Ashland RV Park, Ashland, Nebraska
When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” because he was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah because she is beautiful.” ~ Genesis 26:7 Sound familiar? This is exactly what transpired between Abraham and the first Abimelech in Chapter 20. Isaac’s even in the same town (Gerar). So it’s a case of ‘like father, like son’. You would think that by the time Isaac was grown into manhood, Abraham would’ve taught him the importance of being honest with people. And more importantly about trusting in the Lord. If God made a promise to give them a land of their own, descendants as numerous as the sand, and to bless all nations through them, then they shouldn’t be concerned about being killed – especially before the next generation is born. Even though they didn’t understand the full ramifications of God’s covenant promise.
Nebraska is a long state (430 miles to be exact), so it’s taking us a bit to get across it and over to our final destination of western South Dakota (another 380 miles to our turn-around point for this trip). We’ll hit the Nebraska/SD border in just a few more days.
Lies. All lies.
Well not all of it. The numbers are correct and we will indeed hit the border in a few days; it’s my Unites States geography that needs a refresher course. Sure, I could’ve re-written the paragraph I wrote days ago, but I’m too lazy, and it’s good for you to get a glimpse into the mind Blaine has to live with 24/7 so you can see what a special man he is.
The truth is, if you get out a map, we are currently sitting in almost dead-center of the northern border of Nebraska, which borders the south-central border of South Dakota. The actual SD border from our current location is only nine miles. In my mind, I placed South Dakota right beside Nebraska’s western border, but it’s not. Here’s a map so you can see our trip this time. I certainly wouldn’t want anyone else to get lost like I was. 😊
Heading out. Each white dot is a stopping place. The red marker is where I had to stop because Google Maps wouldn’t take anymore destinations. : ) 
The rest of the trip home.
Today we traveled diagonally in Nebraska for 313 miles. We stopped for fuel, but other than that, it was smooth sailing as we stayed on “back roads” the entire way. Which means, no expressways. It was a beautiful six hour drive. there was a lot of wide open spaces with black dots in the grass (aka beef cows), and even Blaine said it was a “delightful” drive today. (his word, not mine)
The trip took us through quite a few small towns – most of which seemed to have a population of around 380. It only took a few rotations of the tires between the “Welcome to…” and “Leaving….” Signs. The town of Norfolk, Nebraska is the hometown of Johnny Carson, and they displayed his picture proudly on their “Welcome to Norfolk” sign. No picture though, we were past it practically before we knew it was even there.
Here’s another sign that held special interest today.
That’s snow on the ground, not sand. : )
But that’s what the sign looked like (minus the snow and cows).
And here’s why it’s there:
Because of the beef industry’s rich heritage in Rock County, a group called Rock County Growth, Inc. decided to welcome travelers to Rock County by installing highway signs that mirror a historic Nebraska icon, the Beef State license plate. These signs are simple and to the point – 81 BEEF, the Beef County.(I don’t know what the 81 stands for.)
The signs are located at each entrance to Rock County – East and West on Highway 20 (this is where we were); South on Highway 183; and North on Highway 7.
What gave Rock County its start in 1878 is the same thing that keeps the County thriving today – the beef cattle industry.
Andrew Bassett was one of the first to arrive in the Rock County area in 1878. Bassett immediately established a ranching homestead and began herding cattle in the area. Because of the abundant water and rich grasslands, other large-scale ranchers were also attracted to the area and brought with them large herds of Texas cattle – thus beginning the beef cattle industry in Rock County.
Today, Rock County is a leader in cow-calf production with over 92,000 head surveyed in the County. The beef industry is the backbone of the County’s economy, as evidenced by the success of the Bassett Livestock Auction. This livestock auction ranks as one of the top three sales in the State of Nebraska each week and serves as a benchmark for market pricing black cattle. In 2015, the Bassett Livestock Auction sold over 90,000 head locally at the market, and another 5,000 headed via video sales. This year will mark the 85th year the Bassett Livestock Auction has been in the business, supporting Rock County’s beef industry. ~ thefencepost.com
we both exclaimed, “Whoa!” when we got around this corner and were suddenly hit with hills and pine trees!
Fishberry Campground, Valentine, Nebraska
And that’s the extent of interesting information I have for you today.
We’re here for the next six nights.
And just in case you were wondering, we did indeed bring our tiny ant friends along for the ride. I hope they enjoyed it because I’m really hoping Valentine will bring about their complete and utter destruction. Not very loving of me is it? Folks here in Valentine may just kick us out for that kinda talk.
We’re looking forward to see what God has planned for us here!