Day Four (finally in our room!)

Stacy: Wow what a long day. It felt like we were in and out of the car all day. We finished crossing Nebraska, snuck across the corner of Kansas, and ended up in Independence, Missiouri. Both Scott and I agree that the part of Kansas we saw was beautiful. It was mostly backroads and farm land. We followed the Oregon Trail for a while and Scott got to the point where he pretended not to notice the historical signs on the side of the road until we were zooming past them at 70 miles an hour. I guess, being from Oregon, I know how the Oregon Trail story ends. It is interesting to see where it all started. It has been a long drive, but I won't complain because it beats 4-5 months in a covered wagon.
First stop of the day - One of the original Pony Express Stations in Gothenburg Nebraska. Very interesting and definitly worth waiting for.

What is 50 miles and an hour out of the way???? That's right - Brainard Nebraska! The only Brainard town in the United States spelled the way we spell our name. This was certainly one of the highlights of the day.

The Homestead Monument National Park. This is the site of the first homestead claimed during the homestead movement. The visitor center was finished in 2007 and was beautiful. Very interesting.

The visitors center was purposly shaped like a single-blade plow in honor of all of the homesteaders who broke the ground the hard way.

A Kansas sunset.

Tomorrow is another long day in the car; but then we get some time without having to drive.