumptuous

supplies.

On

towards

Sinclair,

curving

northward

around

the

distant

Medicine

Bow

Mountains,

eventually

dropping

into

greater

Laramie

Valley,

checking

out

the

University.

Subsequently

up

Canyon

to

Sherman

Summit --

the

highest

point

on

Interstate

80,

with

monuments

re

Lincoln

Highway

and

an

informative / scenic

Vistors Center.

Beyond,

a long gradual downslope

against the Pole Mountain

area's

rocky

outcrops.

Cheyenne

fill-up,

and off we go,

approaching the state line at

Pine

Bluffs,

to western Nebraska's

gentler

erosive landscapes.

Computer

and

informational stop at the

Kimball Vistor's Center,

then

the

extensive

pull

across

 the

Lodgepole

Creek

and

Platte

River

Valleys

to

Kearney, and a welcome

Mexican repast and

other evening adventures... 60th day of summer, back home, high down 8 to 78...

Rock Springs, 75
Laramie, 68
Kearney, 81