Day three, wind farms, meridians, approaching rockies

We picked up an hour yesterday. As a result we "slept" in this am. 

My "mornings with Blair" saga continues. As I mentioned yesterday Blair was in 
a good mood as it turns out the grouches day one were the result of my earlier 
than promised wakeup call. So today I thought I would make amends. Went out 
and bought coffee and i took a cup to Blairs room on first floor (my faithful 
and obedient companion and I were on the third).. I Knocked, then pounded on 
the door yelling "Blair I brought you coffee". I finally figured she must be 
walking Bailey so I left the coffee at her door, went to our room on the third 
and picked up my faithful and obedient companion and our luggage. When we got 
to the first floor there was Blair and Bailey coming out of the wrong room. Why 
on earth was The coffee still at their door six rooms down? OOPs well never 
mind. I am sure the occupant of the room I was pounding on was bewildered. At 
least they did not grab Blair's coffee!


The weather this morning was glorious. Traveling west on 80 the miles flew by 
as yours truly was first in the cockpit today. Our first highlight were some 
HUGE wind farms along the highway. There must have been 40 or more and 
interestingly not one was turning. Here is a picture taken by my faithful and 
obedient companion.

Wind Farm Iowa

I would add that we did see a few actually turning after crossing in to Nebraska. Yesterday I commented on corn and Ethanol today the farmers seem to be sucking up some cash from wind farms! Once again I do not want to get Political on this blog. It would be interesting to follow that money trail! Maybe my next blog? Ok, so what's the deal with meridian's you might ask. I thought that was for the yacht crowd. Ha! Wrong again reader! Didn't you ever hear of a "Prairie Schooner"?

Anyway, two critical meridian's were crossed today the first was 97' 29' 20.
That marked the half way point (per my GPS) along our route. Attached is a picture, and for you geography nuts it is In York County, Nebraska. Also here are some other picks from a rest area a few miles down the road.

Rest Area close to half way point

Half Way Point Vermont San Diego!

The next meridian of note is the 100th. It marks the eastern most point of the "Arid Plains". Now why would I know or care this obscure factoid? Blame that great referencework, Wikipedia again! I learned this tidbit when I looked up the Town of Cozad, 

Nebraska. I was looking for facts about a nice "Military Vehicle Museum" that 
was next door to the Wendy's we stopped at to get lunch. 

I am not trying to revisit the Museum Post of Tuesday, but it was hard to resist searching 
for any details I could find about this Museum that consisted of a few surplus 
tanks and jeeps standing next to a steel shed. I did not find anything on the 
museum so I looked up Cozad on my blackberry's Wikipedia link. What a tool that is turning 
out to be! Turns out Cozad is famous for a few things among them:

1. Jack Nicholson refers to it in the movie About Schmidt, 
2. A Pony Express Stop
3. Being near the aforementioned 100th meridian! 

Who would have thought that Nicholson the Pony Express and the 100th meridian 
were so connected! Forget that Kevin Bacon guy.

Interested?? Learn more here->  Cozad Town Web Sight!
Well I am composing this in the car, the destination tonight is Estes Park for a side excursion to Rocky Mountain National Park in the AM. More on that tomorrow. In the
meantime we are cruising in Western Nebraska and I FINALLY see some Oil Wells pumping.
This is something I saw on a trip my family made 40 years ago. My faithful and
obedient companion and Blair were starting to kid me that I must have imagined all this
most of this afternoon. Suddenly, they appeared just before the Wyoming line! Yea, I did not kill all of my pre-alcohol memories in collage drinking bouts. A picture snapped by my faithful and obedient companion is final evidence.

Speaking of that family trip, Sisters Susan, and Ethel stay tuned, I may have some memories
 tied into that trip to Fort Collins 41 years ago in tomorrows blog! I seem to remember a
 Rocky Mountain National Park ride over Trail Ridge Road back then. Tomorrow will be a repeat!
 until then
Adieu