113 miles in 10.16 hours – Max Speed 23mph
I got up as early as I could for not getting to bed until Midnight, and started off on what I knew would be another long day. I headed through Gothenburg and went through the town of Cozad early in the day. This is an important milestone because it is where the 100th Meridian lies, and is considered the cutoff between the east and west. It was pretty cool to see all the historic stuff around town.
100th Meridian!
I went on and stopped to have an early lunch in Lexington. It was really strange for me in Lexington and Ogallala because I have been there before, but only from the viewpoint of a highway driver, so I recognized both of the roads around the services near the highways, but you get a little more color on the town by coming from the 30 rather than I-80.
Historical Marker
A section of the original Lincoln Highway
Historical Marker
Once I began getting near Kearney I really did begin to feel that I was getting closer to the east, as the towns continued to get bigger. When I was like 8 miles outside of Kearney suburbs started, with neighborhoods and lots of little roads everywhere. This is something that I really haven’t seen since Salt Lake, and not for a smaller city ever on this trip. This was pretty exciting for me. I celebrated by getting ice cream at a TCBY.
Historical Marker
Historical Marker
I moved on and got to the town of Grand Island at around 7:30. I grabbed a quick dinner in town and got to the campground I was going to at around 9:00, just at twilight. I got set up and was asleep long before I was the night before.