Day 2 – The Sandhills of Nebraska

Welcome to Nebraska where the cows outnumber people with 23 million acres of rangeland and pastureland! Started out this morning at 51 degrees but ended the day around 90. Ran up I-24 for 50 some miles to Iowa. Overtook one tractor trailer and caught up to a second one just before our exit. We didn’t see any other vehicles on our side of the interstate that entire stretch! Left the interstate for good at Grand Island Nebraska and came across Highway 2 through the Sandhills.

The Sandhills are impressive but proved difficult to photograph. There just weren’t any good pulloffs or overlooks. Definitely big sky country though. It’s just a very open and empty landscape. And traffic was virtually non-existent in the western half. Reminded us of the Trans-Labrador Highway. But there were lots of trains! They were everywhere.

The Nebraska Sandhills region is the largest grass-stabilized sand dunes in Western Hemisphere. 20,000 square miles or roughly one third of Nebraska. The Sandhills represent the largest remaining grassland ecosystem in the USA that is still fully intact for both flora and fauna. Formed after the last ice age when winds blew the loose sand deposited by retreating glaciers into dunes up to 400 feet high.

We finished out the day by dropping south to Scottsbluff. Over 1100 miles since leaving home. We’ll check out the monument in the morning then head north to South Dakota. We should be camped in Hill City SD tomorrow night.