D5 Carhenge to Alliance

(Notices at Vintage Coffee. Note the local currency)
Ride Video
After a restful but sometimes truck noisy night, John my tent neighbor got up and started packing up. He was joined soon by Mick and Amy in the van. We chatted and explored Carhenge at sunrise. It might seem like a cute piece of Americana on the surface but it is art and a magical place. A couple of years ago 25,000 people celebrated the summer solstice there.
I was a bit envious of the trios plan to hang a bit in Alliance. They had a 10:30 tour of the Greenhouse of the Snow and were going to get breakfast in town. Since they had motors and I didn't, I didn't try to tag along. Still, I thought breakfast in town was better than Grape Nuts. I pedalled the for miles into town to Ken and Dale's. Along the way I found a nice town of 8,000. The main street into town was brick lined with big houses. 
Outside Ken and Dale's, a young guy approached me and asked where I was headed. This was my introduction to Arlo. We had a awesome chat. He works at his family's insurance office across the street. Our chat was so great I invited him to join me for breakfast. Inside who did we see but Mick, Amy, and John. It turns out Arlo also knows a ton about geothermal greenhouses. Detailed shop talk ensued. 

I decided to spend the day in Alliance. Arlo was someone I wanted to talk to more and the town has a nice museum. Mick, Amy, and John left. Arlo and I finished our breakfasts. I suggested we meet up later. He liked the idea and went off to work. 

I checked into the Sunset Motel where they let me go into the room before 11am! I think people in small towns have more control in their jobs. I loved having my own personal space to explode all my stuff out of my bags. Things were still vaguely damp. I was able air everything out. I did laundry in the sink. It was glorious. So was a shower.
Next up was exploring downtown. I found Vintage Coffee which made enchiladas. Yum! Next up was the historic downtown. It has a much of cool new shops. I also found the Post Office and mailed some unneeded things home. The Alliance Knight Museum is really good. They got a large gift from a rancher. It covers natural history through the present day. 
I met Arlo at the end of his work day. I sampled some coffee his mom gets from family in Colombia. Very tasty. We grabbed dinner at Runza which is Nebraska's home burger chain. I didn't succumb and got salad. All throughout we were having a great conversation. Arlo is very active in the community and spent a long time in Oregon and Colorado but felt the pull of home. He's involved with trying to get an arts district created, doing permaculture on the family land, getting fresh, organic peaches from Western Colorado and bringing them back to people and stores here. He knows Kate from the Chadron co-op. Eventually, I needed to go do some blog writing. We said our goodbyes with a sincere desire to keep in touch.

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