I'm A Goin' And A Blowin'...

Headin' down the road, trying to make a livin' rodeoin'-as Chris LaDouix would sing.

Okay, so I am not making a living rodeoing...yet!! But I was trying to make it to a rodeo today, so I got to see the sun rise through the windshield of the Duramax, as I left Denver...

A hundred miles down the road and I ran into this...

I could still see well enough so I didn't have to slow down, but for the next eighty or so miles, this is all of Eastern Colorado and Western Nebraska that you are going to get to see-LOL.

Finally, back in the Sandhills. When you turn north on 83 at North Platte, once you cross the bridge, you are officially back in the Sandhills. Here you see lots of these(yep...cows...sorry, It's hard to take pictures at 65mph, when you are by yourself...and I wasn't about to slow down)...

The sandhills are interesting to me. These rolling hills are basically grass-covered sand dunes. Grazing conservation is very important in these parts. Over-grazing the grass exposes the sand underneath and when that happens the ground just starts to blow away. Needless to say the good ranchers are very protective of the grass that they have. The water table is very shallow and the ground water is wonderful. They say that there is a huge underground ocean under this part of Nebraska. Several companies have tried to come up with ways to pull from this aquafir to supply areas like Omaha and Denver with an additional water supply, but the people in this area are very protective of their ground water and have stopped them at every turn.

Because the water table is shallow you see tons of these...

And this...

For 65 miles!!
There is nothing but rolling sandhills, grass, windmills and cows!!!
It is easy to drive down the road and lose yourself in thoughts of how much fun it would be to be riding in these wide-open spaces. The pastures are huge-in some you could ride for a full day and not have to see the same country or get off to open a gate.

Then you get to see one of these...

If you need fuel...you better get it...
Because there is another 65 miles of this...

Some neat old corrals...

And these guys in the back, going "Are we there yet?, are we there yet?, are we there yet???"
Finally, we hit Valentine! One of my favorite little towns. This is a cowboy town. Lots of cowboys-old and young....Oh Pony Girl...they are always in need of good teachers in these parts(wink, wink)...

One more jag and we are home. I know I am getting close when I see a herd of these...

This is just one of the many herds of horses along the road owned by a local "production" ranch.

The final sprint...

Covered 380 miles in 7 hours just in time to hook up, load up and head to the rodeo...

That's my little pin-headed, speed-demon.

And this is our run! It sucked! We were everywhere, but on track.

Pilot errors galore!! I must have looked down before first because Moon tried to turn early. I am not sitting long enough as we come out of first, causing a major bow. I don't know what the freek happened at 2nd, but it caused us to blow wide to 3rd. But we won! Don't ask me how...oh, you probably guessed...the competition level was not very high. Oh well, I won my entry fees back + extra, bringing Moon's money earnings up to $111 for this year.
This sort of run would never have won if there had been a decent turnout for this rodeo, but the high entry fees and the high cost of fuel is really affecting these small rodeos.

Now for me and Mr. Cooked Noodle Boy...we are headed back to the slow pen to let me get a grip on my timing and to give me a chance to add some starch to the Pin-Head's shoulders!!

How's that Train Wreck?? That enough pictures for ya? LMAO...