Random Thoughts III

In Wyoming, every eating establishment offered “Buffalo Burgers” on the menu but I haven’t noticed this in Nebraska at all.

When I stay in a cheap campground it seems there are always poor people living there just trying to maintain. I feel lucky that I am there for a day and gone.

They now make railroad ties from cement. I didn’t know that.

I’m not a sports guy but I do enjoy college football. One of these days it would be nice to be in a motel on a Saturday.

Styrofoam cups and plates, which have pretty much disappeared in Oregon, have resurfaced.

Killdeer have also resurfaced. They were constant companions of mine while walking in Oregon and Idaho but dropped off at the Rockies but are now back.

Saw another guy in a Wyoming store exercising his 2nd Amendment rights with a gun on his hip. I support the right but am still a little unsettled seeing it, probably because he has one and I don’t. Makes me want to get an equalizer - just kidding.

There are some major sized toads in Nebraska. Hadn’t noticed toads all summer and here they are.

What’s with these new bumper cargo carriers I see all the vacationers sporting? How does this jibe since they totally cover your rear license plate? I had a policeman stop me once because my license plate light was out and it couldn’t be read after dark. Is this legal?

In Oregon, my home state, we do not have a sales tax. If something cost $.99 you receive a penny in return from a dollar. Surrounded now by sales taxes I always have an overabundance of pocket coins.

I have been following the railroads and the trains seem to run constantly carrying coal from the Wyoming coal fields. Many of the engineers have gotten to know me by seeing me walking now for weeks. It is always an uplift when they toot their whistle in recognition.

I experienced my first frost of the season September 6, south of Lusk, Wyoming. It was so cold my hands were stiff. A harbinger of what’s to be.

A week ago when leaving Scottsbluff, I talked briefly to a man with a new Harley-Davidson. I complimented him but he said it wasn’t loud enough and he needed to have the engine amplified. I asked him why that was necessary and he looked at me like I was stupid replying, “It has to be loud so they can see me!”

I don’t mean to make anyone mad, but Nebraska, Wyoming, and Idaho all need to get their bottle return act together and charge a deposit. This issue has little to do with freedom and would help clean up their roadways.

Men, in groups, are often hesitant to state their opinions - in particular if they are not close friends.

History is not a dead subject!

No one stops at 70 mph. We live our lives at that speed but at what costs?

There are a lot of moths in Eastern Wyoming. I’m not sure why.

The numbers of animals killed on the highways has dropped off since I have entered more of an agricultural region.

I have yet to see a live rattlesnake. I have seen many dead ones with the most and largest being in Western Nebraska.

When is a grasshopper a locust or a locust a grasshopper? My guess is that one locust is a grasshopper and thousands of grasshoppers are locusts.

Sand spurs are everywhere. I knew of them from Florida and if you don't know what they are - you better leave your shoes on. No wonder cowboys wear boots!

I still stop to pick up pennies. I just can’t help myself for it’s an old habit.

I saw three pot plants in a garden mixed in with their sunflowers. I wanted to take a picture but there were cars in the driveway.

The badgers have disappeared but raccoons have reappeared.

The corn fields are happening and are in full swing. I can only imagine it gets greater as I continue east. After all - this is Cornhusker territory.

It is sometimes hard to believe the temperature differences between night and day.

I have now walked about 1600 miles.