August 4

Starting point: Nebraska National Forest

Ending Point: Toadstool Geologic Park

States visited: Nebraska

Dining: blueberries for breakfast, amazing hamburgers at Sioux Sundries in Harrison, NE for lunch, charred BBQ chicken and hot dogs for dinner.

Accommodations: At the 6-site campground at Toadstool Geologic Park, we were the only people there.  The stars were fantastic, and the isolation was nearly complete, except for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe sending trains full of coal by every half hour on the tracks a few miles away.  This was Brendan's favorite campsite.

Things we learned today we didn't know before: Alliance, NE changed its city limits so Carhenge would be outside the town, thus preventing Nebraska from declaring it a junkyard and requiring it to be condemned, and allowing Carhenge to live on as a minor tourist attraction.  The toadstools at Toadstool Geologic Park are caused by a layer of sandstone sitting on top of a layer of clay.  The clay erodes faster than the sandstone, causing a sandstone top to perch on a clay pillar.

Would we come back?  Hell, yes!

On to August 5

use the arrows to see more pictures

Grasslands from Nebraska Highway 2.

Biker and the BNSF.

Wildflowers on highway 2

Carhenge

Craig cowers in front of a car parts dinosaur

farm

Agate Fossil Beds National Monument. Many of the mammal fossils at the Museum of Natural History in NYC were found here.

Brendan tries to hold up a toadstool.

Craig looks into the distance.

Sunset over the Nebraska badlands.

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Grasslands from Nebraska Highway 2.