Day 27

Didn't sleep well last night ... first it was the threat of a thunderstorm that had me rushing to get the tent up ... it got surprisingly warm and I was sweating heavily ... then the mosquitos wanted in on the act but the real problem was the Union Pacific railway line 200m away. Every 20 minutes or so all through the night hugh freight trains ... some must be a couple of miles long ... trundle along the track. The ground vibrates ... but the worst bit is that the drivers must be adhering to some regulation that insists they 'TOOT' the horn twice if they see a cyclist in a tent. It was horrible ... why do they do that?... I never got a wink of sleep and felt terrible this morning ... still do! I pushed on to the town of Kearney ... 30 odd miles down the road and I'm gonna enjoy my siesta! The day started cool but the sun is now up, so is the temperature and the humidity ... I'll stay here for the rest of the day until it cools down. As luck would have it there is a festival on in town ... lots if music and razzamatazz. The streets are lined with vintage cars and there is a throng of people about ... should be quite interesting? On the way down to Kearney an articulated lorry passed me (they are called semis over here ... pronounced SemEyes) with a police car very close in to the rear of him ... really tailgating the lorry so that the lorry driver couldn't see the cop in his rear view mirror. Apart from being dangerous and possibly illegal ... I thought it was a sneaky way to wait to catch someone speeding? Still find it hard to believe that I'm actually cycling through the Prairies where the sweetcorn really is as high as an 'elephant's eye'


Wouldn't this go down a treat at the corner in Cushendall?


People watching is fun too in the town of Kearney.


The hot rods were my favourites.


Anything goes ... pedal power still has it's place? While watched the vintage car parade and the start of the 'Cruise Nite' I heard this young voice call out ... "Hey! Are you the Scottish guy from Ireland that's cycling Coast-to-Coast? Cool man! I've been reading about you on the Internet" ... it was a young athlete named Kyle who twigged on to who I was ... Celebrity Status in Nebraska! Whao! It's still very, very warm and I've another 25 miles to do ... would like to get to Overton before dark ... I hear there's a golf course at the far end of town. People are so good ... a first aid attendant handed me a couple of bottles of ice water ... aah lovely. Sure enough find my golf course and there's a mixed foursome tournament in progress with lots of folk about. Get permission from one of the green attendants to pitch a tent in his garden over there ... great. It's 20:30 and the temperature is still 82F ... notice a lovely Moon rising in a clear blue sky. Still near the trains but I've heard them all day and sort of getting used to the noise. I've discovered that they are blaring their horns approaching level crossings ... it's nothing personal! OK ... that's 62.4 miles done and I'm feeling good about things. Oh! I've discovered another use for the iPhone ... luring mosquitos ... switch on the phone, hold it close to the fabric of the tent ... the mosquitos are attracted to the light and .... Zap! You've got 'em! Goodnight!

Location:Kearney, NE