July 28: I Don't Understand Nebraska

Friday, July 28, 2006

When I got up at 5:00, I could see stars through the trees.

Nebraska doesn’t have signs for the state parks until you get off the interstate and drive a ways. I hadn’t printed a MapQuest map and didn’t remember which road to turn on and kept looking for brown signs. I saw plenty for museums and other attractions, but none for the parks. 

When I had passed the cities I knew they were around, I stopped at the next rest area and looked at the atlas. Yep, I’d passed all the parks on my list as possible camping places.

There was a park listed off of the next exit, so I headed that way. I managed to find it, and it would have been a pretty drive through some hills and then about two miles of dirt road, but I was ready to find someplace and stop.

Well, to stay at the park, you need a park permit which can only be gotten in Cozad, but the sign doesn’t say where in Cozad. I went to plan B.

I drove to Cozad and got a motel room. I’m deeply disappointed not to be camping. I wanted to say that I camped my way all the way from NC to WY. Can’t be helped, though.

And now I’m nervous about what will happen in WY tomorrow. I can’t afford to keep staying in motels!

Nebraska seems to be nothing but mostly-flat cornfields. At least Iowa and Missouri had hills and a little variety. 

The Nebraska speed limit is 75 MPH. I guess they figure you’ll want off those long, straight roads as soon as possible.

It’s 8:00 and I’m tired, but I have to wait for the dryer to stop. I figured I’d take advantage of the $0.50 a load.

I have to keep focusing on today, even on just this moment, or I start to feel overwhelmed and lost. I’m worried about finding a place to camp tomorrow. I wish I had internet access to check on permits. I see some campgrounds listed in Medicine Bow National Forest. I have a destination. I have to stop thinking about it now.

I’ve covered so much ground in so little time, all the land seems to run together. I don’t remember much of what I thought on the way.

I don’t feel brave for taking this trip alone. I feel lonely and out of place. I had no idea it would be this bad. Today, I was physically nervous thinking about having to learn a new campground and deal with a new host.

I miss the tall, thick forests of the Carolinas. Maybe I just miss the security of the familiar.