Highway 83...When you come to a fork in the road...

take it, as Yogi Berra is reputed to have said.   Our fork came at the intersection of the 2 and 83 in Thedford.  Although we were planning to do the 2 from Alliance to Grand Island as the last leg of our journey, we followed this often photographed sign which contributes nothing new and interesting to those familiar with  Highway 83, but is important for continuity.

So, first to Thedford on the 2 to check it out with apparently unremarkable results and no pictures to show other than this Highway 2 sign...

and then north for 66 miles as the sign says, to Valentine.  This is a particularly lonely stretch of Nebraska with no towns along the way.  If you are at the intersection of 2 and 83 and need time to plan your next move, you can have a coffee at the Arrowhead Cafe and motel...

Unfortunately, the signs are alot more interesting than the motel or cafe which appear to be part of a

plain, boxy 1970's vintage motel that seemed clean and serviceable, but not much more.  Would have taken a picture anyway, but the sun was behind the building, with the facade in the shadows, so, no picture.  The elevated highway over the tracks is the 83 which we took as soon as I got these pictures.

You would think that with 66 miles of Sandhills ahead of us I would have more than these few pictures to show for it, but I don't, I still didn't have any idea about the significance of where we were.

How could a person be blogging about Nebraska and not have at least one obligatory photograph of the omnipresent windmill water pumps that dot the landscape, so here it is!!!  Needed to get that out of my system, but till now, couldn't find one that fit the paradigm.  Was lucky to find such a fine example, so well situated along the way.

Or another photo of the landscape, although admittedly, this one was taken on last years trip.  Somewhere about 17 miles south of Valentine, we turned onto the 16 B spur, thinking that we wanted to see something there, but changed our minds and got back on the 83.  This is the last picture I took before we got to Valentine.

                                                                             Pablo