We had only just crossed into the state of Nebraska the previous day, so my conservative guess was that we’d make the farthest western Nebraska state park by late afternoon. Boy was I wrong! We didn’t even make it that far driving 70+ mph on the highway by 6pm. We settled instead on Enders Reservoir and Recreation Area. I have to say that despite my groaning about how much I hated Nebraska, Enders is beautiful. We found the absolute perfect camping spot over looking the lake. There are two covered picnic benches, a super clean BBQ and lilacs scent the air. Seriously… we’re surrounded by the only hills in all of Nebraska which are covered in pine trees, scrub brush and lilacs. Even with the sound of the occasional traffic on the nearby Route 6, it’s peaceful here. The most beautiful spot we’ve stayed. The wildlife is also abundant. Looking across the lake you can see the fish jumping. There is a young bald eagle (doesn’t quite have his full head of white) who lives in a tree just a hill away. And as I typ
e this there is an owl hooting. I’m feeling relaxed after our brown rice pasta & salad dinner, but I’m curious to see if the Nebraska wildlife is going to scare me in the middle of the night. I learned from the Nebraska Wildlife and Parks Association that mountain lions live in the area, along with a whole host of interesting animals.Looking back on the day, I have to say it wasn’t entirely boring and spiteful as I felt it was at the
time. Nebraska is definitely a farming state. The fields are flat and stretch for miles into the horizon as far as your eyes can see. There are some interesting old silos and corn co-ops. There are stretches along Route 6 where there are nothing but communities so small they can’t be called a town but a township. The Google maps gave us directions without road names, just “0.2 miles turn left, then right, then left and left.”There are also a lot of cow farms, which are heartbreaking. You can smell them miles away and see just a black-brown dirt patch ahead and know it’s a cow farm. The animals are caked in mud and clearly rely upon corn feed for nutrition instead of grass. Even the smaller “free-range” grass fed cows are confined to a relatively small space—kind of like our cat at the moment.
I feel a little bad for kitty. She’s confined to the car for most of every day. But she doesn’t complain. In fact, she’s gotten quite lazy. When I wake her from a nap (she's just irresistible to play with sometimes), she looks like an old man with her fur all messed up and her belly sucking in for a twisted stretch.
It was a mostly nice, clear, sunny, breezy, cool day: mostly in the 60s. Tonight it is supposed to get down to 40 degrees. I better cuddle into my sleeping bag now and hopefully wake up on the right side of the tent tomorrow.
(I'll upload/add pictures to this entry in a few hours... check back soon!)
-CB
GET UP ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE BED - "The wrong side of the bed is the left side, according to a superstition that goes back to the time of the Romans. People have been saying other people 'got up on the wrong side of the bed,' 'awoke surly or grouchy,' for well over three centuries now, usually not knowing the real meaning of what they are saying, but the equally old expression 'got up left foot forward' tells the story. The supposedly sinister nature of the left is reflected in many English superstitions and expressions, such as the belief that it is unlucky to put your left shoe first, or to walk into a house left foot first. The Romans, especially Augustus Caesar, were very careful that they got up on the right side of the bed, but there is no evidence that they were less grouchy than anyone else." From "Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins" by Robert Hendrickson
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