Alliance, Nebraska

It was starting to be late in the day as we have left Angora and  headed into Alliance, where we were looking forward to seeing "Carhenge", an authentic reproduction of the original made entirely out of old cars which would have obviated our need to visit England.  Coming into town, we did see one seemingly hand made sign indicating that Carhenge was just a mile or so down the road, but we saw no other signs, and try as we might, we just couldn't find it.

It was starting to get late, ( although the light enhancing magic of the digital photograph of the above sign would indicate otherwise)  it WAS getting darker by the minute.  At this point, we had given up our search for carhenge and decided to find a place in town to spend the night and resume our search in the morning.  There didn't seem to be anything big or important or compelling about the town, and I could see no reason why it should be, but there were no vacancies at any of the non-fleabag kinds of places, like the Holiday Inn and the like, so it was decided that we would just have to keep going and catch carhenge next time around.  Since we were hungry, we stopped at the Ayo Grill, a nondescript looking  mexican restaurant on West 3rd Street, which was the main drag through the center of town.

Given our many disappointments in Alliance and the fact that there was no resulting photo-documentation to necessitate an entry at this point, I might have bypassed the town, blogwise, were it not for the most extraordinarily great Chile Relleno that I had there.  It was not breaded or deep fried or filled with some bland and undigestible glob of cheese like so many that have disappointed me.  The chile pepper was large and unbreaded and not too hot, but just right.  It seemed to be pan fried with just the right amount of light nicely flavored cheese that went well with the great vegetarian beans and rice that came on the side.  I am not a food critic but I know what I like, but I just loved the meal,
 was pleasantly surprised, as you can tell, and would return for that alone.  Jackie enjoyed here enchiladas, although not quite as enthusiastically as me, but did give the place two thumbs up.   Real mexican food made by real Mexican people

It is now dark, so with a full stomach, we head out into the night, east on highway 2 past Hyannis turning south on a small 2 lane, route 61 past a little town named Arthur (Jackie's father's name) where we stopped for a minute and wished it could have been more.  But is was late, so onward to Ogallala, where we hope to be able to spend the night.

                                                                 Pablo

Angora, Nebraska

Due to circumstances out of my control, after editing a prior posting, things got out of order, with the Red Cloud posting no longer being where it was supposed to be, thus disrupting the flow, since we came upon Angora right after being in Bayard.

So, heading north out of Bayard onto the 385, next stop Alliance, where among other things as yet unknown to us, as things will be till you get there, Jackie was looking forward to seeing "Carhenge", a replica of Stonehenge made completely out of old cars.  As usual with us, it was starting to get late, which happens when you amble too aimlessly, which is the point of an amble after all, but due to the constraints of the day, it does have its consequences, like coming upon a fascinating place with barely enough time or adequate available light to give it proper consideration.  So it was with Angora, Nebraska, a very small unincorporated town with 7 or 8 structures many of which were abandoned, and its own post office,

all of which was across the road from a railway siding with numerous grain elevators made of corrugated
aluminum of a banal and generic nature that did not interest me at the time.  It still doesn't, but it would have properly filled out the photo profile of this town which was founded in 1900 by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, probably to house and service the railroad crews that manned this facility which no longer seems to need manning.  I googled Angora as much as one can google something and came up with very little beyond the above info.  As hard as I tried, I could not find a population for the town, which I would estimated at between 10 and 15.  This probably explains why the USPS has Angora's post office on the 2011 closure list.  When that happens, the population may drop by 3 or 4 more.

The following are a more or less complete catalogue of the buildings in Angora.  Excluded due to lack of interest on my part are 2 mobile homes and a 1970's vintage split level home housing a family, the only sign of life in the town.  This may possibly be occupied by the postmaster and his family, but I'm just guessing.  So, here is Angora as I saw it late in the day and now wishing I had more time....

These photos were taken standing right in the middle of town, and with the exception of the omissions mentioned above, that's about it.  The architecture and the lush greens make you think of a little town in Ireland. 

As I mentioned, the town is right beside the railroad tracks, as are most Nebraska towns, and although I did not take any pictures of the railroad facility, here is a train going by, taken from the center of town.  By the looks of it, it was carrying coal.  Since the train was so long, as they are out there, and not moving too quickly, I was able to trot over and catch this shot as it was going by.

Well. that's it for Agora for now.  And, as I keep saying (looking back what I have done and, in hindsight, what I have missed), I hope I will get the chance to get back and fill in the blanks, but for now its on to Allience and "Carhenge" and whatever other surprises the town holds.

                                                                    Pablo