Several hours along the Lincoln Highway

The Lincoln Highway, eastern Nebraska

a bar on the Lincoln Highway

corn along the Lincoln Highway

rail depot on the Lincoln Highway

Dedicated in 1913, the Lincoln Highway was the first road across the country going from New York to San Francisco. We followed it for 150 miles west into Nebraska. This stretch follows the wide, muggy river bottom of the Platte River. Tiny farm communities pop up about every five to ten miles, and every one of them has a tornado siren and a rail depot where (I assume) the local farmers store their harvested corn before it's loaded onto trains.

Through Omaha

Old downtown Omaha, Nebraska

Without the time to get an advanced degree in the Great Plains, we had to prioritize a few aspects of the region above the rest. This meant overlooking its cities scattered distantly, mostly around its edges. On our way through Omaha we stopped for a couple hours to pick up tourist information and maps, and to at least get a quick impression of the city.

The newer steel and glass office buildings make it look like a relatively thriving, healthy modern place. We walked around the Old Market area where a lot of the old brick warehouses have been turned into flower shops, beauty parlors, bars and gift shops. The buildings were neat, but the area wreaked of having been designated a revitalized cultural area and felt separated from what really gives Omaha its purpose. At least we got to see the vast rail yards and cattle yards on our way out of town to reinforce my expectation of what made Omaha.

Westward into Iowa

Interstate 80, northern Illinois

Continuing westbound on Interstate 80 through northern Illinois, we crossed over the Mississippi River into Iowa at dusk. We counted on driving well into the night in order to make Nebraska fairly early the next day. The "World's Largest Truck Stop" drew us off the highway for a quick bite to eat, but there was a Truckers Jamboree going on, giving us a chance to see a large number of Iowans and find out whether they live up to their giant corn-fed stereotypes...

Illinois tallgrass

The parking lot was empty when we pulled into Goose Lake Prairie State Natural Area in northern Illinois late in the afternoon. As soon as we entered the park headquarters, the ranger jumped at his opportunity for live conversation. He asked what we'd like to know about the prairie, and when we responded with question marks on our faces he said "Meet me out by the flagpole". The flagpole was surrounded by many examples of native flowers, where he gave us a guided tour of each. We followed his introduction with a hike through the surprisingly varied grasses, some over 8 feet tall. This was the first of many times on our trip where we learned that despite appearances, the prairie ecosystem is one of the most diverse in the world.

For our trip across the Great Plains, Jen and I listed as many "things" as we could think of that were associated with this region. Our list served as sort of a scavenger hunt and included both physical and cultural features. As I try to recall them in the next batch of blog posts about our trip, I'll list each item we saw or experienced in the form of a brief dictionary entry. Thus, the first item on our hunt was the tallgrass prairie.

The tallgrass prairie is an ecosystem native to central North America, with fire as its primary periodic disturbance. In the past, tallgrass prairies covered a large portion of the American Midwest, just east of the Great Plains, and portions of the Canadian Prairies. They flourished in areas with rich loess soils and moderate rainfall of around 30 to 35 inches (760 to 890 mm) per year.

-Wikipedia

Illinois prairie

Goose Lake Prairie State Natural Area

One of the last large untouched patches of prairie left in Illinois is preserved as a state park about 50 miles southwest of Chicago. Goose Lake Prairie State Natural Area contains a patchwork of old-growth tallgrass prairie (it was always too poorly drained to be useful to farmers or other development). As a result it's a refuge for rare prairie plants, moths, butterflies and other insects, and a great place for birding.

Situated in the wide Illinois River bottomland and surrounded mostly by quiet, muggy farmland, we are reminded of our proximity to Chicago by the huge network of power lines emanating from a nuclear power plant looming on the horizon.

Late summer mattress

   
Some of many sprawling flower beds that punctuate the huge fields and woods of Margitsziget (Margaret Island)