A Ford on the Lincoln: (25) Sydney, Nebraska to Lexington Nebraska

Buffalo Bill's Scout's Rest Ranch in North Platte. Nebraska

June 16, Sydney Nebraska to Lexington Nebraska

On this trip, as in life, things don't always go according to plan. This is certainly the case today, although today unlike last week the fact that things didn't go according to plan was not a bad thing at all.

Sidney, Nebraska

"Making the Lincoln Great Again!"

We began the day in Sidney, Nebraska at the Cabela's campground. We ended the day in the campground of the fairgrounds in Lexington, Nebraska. We were all alone except for the road apples and the wind and the Union Pacific Trains.

Abandoned Motor Court near Lodgepole. Nebraska

Near Lodgepole, Ne.

We left Sydney in good time and quickly passed through the towns of Lodgepole and Chapell Nebraska. We then decided to divert from our route to travel to Julesburg Colorado.

Julesburg, Colorado

Originally, on this trip we had intended to take what is known as the "Colorado loop". The Colorado loop was only a part of the Lincoln Highway for a couple of years. It seems that the promoters of the Lincoln Highway had made the mistake of announcing the route for the highway at the Governors' conference in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Long Gone Tourist Cabins, Julesburg

When it was discovered that the Lincoln Highway would bypass Colorado just as the Transcontinental Railroad had fifty years before, Colorado officials were understandably upset. In order to placate them and get safely out of town, Lincoln Highway promoters quickly included the Colorado loop.

Outside Old Ford Garage, Julesburg

The loop would leave the Lincoln Highway at Big Springs Nebraska and head Southwest to Denver. From there, it would head north towards Wyoming and rejoined the Lincoln Highway proper.

The promoters of the highway quickly realized that if they said "yes" to Colorado they would be required to say "yes" again and again to other cities and states close to the Lincoln Highway. The "Colorado loop" was quickly abandoned. Lincoln Highway promoters returned to their guiding principle of one single route from New York City to San Francisco that would guide travelers along the most efficient route of travel.

Since our trip has not gone according to plan, we, like the Lincoln Highway promoters, abandoned the Colorado loop. Nonetheless, we decided to divert to Julesberg to visit the Ford garage in Julesberg. It was only 16 miles off of our route and we thought we could quickly stop, take a couple of pictures, and be on our way. We ended up having a wonderful tour of the garage and an adjacent museum and meeting one of the most fascinating individuals of our trip Lee Kizer. Our visit to the Ford garage will be the subject of another post. Suffice it to say that we lost quite a bit of time but we gained a new friend and learned a lot about the history of Julesburg, the Lincoln Highway through Colorado And Lee's Story. Old Ford garage is now owned by Lee Kizer.

Phelps Hotel, Big Springs Nebraska

We finally returned to the Lincoln Highway via Big Springs. At Big Springs we stopped at the Phelps Hotel. After a short stop it was on to Ogallala and then to Paxton. We continued to drive US Route thirty and eschewed Interstate 80. It was a delightful, albeit, late day. At Ogallala we toured Scouts Rest, built and originally owned by Buffalo Bill.

Kristani, our waitress at the Front Street Cafe

Front Street Café, Ogallala, Nebraska

Hokes, Ogallala, Recently Closed

At Paxton we ended the day, hot and tired at the campgrounds located at the County Fairgrounds. Today is the eve of our 40th wedding anniversary. I wonder if Linda ever imagined 40 years ago that she would be spending her wedding anniversary in the parched fields of the Dawson County Fairgrounds hearing the trains and dodging the
sun. More on this tomorrow.