Snowed In--TRIP 3 (2012)

Early winter has come to western Nebraska. Trees are suddenly bright yellow, cows graze in cut corn fields and a grey sky threatens snow.
"Chance of an inch before noon," reported the weatherman. We headed west on I-80 toward North Platte and Ogallala. It was 33 degrees in Lexington when we left.
"There are movable gates at the exit ramps here," noticed Andy. "When the weather gets bad, they close the Interstate instead of trying to plow it."
"So how do you get off?" I asked.
"Drive to the next exit," he answered. "The trucks probably get notification."
Then we saw the sign, "Exit ahead when flashing."

Some animals didn't mind the snow at
the zoo of Cody Park in North Platte,

Tonight is supposed to be the cold night, with lows in the 20's. Then it will warm up again. That seems pretty accurate. Just as I wrote it down, the snow flurries dotted the windshield.
At the winery last night, one man told us that Nebraska actually harvested 53 percent of its corn crop, much more than farmers actually expected because of the extreme drought. Some fields still stand dry and golden yellow, a pretty contrast to the bright green of winter wheat and to the black of nearby plowed land. And its' fun to see cows grazing on newly cut acreage.
North Platte has the largest freight shipping and rail yard in the
world. Thousands of railcars are processed daily on the 2580-acre site with 315 miles of track.  A long freight train passed under us on U.S. #30 as we headed into town, with snow coming down gently.

The Veterans Memorial in North Platte honors
those Nebraska Cornhuskers who died fighting in wars.

At Cody Park in North Platte the snow started to stick to the trees. Most of the side streets in the residential area around the park were dirt. Snow hadn't stuck there yet, but grassy areas and benches turned white. I snapped pictures of the deer and buffalo at Cody Park. The elk, uncooperative as a photography subject, paced up and down, tossed a blue metal barrel with his antlers, and avoided the camera. Photographing animals through a double fence in the snow was cold business. But the Canada geese didn't seem to mind. They browsed on grass everywhere in the park.

White snow on the flowers
shows that winter is coming.

An hour at Starbucks didn't stop the snow. We chatted with Cornhuskers, but the white stuff kept coming. By the time we left, trees and bushes had turned white, and the world was a foggy mess.
We stopped at the Veterans Memorial, beautifully done flower gardens and statues to honor the Nebraska servicemen and women who had died in wars. Snow kept coming in a foggy blanket. Steam rose from ponds along U.S. #80, and everything except the pavement retained a white coating. "Nebraska needs the moisture," I told Andy, "but this has to be hard on all the trees with leaves."

In the museum on Front Street Andy
and Sue took on new character.

"They are going to lose branches if this keeps up," he agreed.
During our Starbuck's conversation we learned that corn already cut was probably taken partly green for silage and the dried-out stalks left standing would be loss for the farmer. What we couldn't identify earlier was milo or millet, used for flour or bird seed.
In Ogallala it was 33 degrees, and snow stuck. They had more than an inch on the ground.

In the snow, tourist-oriented Front Street
stands empty on Saturday morning.

Front Street, the tourist town of the Old West, had only a few visitors. We walked through the gift shop, looked at displays in the old museum and set the camera timer for a couple fun shots.

Surrounded by wooden markers,
the statue of The Trail Boss
highlights the hilltop.

Then we checked in at the motel to do laundry and take advantage of the indoor pool. It was stay-inside weather.About 4 p.m. the sun came out and temperatures shot up five degrees. We headed out to explore. Boot Hill, at the highest point in Ogallala, marked the burial sites of many killed in gun fights who couldn't afford more honorable internment. Grave markers were wooden slats, including the one for Mrs. Lillie Miller that was surrounded by a wrought iron fence. The bronze statue of The Trail Boss, a tribute to the cattle drives from Texas, kept watch from the summit.
At Lake McConaughy we drove across the dam on the North Platte River that created the recreation area and hydro power source. People camped at the state recreation site on Lake Ogallala below the dam, but Lake McConaughy showed the effects of devastating drought. The sun lit up Front Street just in time for late afternoon pictures.

Flowers still line Front Street
to attract tourists to the Old West.

It actually felt warmer the the 39 degrees that flashed on the bank sign nearby. But with lingering clouds and a little snow still on the ground, it's going to be a cold night.