Pioneer Cafe in Palisade, Nebraska – Day 3

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Out in the flat part of Nebraska

Disclaimer: This post was updated in November 2022, as the original only included 1 photo. The bigger details were written back then, although a few things needed to be figured out.

This was the real reason for bringing my mother-in-law to the middle of America: the Great Plains.

Wheat in Nebraska

Golden waves of grain, living up to the American vision of things being beautiful and bountiful.

Abandoned farm vehicle in Nebraska

A spry 80-year-old widowed farmer feeding her cows crawled up over a nearby fence to chat with us and talk to us about her life out this way. She also told us about her favorite cafe not too far off.

Entering Palisade, Nebraska

That little old lady pointed us to Palisade and just over the railroad tracks on Main Street for breakfast. Love them grain silos.

At the Pioneer Cafe in Palisade, Nebraska with Jutta Engelhardt

We had a great breakfast at the Pioneer Cafe in Palisade, Nebraska. Ashley, the girl with the yellow shirt, was in training as this was her first day, and we were her first customers. The ladies at the Pioneer Cafe left a great impression on my mother-in-law, who thoroughly enjoyed their hospitality. If ever you find yourself near Palisade, Nebraska, you should stop in at 104 Main St for some great food, great service, and incredibly low prices.

Jutta Engelhardt at the Kansas Stateline

Kansas, you have the best Stateline sign for taking photos of people with the sunflower crowning them.

Grain silos in Monument, Kansas

Traveling on Kansas Highway 25 out in the middle of nowhere, we make a very short detour east as I see a capital specimen of a grain silo with an invitation to drop into the El Ranchito Mexican Cafe.

Jutta Engelhardt and John Wise in Moscow, Kansas

Caroline and I passed through here on our very first cross-country trip just five years before this.

Jutta Engelhardt at the Oklahoma Stateline

In keeping with the souvenir hunt of photos of my mother-in-law in front of as many Stateline signs as I can capture, I present Jutta Engelhardt visiting Oklahoma.

Jutta Engelhardt driving in Oklahoma with John Wise

The look on my face is explained by the fact that this is the first time Jutta has driven a car in more than 20 years. After some practice, I let her drive all the way across the panhandle of Oklahoma from the Kansas border to Texas. Aside from my hamming it up for the camera, my mother-in-law just loved this opportunity.

Jutta Engelhardt at the Texas Stateline

Back on terra firma, Jutta had to touch something solid and unmoving: Hello, Texas.

John Wise in Dumas, Texas

This selfie was taken for Caroline because while some might pronounce this in the French style as “Doo-maa,” Texas pronounces it “Dew-mus,” and of course, I go for “Dumb-ass.”

Jutta Engelhardt and a turtle in Texas

Saving turtles in Texas, as that’s what one does when barreling down the highway. Next stop: still somewhere in Texas because it’s a really big state.

Labor Day 2004 – Day 2

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Sunrise in New Mexico

Saturday and the clock is ticking, so we are up before the sun and already on the road at 6:00 a.m. We don’t get far before we stop for gas at only $1.89 a gallon, fresh ice for the ice chest as we are traveling with food in the back seat in order to save time needing to eat at restaurants, and we got a coffee. Hey, wait a minute, didn’t I just say yesterday that we don’t drink gas station coffee? Sometimes beggars can’t be choosers, and knowing that on the roads we’re taking today, there’s not a chance of coming across anything better, we opt for something resembling coffee as we desperately need it after our brief five-and-a-half hours of sleep.

Montoya, New Mexico on old Route 66

We’re more than 90 minutes further east in our journey when it occurs to us that the sections of Route 66 that are still out here may not always be so and that we should use this opportunity to check out the sights. This was part of the old town called Montoya in New Mexico.

Old Route 66 near Montoya, New Mexico

Old Route 66 is being consumed by nature, and many of its remaining stretches don’t even look this well preserved. A few plants didn’t stop our exploration, but at some point, things got too narrow, dictating we turn around. A single bemused horse watches what must be some kind of routine as we tourists can go no further.

Ira's Bar in Nara Visa, New Mexico

If you are traveling New Mexico Road 54, you’ll reach Nara Visa right before the Texas border, but Texas is not part of our travel plans, so here in this town that is mostly occupied by ghosts, we turn north onto the 402 along the eastern border of New Mexico.

Caroline Wise and Tortoise on NM-402 near Amistad, New Mexico

Don’t be a douchebag and run over tortoises for your twisted blood sport; yeah, I’m talking to you pickup drivers who seem to aim for wildlife crossing America’s country roads. Instead, get out of your vehicle and help the creature across; it might help your ruined karma.

Clayton, New Mexico

Further up the road from Amistad, where we had the tortoise encounter, we are stopping in Clayton, New Mexico, to fill up on gas, get another cup of coffee, and indulge in an energizing ice cream sandwich.

NM-406 near Seneca, New Mexico

Should anyone else wonder what is to be found in Seneca, New Mexico, not to be confused with Seneca the Younger, this is about it. Maybe a certain amount of personal tragedy would play out if this were home, as besides some rough-hewn farming there doesn’t appear much else to do for those stoic enough to hammer out a living on this anvil.

Caroline Wise and John Wise on OK-325 heading toward Kenton, Oklahoma

It’s not even lunchtime as we enter Oklahoma. The first time we passed through this state was over by Kerrick so today had to be somewhere else, anywhere else other than that. Not that Kerrick was somehow bad, boring, or otherwise undesirable, but we have this thing of trying new roads as frequently as possible, so here we are out on one of the four western Oklahoma state lines.

Kenton, Oklahoma

Note from November 2023: I’m reviewing blog posts with the oldest dates, and when I got to this post, this image from Kenton, Oklahoma, had no text. I’m aghast that I could have made this oversight while my editor (Caroline) failed to let me know to add something or other here. Well, here I am, good at casting blame but poor in offering context, so it goes.

OK-325 west of Boise City, Oklahoma

It must have been prairie gas or some other deliriant that caused us to miss our road north as we blew right by it and are now going south toward Boise City, Oklahoma. Lucky us that the space looks bigger than the reality of what it is and we are only about 15 miles off-track.

Caroline Wise and John Wise on US-385 south of Campo, Colorado

Home of the Rockies and the Mile-High City of Denver, the San Juan Mountains, and the Durango steam train that brings visitors to Silverton. And then there’s the eastern side of the state.

US-385 north in Colorado

Welcome to the Great Plains, where this side of Colorado is as flat as a board, but at least there’s one tree.

US-385 north in Colorado

Caroline claims to have seen a tumbleweed, but I see nothing and just keep driving.

US-385 north in Colorado

Time stopped for this car, this barn, that home. The weather comes and goes, as do the grasses and trees, but people abandoned hope that this would be the place of their dreams and are no longer tending to their futures. These are our time capsules of another point in our history.

Caroline Wise off the US-385 north in Colorado

The first things that come to mind in Eastern Colorado are not head-sized sunflowers. At the moment, they and Caroline’s smile are the brightest things out here.

US-385 heading north in Nebraska

Somewhere between the fields, we crossed into Nebraska and an endless sea of corn.

Caroline Wise in the North Platte River in Nebraska

Thirty minutes after entering Nebraska, we are crossing the North Platte River. It’s late in the setting sun’s routine of disappearance, but that doesn’t stop Caroline from scrambling down the hill to stand in a shallow braid of the river. This is the first time ever that my wife has stood in a river in Nebraska, and hopefully not the last.

For orientation purposes, we crossed from Julesburg, Colorado, into Nebraska, where the 11 became the 27 on our way to Oshkosh and further north to Alliance, where we had to call it quits due to fatigue. Dinner was at the Wonderful Kitchen Chinese Restaurant; that’s how tired we were. Our motel was the Rainbow Lodge. Neither place was great, but how amazing is it to end your day with ideas of rainbows and the things that are wonderful?

Across the Southern U.S. – Day 11

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Esso Station in Mena, Arkansas

Mena, Arkansas, was where we took our overnight stop, and as you can see, it is shortly after sunrise that we are getting underway. This old Esso gas station opened back in 1928, and after years of decline, it was renovated before the turn of the century and is now a roadside attraction.

Driving west to Queen Wilhelmina State Park in Mena, Arkansas

Mena is located at the foot of Rich Mountain, which is the second-highest peak in Arkansas, standing at 2,681 feet or 817 meters. We were heading up towards Rich Mountain when I took this photo on our way to Queen Wilhelmina State Park.

Driving west to Queen Wilhelmina State Park in Mena, Arkansas

There’s very little time to stop and smell the flowers as we have 1,200 miles to cover between now and tomorrow night, so we end up taking some of our photos right through the windshield of the car while driving up these winding mountain roads. Oh, you can tell this is from the driver’s side? Yeah, I’m guilty of this small bit of unsafe driving.

Jutta Engelhardt and Caroline Wise on Steam Engine #360 at Queen Wilhelmina State Park in Mena, Arkansas

We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get a closer look at an old steam train and then to find out that we could crawl up on it, well that deserved a photo. We are about to leave the Queen Wilhelmina State Park on our race westward.

Jutta Engelhardt, Caroline Wise, and John Wise entering Oklahoma

Leaving Highway 88 behind and joining Highway 1, also known as the Talimena Scenic Drive as we pass into Oklahoma.

Llamas and alpacas on a grassy hillside with flowers? Well, that adds to the scenic quality of this road in my book.

We won’t be in Oklahoma long as we beeline it to Texas.

This tortoise from Antlers, Oklahoma, as opposed to a tortoise with antlers, is certainly moving a lot slower than we are today, a matter of fact, too slow, and so we pulled over to nudge it to safety. This one, fortunately, didn’t need to be lobbed like a football.

Valley Feed Mill Paris, Texas

Welcome to Texas and the land of long roads.

Paris, Texas

You should know that Wim Wenders has inspired this visit to Paris, Texas. I first learned of Wim Wenders from Dennis Hopper, who told me about working with him on the movie The American Friend. Another bit of nostalgia: it was during these meetings with Dennis Hopper that I also met Harry Dean Stanton, who plays the lead role in the movie Paris, Texas by Wim Wenders. How I came to hang out with Mr. Easy Rider is another story that I’ll publish at some point.

Paris, Texas

Of course, visiting Paris in Texas is a bit of a treat for my mother-in-law as she never heard of another Paris outside of France. The town is pretty quiet today, and looks like its prosperity is on the wane.

Muenster, Texas

From Paris to Muenster, Germany…I mean Texas.

St. Jo, Texas

This required some sleuthing on Google Maps to figure out our driving route and what town this might have been as we were driving from Paris to Muenster and then the time stamp on the photo so I could get an approximation of how many miles we might have driven. Turns out that we are in St. Jo, Texas and Google Street View confirms it, although the town has been renovating the main square since we drove through.

Bull statue at Lonestar Hereford Ranch in Ringgold, Texas

Good thing others take photos and write about missing roadside attractions otherwise, I may have never found out that this bull statue used to stand at Lone Star Hereford Ranch in Ringgold, Texas. It’s sad to see such large lawn ornaments go away; kind of makes you wonder how you retire a 20-foot-tall bull.

Jutta Engelhard outside Henrietta, Texas

If the mother-in-law is falling asleep in the back seat, a surefire way to wake her up is to make a stop at a Dairy Queen. Jutta didn’t know how much she liked “fake” ice cream until she tried a Blizzard, and then every time we passed one, she’d be sure to point out, “There’s another Dairy Queen.” This particular one was in Henrietta, Texas.

West of Wichita Falls, Texas

We are west of Wichita Falls, Texas, as we trek across the Lone Star state.

West of Wichita Falls, Texas

If we didn’t pass cattle and oil pumping operations we might not have known that we really were in Texas.

Old Gas Station in Mabelle, Texas

A far cry from the Esso we visited earlier in the day back in Arkansas. With no one around to ask we had no way of finding out anything about this old gas station that has obviously been closed a good long time.

Edit: Turns out this was in Mabelle, Texas, but has since been torn down. 

This could be somewhere between Lubbock and Plains, Texas, but then again, it could also be between Guthrie and Lubbock.

More friendly horses and two German women in western Texas.

After more than half a day driving across that gargantuan state, we are finally in New Mexico and seeing hints of the Arizona sunsets we are about to re-encounter. From Plains, Texas, we drove to Lovington, New Mexico, on our way to Artesia, New Mexico, where we’ll spend the night in some cheap roadside motel.

Though we were in the car the majority of the day we still were able to carve out a great encounter with the countryside of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and a bit of New Mexico late in the day. Obviously, we stayed off the major highways, and that certainly extended our time on the road, but we managed to drive nearly 800 miles today and, along the way, collect some memorable moments that will now stick with us for the rest of our lives.

America – Day 2

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Texas border sign on Highway 287

Sure, it’s a dismal photo, but it’s all we got. By this time, we’d already been on the road for nearly two hours. This is looking south back into Texas on Highway 287 just north of Kerrick, Texas. Traveling this route involved a minor bit of backtracking, but we saw Rita Blanca National Grasslands on our map, and as we’d never seen such a thing, we took the detour. As we don’t have a fixed destination or a time when we need to return to Arizona, our opinion is we can go anywhere and do anything.

Welcome to Oklahoma on highway 287 with Caroline Wise and John Wise

Staring into the sun has never been an ideal situation for Caroline, and so after one tries to get this selfie in front of the Welcome to Oklahoma state sign, I had to give up. This was our first visit to the Great Plains, and for that matter, it would be our first time together anywhere east of here for the rest of the trip.

Grasslands across Oklahoma

We were never really sure where the “Grasslands” started and finished as most everything out here was flat and brown. The color of the landscape makes sense because it is well after summer and quickly approaching winter. This kind of flat expanse is something new to our eyes. If memory serves us, this is State Highway 171 traveling flat north.

Kansas state sign near Elkhart, Kansas on highway 56 with Caroline Wise and John Wise

Crossing into Kansas just south of Elkhart on Highway 56, staying away from the big roads.

Small shop in rural Kansas

It struck us that there is little out here besides grain silos, barns, and homes scattered about, and then we come upon this little “Beer To Go” shop with a drive-up window that doesn’t appear to have any way to drive close to. Or at least nobody has directed their vehicle there for a while. We’re still on the 56, heading northeast through Rolla, Kansas.

Moscow, Kansas

A standout city, this place is called Moscow, Kansas. It was here while getting gas ($1.63 a gallon) that an elderly guy approached me, curious about our Beetle. He’d not seen one yet in person and so he inquired about how we liked it. I assured him that it was amazing (I’d later grow to hate the thing). He asked if we were visiting family, and I answered no. He pointed out how far away the main highway was, and I agreed that it was a good place for it to be. Then he asked our ages, “Thirty-seven and thirty-two,” to which he said in near amazement how lucky we were to be so young and on such a big adventure. Those words stuck with me the rest of the trip, and little did I know then that they would travel with me for years into my future.

Edwards County Historical Museum And Sod House in Kinsley, Kansas

From time to time, we’ll take photos of places to act as reminders that we wanted to visit but didn’t have time or the place was closed while we were in the area. The Edwards County Sod House & Museum in Kinsley, Kansas, is one of those places. Note: Eighteen years later, we still haven’t made it back here.

Fort Larned National Historic Site in Larned, Kansas

We made a brief stop in Dodge City to visit the Boothill Museum but felt it was too expensive for what we saw. On the way out of Dodge, I had the “Epiphany Burrito,” which may have been the best burrito I’ve ever had. Back on the road, we took another break to visit the Fort Larned National Historic Site in Larned, Kansas. If there is an element of history to be learned about at any location we are traveling by, then more often than not, we feel compelled to stop. By the way, when we essentially pass through somewhere like Dodge City, the reasoning is if we can easily visit by catching a plane into a local airport and spend some quality time exploring more of what a larger city has to offer, we are probably using our time smarter by seeing the outlying areas.

Somewhere in Kansas

This is our last daylight photo worth sharing; it’s of the Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area. Trying to keep things rural and off larger roads occasionally takes us down dirt roads with the hope of getting a truly alternative view. I’d say we scored with this route, as I don’t believe sunset could have been any better than right at this moment. A half-hour later, we were passing through the Quivera Wildlife Refuge, but we weren’t ready to call it a day and decided to keep on driving. We ultimately made it to Atchison, Kansas, about 250 miles up the road.