I woke up at a Motel 6 in Kearney, Nebraska.  Which is good, because that’s where I fell asleep last night.  My first goal for today was to visit the Archway Musuem.  This is a museum that is located above Interstate 80 at the south end of Kearney.  It was built after I moved out of Nebraska, so this was my first visit.  I’ve heard very good things from a lot of people (not just Nebraskans, but also Coloradans who visited the place when passing through the area).  I was thinking it was yet another local Nebraska history museum, and I’ve already got a few of those on my itinerary, so I wasn’t sure I’d be into it.  But I checked it out, anyway.

Now that I’ve been there, I must say, this is not just another local Nebraska history museum.  In fact, the subject matter is perfectly suited to its location spanning the Interstate.  Y’see it’s all about The Great Platte River Road, and the many modes of transportation that have utilized this route over the centuries.  Not far from this museum was Fort Kearny (yes, the fort was spelled different than the town), where the Oregon, California, and Mormon trails converged to form The Great Platte River Road.  When the first transcontinental railroad was built, it too followed this route (it still passes through Kearney, and is still one of the busiest rail routes in the USA).  Later, the first transcontinental US Highway (initially named the Lincoln Highway) was built, largely parallel to the railroad.  This highway is still in use, now known as US Highway 30.  Later still, came the Interstate Highway system, including the transcontinental Interstate 80, which you can look down on from the museum.  Overall, it’s quite a good museum.  Make plans to stop there if you’re ever driving I-80 across Nebraska.

I’ve mentioned my affinity for art deco architecture many times on this blog, including nearly every day of this trip thus far.  So, I wanted to show you where that fascination began.  When I was just a wee lad, I was highly intrigued by an amphitheater built in 1938 in Harmon Park, a city park in Kearney.  So, I wandered over to Harmon Park this afternoon with camera in hand – and was appalled to find the amphitheater undergoing a serious makeover!  Most distressing was the new roof.  While I’m glad this roof is consistent with the art deco style, it hides some of the details that intrigued me so, as there was no roof before.  I did get these few pictures:

---

So, with tears in my eyes and blood in my stool, I left the park and wandered dejectedly around town.  Luckily, I stumbled across City Hall, which made me feel a bit better.  Take a look:

---

In my next post: The Great Crane Migration