Nebraska: Carhenge and Chimney Rock

When we left Badlands we headed south so that we could drive through the Pine Ridge Reservation and see the Wounded Knee Memorial. I'm glad that we took that route and were able to spend the drive talking to the Fire Team about that portion of America's history, as tragic as it may be. But, we opted not to take pictures of that part of our trip. Somewhere between the tragedy of the history and the destitution of the area taking pictures didn't seem appropriate. 

We stopped that night in Chadron, Nebraska, which has nothing going for it but that it is the home of the Museum of Fur Trade. The girls and I could have moved right along, but the boys not so much, and I'm glad that it was that way. It was an interesting museum that held a wealth of information about the fur trade and the role it played in the development of the nation. At $2 a person, it couldn't be beat.

From Chadron we headed to Colorado, stopping at two major roadside attractions -- Carhenge and Chimney Rock.

Carhenge is in Alliance, NE and it is what you would think it is based on it's name - an exact replica of Stonehenge made of cars. There are some other pieces of car art on the grounds, but Carhenge is the main attraction. A man decided to make it as a tribute to his dad sometime in the 1980's and reading the guestbook tells that people come from all over the place to check this off of their roadside attraction bucket list. 

A few other pieces made entirely from car parts...

After Carhenge we headed to Ballard to visit Chimney Rock. Chimney Rock is a vintage roadside attraction. It served as a major stopping point on the Oregon Trail, presumably because it's incredibly unique shape made it nearly impossible to miss. The kids read about the rock last fall when we did our Oregon Trail unit study, so it's been on our road trip list for a long time. Unfortunately, we ended up visiting on a day when the visitor's center was closed. P was super bummed, but John reminded her that there was no visitor's center when the pioneers rode by here, so she was seeing it in the most authentic fashion.

Patton's bummed face.

So, Nebraska was pretty uneventful, but we did get a couple of roadside attractions checked off the list!

Next up, Colorado...