0061 11-12th Juy - Chadron to Houston via Salina

The little Chadron NP camp site was delightful – and in the morning sunshine I went for a short scenic drive around the park – Some amazing rock formations that looked more like the crumbling walls of a medieval fort than something nature had produced. I also met a local couple having a morning cycle, and in the course of our conversation was told of Germany's demolition of Brazil in the World Cup - Not listening to TV or reading papers for a while, I knew nothing about it !!   
I am going to combine the two remaining days it took me to drive down to Houston in one because a) it was rather boring and very hot and b) it is now several days later, and I can’t actually remember some of the details – See – I told you it was boring !

 There were however several things that were surprising along the road.

First of all were the trains.  The road runs beside the railway for miles, and I kept seeing really long, and full, coal trains, on the track.  To start with they were moving, albeit slowly, but eventually there were maybe 8 or 10 of them stationary, and almost nose to tail – Obviously there is a line or a scheduling problem somewhere as it cannot be very efficient to have so many trains all back up like that ?

In addition, I saw one train that had two aircraft bodies on it – Big ones, like commercial airliner size.  And they were all shrinkwrapped in green !!  Evidently they make the bodies somewhere and then have to freight them somewhere else for putting together.  Odd to see planes on a train though !  Also interesting shaped goods vans behind the plane fuselages – I wonder what they had in there ?

Then the countryside became very bumpy.  It was already rolling hills with cattle grazing, but the rolling hills became covered in small mounds – Almost as though it had acne !  Most odd – And went on for miles and miles.

 As the sun was setting, we passed more windfarms, with the setting sun behind the windmills.  By now I was getting really tired, so at about 6 pm I stopped in

a rest area and cooked myself some supper.  It was still very hot (in the 30’s) and a strong wind blowing, so most unpleasant, and I decided to keep going to the next rest area in the hope that it would cool down some, and I would stop in the rest area for the night.  Trouble was that when I finally got to the next rest area, it was only a very small one and had no where to stop for the night, so I had to keep going.  It was now dark, and I was getting exhausted, but I got around Salina, and headed south on I35, and fortunately found a good rest area not far down the road, where I stopped and was in the back and asleep almost immediately.

 The days pics are here :-  https://picasaweb.google.com/117739775480775657932/0062ChadronToSalina?authkey=Gv1sRgCN_l3rLV8e-JEg#

The run south from Salina Kansas, through Oklahoma, and then into Texas, was hot and even more boring, if that is possible.  The traffic got heavier and heavier as I went around Dallas, so it was with some relief that my Tom Tom then took me off the interstate and down country highway 6, down through College Station, and down to my friends Geary and Kathy’s house to the west of Houston.  The last couple  of hundred miles were still hot, but at least the countryside was more interesting than just chugging down the interstate. The interstates are good for getting your from A to B,

but they are soul less and boring, and I would avoid them by choice.  Despite the problems with this long drive down from Churchill, I am so glad I did it.  I always knew it was going to be a long trek, but to finally see the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma, and understand the true size of the country, and the importance of this part of the US for feeding the population from its farming,  is something everyone should do once.  A bit like crossing the Nullarbor in Australia.   Good to do once – After that, find an alternative !

So it was with some relief that I arrived at Kathy and Geary’s home, where I will be spending the next few days having a rest, getting the car serviced, and generally preparing for the next leg of the journey south, down through Baja and Mexico and on into Central America.

A last few pics of the drive south are here :-  https://picasaweb.google.com/117739775480775657932/0063SalinaToHouston?authkey=Gv1sRgCIGJnrju3-X-qQE#