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I rolled into Council Bluffs IA about 6 pm. I will be here to spend Mother's Day with my Mom Sunday. I'll probably start back for Phoenix around Wednesday.
First couple of days were cold and wet. Today riding through Kansas, Nebraska and into Iowa was perfect. Somebody is having a nice day of fishing below the spillway. I thought it was cool how today's clouds match the painting on the grain elevator. A small town in Kansas. A sign of the times. Small town people doing what ever to can be done to survive. Blue Rapids Kansas, population 900 has a fascinating history. Ballfield in Blue Rapids KS where the Chicago White Sox and New York Giants played in 1913.
I grew up in the Blue Rapids area and lived there for a couple years back in the early 80's. If you take the same route on your way back and have time you might look into the Pony Express and Oregon Trail that both ran through Marshal county a bit north of Blue Rapids. I know there's a Pony Express museum in Marysville and a watering hole on the Oregon trail that's been marked off with a historical marker called Alcove springs. Haven't been around those rural towns much in many years but they all seem to be dwindling and deteriorating, sometimes making them more interesting.
Mom is doing great. I left Council Bluffs IA around noon, I'm spending the night in Lincoln Kansas.
The trip up was all about camping along the way
Coming back I declared it Mom and Pop/small town support trip.
I'm staying, eating, fueling in small town family run businesses. Spillway outside of Lincoln, Kansas. Old stone schoolhouse. I found this old school house while traveling gravel roads. Neat old church. Small town rail line. Sometimes the pavement ends. I rode 8 or 10 miles before I hit pavement again. I haven't seen a Skelly Gas sign in a long time. Old Kansas Town is becoming a ghost town.
7 Surprising Harley-Davidson Products that Are Not Motorcycles
Slideshow: The bar-and-shield logo shows up on far more than motorcycles, some of the company's most unexpected products have nothing to do with riding.
Slideshow: From the troubled AMF years to modern misfires, these bikes earned reputations for reliability issues, questionable engineering, or disappointing performance.
Crazy Bunderbike Build Looks Amazing, But Is It Impossible to Ride?
Slideshow: The Swiss custom shop has taken a Harley Softail and stretched it into something so long and low that it looks closer to a rolling sculpture than a conventional motorcycle.
Engraved Rebellion: Inside Bundnerbike's Glam Rock II
Slideshow: A standard cruiser becomes an intricate metal canvas in the hands of a Swiss custom house known for pushing Harley-Davidson platforms far beyond their factory brief.
Slideshow: Harley-Davidson's challenges aren't abstract; they show up in dropping shipments, shrinking dealer traffic, and strategic decisions that aren't yet translating into growth.
