Underway at 0827MT.  Ate a very nice bacon, egg and cheese bagel, then filled up with diesel at the campground station.  All day I had either a tail wind or slight cross wind, depending on where I-84 was pointed at the time.  Best fuel mileage so far of the trip at 16.41 mpg towing the Gosling. 

Idaho in its south is all about agriculture, either crops or beef.  If they water it, it grows.  There are millions in capital invested in irrigation equipment, including turret center circle makers and wagon wheel pipe systems that roll across the field.  If those don’t get the edges, people walk pipe and spray mounts to water the edges.  Feed lots abound, as do hay fields and incredibly large bales of hay. 

West of Twin Falls, and periodically elsewhere, the farm lands became rocky, ravine-ridden, and gorges showed up.  Agriculture was not possible there, so cattle/ sheep grazed, or the land was unused. 

I kept seeing birds of the size of red wing blackbirds, but without the red flashes.  Turns out they are Brewer’s Blackbird, with yellow eyes and black legs.  A new species for me!  Life List keeps growing.

The Snake river gave the highway a reason to exist.  In the table lands, the very wide valleys are irrigated up to a point, then the higher lands became brown.  By the way, that brown is the natural color of the west, where there is vegetation at all.  I remember despairing on my umpteenth trip to San Diego that I missed the golden-green of the east coast.  I’m back in the brown again.  (No, that’s not a metaphor.)  Sometimes you see a manmade hill of dirt on the plains supporting antennae:  only way to get height of eye for cell service!

All the ramps onto and off of the interstate highway have cattle grids, so stock doesn’t wander onto the road.  I’ve seen dead deer many times, so the “bull bars” of the 18-wheelers are effective against deer.  I wonder at the carnage if a two ton bull wandered onto the road.

Arrived in Oregon too soon to go to the camp site, so I relaxed at the Ontario rest stop for an hour.    I filled the fuel tank in Ontario.  Then I proceeded up I-84 to Oregon 201, a river-hugging road to the Oasis on the Snake RV park.  Landed at 2pmMT in a lovely spot near the Snake River.  Lots of birds to watch.

Underway 0755CT.  82 degrees at 8am at the horse event center; no shade yesterday.  Start elevation about 1400 feet, and rose all day quite steadily to 4200 feet by the time I arrived in Sidney NE.  Steady southerly cross wind all day, sometimes veering to a straight head wind.  The head wind made me slow significantly to preserve fuel mileage.

I crossed the Platte river several times, as I-80 makes its way along that valley.  The Platte has several very wide areas and there’s lots of land with water sitting in fields.

I saw lots of sand mining operations.  One company, Paulsen, has left cement mixer barrels all along the fields next to I-80. 

At Kearney, all of I-80 passes under The Archway, a museum explaining the Great Platte River Road.  Kearney claims to be the sand hill crane capital of the world.

At several places along the Platte watershed, cottonwood trees were sailing their cottony seed pods everywhere, making it look like mild snow.  I saw a lot of red wing blackbirds and brown headed cow birds.

The temperature along the road rose steadily all day, topping at 105 degrees F.  I kept an eye on engine temperature, but it never rose into dangerous levels.

Arrived at 1426MDT at the Cabela’s world headquarters in Sidney NE.  Quite a nice full service RV park as a part of the store complex.  First come, first served, and usually only about half full.  Pull into any open site, then go into the store to pay.  Outdoor temperature is quite hot, but should cool as the sun sets.  Overnight a front passed through, with the wind rocking the Goose on its leveling struts.

Start odo 31719, heading to Lancaster Event Ctr, 4100 N 84th St, Lincoln, NE 68507.

Drove north then west, avoiding Kansas City MO.  Decided to drive a few mph slower to see if I could get the fuel mileage higher.  Many more trees, fewer open fields, so what I saw yesterday was certainly due to farming.  Northern MO is flat.  As I drove west, I was surprised by how wet were the fields.  Either there was a huge storm in the last few days, or this is by design.  I saw lots of water diversion dams, lots of drainage ditches, and the land looked like river bottom land.  I saw lots of starlings chase a white bird, then also saw a coyote amid the birds.  Coyote must have been trying to catch birds.  Also saw an Amish one-horse buggy. 

US-36 W is the Chicago-Kansas City expressway.  Passed the birthplaces of Walt Disney, Gen. John J Pershing and JC Penney.  Chillicothe is the home of “Sliced Bread.”

Just east of St. Joseph, an 18-wheeler took a curve too fast and blocked the highway.  My GPS showed roads where I could backtrack and avoid, so I started.  The roads were gravel, connecting farmers and fields.  After five miles of 20mph on those gravel roads, I got back to US-36w and proceeded.  The ambulance passed me, so I guess I saved time.  Of course, for the next couple of highway miles, my tires shed gravel and mud, slinging them gratuitously. 

East of St Joseph, I crossed the Platte River.  Not sure if this is the river of “westward ho!” fame, but it reinforces why I’m seeing bottom land and lots of water in the fields.  Lots of levees.

Went north on I-29 just east of St Joseph.  Crossed briefly into Iowa, crossing the Nishnabotna river, notable for its Indian name meaning “canoe making river.”  Then Iowa 2 west across the Missouri river, climbing from the bottom land to the bluff on the Nebraska side. 

Got near Lincoln and found a Whole Foods for supplies.  On to the Lancaster Event Center, where I am surrounded by a thousand horse trailers.  Some have storage on top for surrey racing carts.  No shade, and the AC is having trouble cooling the RV.  Hope it continues to work!

Today was 323 miles, and just under eight hours elapsed driving.