A GOOD DAY IN NEBRASKA (BUT ENDED NOT TOO GOOD IN SIDNEY)

Reading the Visitors Guide, I found out about Andrew Jackson Higgins Memorial and the World Trade Center Statue, both located in West Pawnee Park (Columbus, Nebraska). After Mass, we went to the park and took these photos. You could read more about Higgins at www.higginsmemorial.com.

The above sculpture was made with steel taken from the fallen World Trade Center towers. The artist Fred Hoppe sculpted a large bronze eagle sits atop symbolizes the American spirit as we continue to fight against terrorism.

There was a cars show in Silver Creek and my husband was in high heaven when the organizers kept asking CP to enter his Mustang in the show. We explained that we were from out of town and just wanted to walk around. A nice man removed the orange cone to let CP park his Pony by the registration area to attract people to the show. CP was very pleased.

We almost missed the above Lincoln Highway signs and had to circle around Pioneer Park a few times because the good people of Grand Island forgot to trim the tree that covered up the sign with overgrown branches.

After passing thru Clarks, Central City, Chapman, Grand Island, Alda, it was time for lunch at Ma's Diner in Wood River. The small dining room has only five 4-person tables and it felt like sitting in Ma's kitchen. The server wore a shirt that read "Branson, Missouri". She told us that she visited Branson a few weeks ago and had a great time. From the car with Missouri license plate at Preston's Station in Belle Plaine to the lady in Colo whose son works for the City of St. Louis and now this waitress wearing a Branson shirt, we felt as if we never left St. Louis. After Wood River, we continued on US30 thru Shelton, Gibbon, Kearney, Odessa, Elm Creek, Overton and spent an hour or so at Heartland Museum of Military Vehicles in Lexington.

The above Covered Wagon west of Kearney used to be a souvenir stand. The building behind it was supposed to be renovated in 2007 and turned into a cafe but all we saw was plywood covered windows.

In Nebraska, Lincoln Highway parallels I-80 and Platte River. After Lexington, we drove thru Darr, Cozad, Gothenburg, Brady, Maxwell, North Platte, Sutherland, Paxton, Roscoe, stopped for gas in Ogallala (I remember seeing a town also named Ogallala in Oklahoma), Brule, Big Springs, Chappel, Lodgepole, Sunol and Sidney. It was getting late, almost 8:00 p.m. so we decided to stop for dinner and spend the night in Sidney. That was when it happened .....