25.08A - Central Nebraska
Our monthly water bill during the hot Phoenix summer
A quick look at our August 2025 residential water use and resulting bill during the hot Phoenix summer—a tiny data point in the larger discussion around the future of Phoenix and water scarcity in the Southwest.
Forgot to mention that I completed my A State Park in Each State quest during last weekend’s Nebraska trip. I’ve now wrapped up 29 of my 64 quests, though of course I’m eyeing a few new ones, too.
I think traversing the Sandhills region was our consensus favorite part of our Nebraska trip. It’s a subtlety beautiful area, and one we’ve heard about for years but hadn’t yet experienced. I expect some tanking through the Sandhills to be on a future itinerary.
A few final shots:
Our central Nebraska weekend trip was a clear success. We had more fun than anticipated and saw a huge chunk of the state—collecting 44 counties in total (in green). We’re even considering a return trip soon.
Quintessential rural Nebraska
Curve before curve
This shopping center mural was basically the first thing that we stopped at after getting our rental car in Grand Island, and yeah—we saw lots of sunflowers, some cows, three good sunsets—but not a sailboat (umm…it’s Nebraska)
A fav stop was the (recently burned) Nebraska National Forest. The origin story of this place is wild—basically, a local professor convinced Teddy Roosevelt to designate this treeless tract as a “forest reserve,” so he could then hand-plant one. Until recently it was the largest man-made forest.
Jen would not let me spend $10 to laugh at the displays at the creationist dinosaur museum in Broken Bow. I still feel a bit cheated.
We toured the Genoa Indian Industrial School, which was modeled after the Carlisle Federal Indian Boarding School that we recently visited in central Pennsylvania. We appreciated the private tour we got from the well-informed high school girl who staffed the site that day; the kids are alright.
We visited a petrified wood art museum in Ogallala, Nebraska. It’s crazy that these framed art pieces and music boxes are made completely from petrified wood! The museum also had a bunch of cool rocks and arrowhead displays.
Trapped inside. (Exeter, NE)
There’s a bar & live music venue in Ogallala, Nebraska called Driftwood, and they have this cool large guitar made from driftwood over their door. We didn’t have time to stop in, sadly, but I bet it’s a fun place.
Business really picked up after they tweaked the name from Dickie Diddles.
Fred’s Flying Circus
Scott, Lookout! Tower…is missing its platform. This fire lookout tower burned recently. 🏷️25.08A
On trail(s). 🏷️25.08A
Have you really truly been to Nebraska if you haven’t toured a sod house? This one was at the Sand Hills Journey Scenic Byway Visitor Center near Broken Bow. They also had a barbed wire collection, which must be mandated by state law for Nebraska museums. 🏷️25.08A
My Nebraska County map is looking pretty good after day 2! I surpassed the 50% completion mark, which was my primary questing goal for the trip. We’ll grab a few more tomorrow on our way to the Grand Island airport to fly home. 🏷️25.08A
