Hello Nebraska

Callie-Jean and Beth have to be in Washington by Friday night so they had to leave us in the morning. We also decided to not take our rest day in Lusk, but rather to continue on to Chadron, NE where Sabrina was scheduled to talk with the rotary at their 12:00 meeting . We packed up the camper fast, too fast actually, and we forgot to do a lot of the steps so we had to redo things before we could leave. C’est la vie, when you’re in a hurry. Consequently, we were running behind schedule as we drove to Chadron, NE. Half way there we practically had a coronary attach when we considered that there might be a time change involved and we might be rushing and still be one hour+ late ! OMG Sabrina jumped on the phone and called ahead to confirm the time and thank goodness, we had over reacted. The time change wasn’t until the middle of NE. So, 85 miles later we pull into the Country Kitchen only 10 minutes late, but right on time to step into the buffet line before the meeting started. Timing is everything. Sabrina kept it short and sweet because we were an addition to the scheduled meeting and since this was the 125th anniversary celebration weekend in Chadron, they had a lot to talk about. The Rotary was coordinating several events, teenage scavenger hunt, walking tours of the newly developed historic district walking trail and the Colter run, consisting of a 5K & 10K race and two mile walking race. Of course Sabrina’s eyes lit up and she registered for the 10K race. She must support the local Rotary, even if she’s dead tired from bike riding and not sleeping well. This is the Sabrina we all know and love. After the formal meeting adjourned, we got to meet and talk to some of the members. I was lucky enough to strike up a conversation with a fellow biker, one George Leadbetter, editor of the Chadron Record. We didn’t get much time to talk as he needed to leave but I think we have similar views on the importance of experiencing other cultures throughout the world to better understand them and foster global tolerance because we’re all people of the same world. After our talk it dawned on me that George was in a perfect position to help us raise awareness of the Chikumbuso project and WBR through his paper. I called him and suggested doing an article and he seemed supportive, so we e-mailed him all the information we had and hopefully it will get into his paper, although we’ll probably be In Illinois by then. After the meeting , Matt, the new president of Chadron Rotary, arranged for us to stay in the local state park and discussed making a donation from the club. After dropping off the trailer, it was back to Lusk to start the day’s ride, at 4:00! Ben stayed at the drop off point in Lusk and just chilled out until it was time to pick us up. Well it was really nice riding and we made good time, so Ben picked us up at about 7:45 and we’d covered 45 miles. Rt 20 is a great road with many historical points of interest. We passed the area where cattle were driven from Texas to WY and MT to replenish the dwindling buffalo herd. We followed the trains, with dozens of carts filled with coal from WY with friendly conductors honking a “hello.” Just before we crossed into Nebraska, we stopped at the first American Legion Post in Van Tassel. I’ll finish the last 40 into Chadron tomorrow. We made it back to camp around 9:30 to a dinner of toasted tuna sandwiches and the last of the corn chips and salsa. Thank God the Rotarians fed us a great lunch! It was another beautiful morning with lots of good memories and a few good contacts for the cause.