HIGH PLAINS LIFETIME TRIP W/ SISTER DORIS-DAY 1

      Day 1, Tuesday May 10, 2016.

       My sister, Doris, and I headed out around 8AM and headed west on I-80 to our High Plains Journey. Our first leg was to Grand Island, Nebraska and the evening destination to Valentine, Nebraska on Federal highway 83.

       Neither one of us had ever driven through the "Sand Hills" area of northwestern Nebraska.  Through many years we, like many people, have driven through Nebraska on our way to Colorado and the Rocky Mountains. Most of us never think that there is anything in the Cornhusker state worth seeing. How wrong we were!

      The area, especially, between the town of Thedford,Nebraska and the 60 miles north to Valentine,Nebraska was most impressive. It is hard to convey to someone about such beauty that simply is just rolling terrain with grass covered sand and dotted with small natural lakes, ponds, and marshes and all the while sitting above the Ogallala Aquifer.

       This is cattle country. Huge ranches that set back, in some cases, many miles and whose sole objective is raising cattle where once buffalo roamed. It appears to be the perfect balance between man and nature.  The 60 mile stretch into Valentine, there was almost NO signs of man's footprints. No junk cars, no run down buildings, or billboards. Nothing! It is like experiencing a purity in nature that you don't see every day no matter where you live. 

      I would would strongly advise anyone to check this area out the next time you go west. It is highly under-rated. I plan on going to this area some day again and exploring it more thoroughly!  I only wish that this simple natural beauty will never change.