A Lot Going On, Part 2

Yesterday I drove to McCook, NE, which is about 65 to 70 miles east of here and is about 50 miles from the Colorado border. It was an easy drive on good two lane roads with 60 and 65 mph speed limits. I passed through seven or eight small towns and never had to come to a full stop. Highway signs give fair warning that there will be reduced speed ahead, so there is ample time to slow down to the usual 35mph through the towns. The town sizes varied from 136 to 1044, and McCook itself is just over 7,000. Wow, it even has traffic lights. That's a big city in our book.

It has become obvious to me that a car's license plate can be a real liability on that kind of a drive if a person likes to drive over the speed limit. My license number is 51-C887, and the 51 indicates that I live in Harlan County. The law will usually give some leeway to drivers from their county, but those from outside that county had best toe the line to as near driving perfection as possible. Every county has a different number based on how many cars are registered there, and of course Omaha cars, from Douglas County, have license plates that begin 1-. You definitely do not want to push your luck in other counties if your license plate begins 1-. It may prove costly.

I noticed as I got nearer to McCook that the "rolls" in the rolling countryside began to have deeper valleys and higher peaks. I can only assume that the terrain was beginning its change to the higher plains of Colorado. I want to come back in the later spring when things are green and see it again. It's pretty even in the early spring drab brown, but later it ought to be very, very pretty.

Driving these country roads is an eerie feeling for an ex-Californian, because there is almost no traffic. It's really weird after spending my life in L.A. The danger that all drivers must prepare for on those drives is deer. I have been told by almost everyone that at some time, somewhere in Nebraska, a deer will jump in front of me and the front of my car will bring it to an untimely death. If I am lucky, they say, the damage to my car will be less than $5,000.00. I am not looking forward to that eventuality.

I have a sister who has lived in Missouri for 40 years and she tells me I can buy a small device that attaches to my bumper and emits a high pitch whistle that only deer can hear. It frightens them as the car approaches and they will not jump in front of the car in panic. She says she has had one on her car for many years and has never even had a close call with a deer. She did tell me, however, that the whistle didn't help very much the night she hit the cow. That's another story, though.