Road Trip in the Sandhills

We've spent the last couple of days visiting our Grandkids in St. Paul Nebraska. While the kids were in school yesterday we went for a road trip north into the sandhills of Nebraska and made a circle on some of the roads that I used to drive when I worked as a Food Vendor in this state. That job gave me the opportunity to see a lot of country in 4 states and although I had a lot of windshield time traveling from one account to another, I enjoyed the countryside and vowed to revisit these places one day when I had time to stop and look at things and could share them with DH. The bad deal of the day was that I forgot the camera, but got a couple of pictures with my phone that I needed to share with my son. This is Richard B. Abbreviation for T. Brown. My favorite drummer. He has played in a hard rock band for years, and now has mellowed some and their music is the proof of aging like a fine wine!
The opportunity presented itself and we dropped the kids off at school and treked north on State Hwy 11, a small two lane highway to Burwell NE, the home of Nebraska's largest rodeo. On the way, we stopped in the town of Ord and drove around a bit. There has been tons of changes there since I have been there. On up the road, we took a break at a working Chalk mine, but didn't have time for a tour. Then on to Burwell for lunch and also just a few more miles out to the Calamus Reservoir. I thought that even with the freezing temps and frozen water, we may find wildlife and birds. There was still an open place on the water in the center, and it was filled with geese. On the drive across the dam, we spotted a bald Eagle soaring around, scoping out the edges of the lake for morsels of food. We stopped at a old fashioned 50s diner for lunch and then since we were passing through the town of Sargent, we stopped to scope out the venue that will host my sons new band, Whiskey Richard, for New Years Eve.
It seems like a long way up there to play for one night, but it is his hobby and passion to play the drums. What ever makes him happy.
I haven't heard this new group of guys, and I won't hear them this time and we will be in AZ by then, but at least I can say that I have been there and the advertising is proof! He couldn't figure out why we were in Sargent yesterday! That's just me, ya never know where we're gonna turn up! We traveled over 200 miles and back to St. Paul in time to pick the kids up at 3:30...we headed back home last night, another 100 miles that seemed farther late at night and in the dark. At least it wasn't freezing rain like it was the night before. Needless to say, I'm not getting a darn thing done today....I'm wiped out!