Despite the weather report and our fears, the sun was shining this morning, making our early departure much more enjoyable. Wyoming has facinating landscapes. It seems so foreboding, yet beautiful. All along the way there were herds of antelope. Their coloring makes it easy to spot them. They are very curious creatures, and seemed as interested in us as we were with them.

Today's trip through history took us back and forth over the North Platte River. We have heard of this river since childhood, so it was a thrill to actually ride along side. We came upon an old army bridge on our way to Fort Laramie. The site of Fort Laramie was well kept and preserved. A lot of restoration is going on. It was once a thriving community, offering protection to settlers and serving for awhile as a Pony Express station. We were relieved to see if there were a Tornado, we had a place of safety.

Crossing over into Nebraska, we rode into the small town of Morrill, in the county of Morrill. As this is Shirlene's maiden name, she was very interested in this beautiful, small community. She found it was named after Charles Henry Morrill, a branch somewhere back in her family tree. (Abner was his uncle, for those of you other Morrill's). We even found a street named McKinley, Shirlene's granddad's name.

We travelled next to Scott's Bluffs, through which many historic trails wind. It was interesting to see how they lined up with Chimney Rock, forming trail markers. We found our own trail markers, which made it easy to follow the Pony Express trail and see where it coincided with the other famous trails.

We found other old pony express stations in Julesberg and Gothenburg. The one in Gothenburg was an original building, although it had been moved from its original home, a few miles away. It now serves as an information center and gift shop. We found interesting information and some fun gifts.

Fort Kearny is beautiful, surrounded by farmlands and cornfields. The corn is not quite as high as an elephant's eye, but give it a few weeks. It was a lovely, warm evening. The quiet added magic to the area.

We stayed nearby in the city of Kearney, looking forward to the last leg of our trip on the Pony Express Route.