Our plans, written mostly in Jello, were to continue on westward on I-80 yesterday to Cheyenne, WY, but I noticed that the weather forecast there was for snow showers, and rain showers most of the day as well as wind......so we made a decision yesterday morning to stay in North Platte another day. There is a lot of local history in this western Nebraska town, and it was to be mostly sunny, so we got out our bikes, and spent over 5 hours riding from one historical point of interest to another.....within 5 miles of the Walmart is the Nebraska home of Buffalo Bill Cody (Scout's Rest Ranch), the Lincoln County Historical Museum, and the Union Pacific Railroad Bailey Yard (largest classification, or "hump" yard in the world). I found Scout's Rest Ranch to be totally fascinating, and it is well worth your time. The per person entry fee is only $2.00, and of the three attractions was the least expensive, but I would recommend all three.....there is a lot of history to absorb at these three sites. One thing I did learn about diesel locomotives is that the diesel engines do not power the locomotive....the diesels power electrical generators, that in turn supply electricity to the electric motors that turn the wheels. Seriously, I did not know that.
"Buffalo" Bill Cody himself
UPR Bailey Yard - 8 miles long
Lincoln County Historical Museum
Buffalo Bill Cody's home in North Platte, NE
All told we covered around 12 miles of riding distance before returning to our coach around 5:30pm. Prior to our ride I had checked our oil level in the Detroit Diesel and saw that we were about 2 quarts low....the engine holds over 4 gallons, so this is not serious. Prior to this extended trip the Detroit used about 1 quart every 8 hours (6-700 miles) of operation, but that has dropped quite a bit on this trip. We have only used 6 quarts in over 6,300 miles. Thee is an oil reservoir separate from the engine that holds over 3 gallons of oil, so all I have to do it open a gate valve and let 2 quarts, via gravity, flow into the engine. It was also time to add back in oil to the reservoir, so I poured in 2 gallons of Rotella Heavy Duty 40wt to top it off.
When we woke up yesterday the house batteries were down to 83%, but by the end of the day the solar panels had brought it back up to 91%.
I watched the Clippers beat the Memphis Grizzlies in OT......first time I have had two L.A. NBA teams that may get into the second round. Both the Lakers and Clippers are up 3 games to 1 in their series.
We have enjoyed our stay at this Walmart......uh, well, up until 8pm last night when a semi pulled up next to us (this is a big parking lot, and there is a lot of space NOT right next to us) with his "refer" running full tilt.....he pulled the curtains on his cab and went to sleep....what the......so, I cranked up the DD and moved our "home" to the other side of the parking lot. You know, now that I think about it, that is really cool.....at our sticks and bricks home I'd have to go next store and ask our neighbor to turn down the volume, or call the police. All I have to do now is move a few hundred feet and the problem is solved!
Well, that was our day....on to Cheyenne! Thanks for stopping by!
North Platte is such an interesting town in the 'Husker state. So glad you had time to explore. Hope you were able to get some delicious peach cobbler from the Whiskey Creek Wood Fire Grill!
ReplyDeleteContinued safe travels.
The Krashs
Karen, by the time we finished our bicycle tour of the historical sites that interested us we were kind of worn out, and just stayed in. We will put Whiskey Creek on our list of places to hit on our way back to Kentucky in September!
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