We headed out today for Iowa to attend my 45 year class reunion in our trusted RV. Penny was not happy with us because she is staying home with our house-sitter during this trip! We will have to bring her a good treat when we get home.
Our route took us on Colorado Highway 14 east through Ault, past the Pawnee National Grasslands and connected to Interstate 76 and north to Interstate 80. Just east of Fort Collins, we passed the Poudre REA solar farm which I had never seen before. It was encouraging to see this alternative energy source! Later, we passed several areas where the oil companies are fracking and there were large walls constructed around the rigs. As we neared Nebraska, we enjoyed seeing the green oasis along the Platte River. 
We have made this trip many times and always comment about the many small “lakes” that border I-80 and wondered about their origins. They look like they should be ski lakes because they are fairly narrow and long. Tobey got online and found out they are called “borrow” pit lakes. Because Nebraska is so flat, when they were constructing the interstate, they “borrowed” soil along the way to build the embankments for the overpasses. The water table is high and when they harvested the soil for the embankments, the holes filled in quickly because the ground water along the Platte River area is so high. Conservationists and wildlife biologists worked with the government to put the 50 borrowed lakes into use. Today, forty of the lakes are open to the public for fishing and recreation. 
Sunset on the road was pretty. 
We are camped at the Smith Creek Recreation Area, about 14 miles east of York, Nebraska. Even with strong head and side winds, we put 441 miles behind us today. Our gas mileage was horrible – less than 9 miles per gallon! We hope the wind dies down overnight because we still have about 300 miles to go.
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