Starting a thread about the back roads of Nebraska.... Where are some of your hidden gems for a day trip or long weekend adventure?
I grew up in Alexandria and this place had springs and creeks, limestone cliffs and sand pits, and row crops and livestock. The pony express and Oregon trail both went through town long before it was a town, but it still allowed for treasure hunting and I found a few (arrowheads, flint lock muzzle loader, a couple of coins, and whiskey bottles that were over a hundred fifty years old). We used to float the little blue river in canoes and catch catfish on the Little Sandy. In May we would find morels in the sloped foothills that were sandwiched between the drier alfalfa and pasture land, and the dark soil of the corn and bean fields found along the flood plains of the rivers which we used as guides to get us back home before supper.
Those adventures sprouted east and west on the winding county roads off of Highway 53, southeast of Alexandria. Find the old ghost town of Meridian, which was destroyed by a tornado, and draw a ten mile circle around it. Drive those roads and find the beauty that I found as a youngster. Truly a special place in my very biased opinion!
Further from home, I would recommend heading to Ashfall..... Best display of fossils I have EVER seen and they have done a great job of not disturbing the remains, just uncovering them, leaving the zebras, camels, rhinos, and other creatures just as they were hundreds of thousands of years ago. A volcano from my current location of MT/ID was the culprit of spreading several feet of ash and gases towards the canyons and hills just outside of current day Royal.
And for my last entry, I would be remiss, in honor of my dad and grandpa, if I didn't mention the roads next to the Republican River just south of Orleans. So many fish caught, fires gathered round, and whiskeys consumed near the dozens of 1950 and 60s car bodies holding the river bank in its place.
So I shared a few of mine, can you reveal a few of yours? Magical places are out there for all of us if are willing to head off the beaten path....... It would definitely be a form of social distancing! Enjoy your week and be good to one another..... Maybe even give your neighbor a roll of toilet paper!
GO BIG RED!
I grew up in Alexandria and this place had springs and creeks, limestone cliffs and sand pits, and row crops and livestock. The pony express and Oregon trail both went through town long before it was a town, but it still allowed for treasure hunting and I found a few (arrowheads, flint lock muzzle loader, a couple of coins, and whiskey bottles that were over a hundred fifty years old). We used to float the little blue river in canoes and catch catfish on the Little Sandy. In May we would find morels in the sloped foothills that were sandwiched between the drier alfalfa and pasture land, and the dark soil of the corn and bean fields found along the flood plains of the rivers which we used as guides to get us back home before supper.
Those adventures sprouted east and west on the winding county roads off of Highway 53, southeast of Alexandria. Find the old ghost town of Meridian, which was destroyed by a tornado, and draw a ten mile circle around it. Drive those roads and find the beauty that I found as a youngster. Truly a special place in my very biased opinion!
Further from home, I would recommend heading to Ashfall..... Best display of fossils I have EVER seen and they have done a great job of not disturbing the remains, just uncovering them, leaving the zebras, camels, rhinos, and other creatures just as they were hundreds of thousands of years ago. A volcano from my current location of MT/ID was the culprit of spreading several feet of ash and gases towards the canyons and hills just outside of current day Royal.
And for my last entry, I would be remiss, in honor of my dad and grandpa, if I didn't mention the roads next to the Republican River just south of Orleans. So many fish caught, fires gathered round, and whiskeys consumed near the dozens of 1950 and 60s car bodies holding the river bank in its place.
So I shared a few of mine, can you reveal a few of yours? Magical places are out there for all of us if are willing to head off the beaten path....... It would definitely be a form of social distancing! Enjoy your week and be good to one another..... Maybe even give your neighbor a roll of toilet paper!
GO BIG RED!
