Day 52-Lusk to Harrison, NE (31 Miles)

After a great breakfast with Gene and Joan it was time to pack up for a late start hitting the road. Gene called up John Herren, the owner of the True Value hardware store in Harrison, to let him know I was on the way. Gene told me to stop in and introduce myself. I told him I would, fixed a flat, and hit the road.

Not even one mile out of town, Gene's F-350 pulled up to my side with a lady in the passenger seat. Gene had driven to the Lusk Herald office and picked up an editor to have my story covered in the weekly paper. I did the interview on the side of the road and continued down the narrow shoulder to the Nebraska border. The highways in Wyoming had been so good for the entire state until the final stretch.

22 miles later I could see the sign welcoming me to Nebraska. The road magically gained a nice wide shoulder at this point. I ate my last meal in Wyoming-a sack lunch packed for me by Joan with sandwiches, chips, fruit, Pepsi and cookies. I reveled in the accomplishment of crossing another state for a little bit, then left to finish the final nine miles to Harrison.

My welcome to Harrison moment occurred right outside of town when a man doubled back in his pickup truck and offered me money for my cause. Kirk, from Glenrock, Wyoming, had seen me earlier down the road and in the Casper Star. I told him I wasn't running for a cause but he told me I'd need it for food, drinks, or a hotel room on him. I gladly accepted.

I walked into the town of 251 and found my way to the Herren Bros. Hardware Store. I met Jim first at an adjacent lot with the loader and later John, who Gene told me to meet. After a bit of conversation he directed me to the city park where camping under the shade trees was free and said he'd come check up on me when he was done closing shop. It was a very nice area and was reassuring to have a place where I could legitimately stay.

Not much more than a half hour later, John showed up with his wife Terry, daughter Quinn, and grandson Pacen-who lived in Lusk but was in Harrison helping for the summer. They told me that they had decided they were going to help me out tremendously by putting me up in the local bed and breakfast and taking me to dinner. The Nebraska sign welcomed me to the good life, which would have been the city park, but the Herren's made it even better. It's impossible to imagine a better introduction to a new state.

After dinner at the Jory Bob's Longhorn Saloon, John and Pacen walked me to the Harrison House Hotel across the street and got me all set up for the night. I couldn't get the cart up the front steps so John let me lock it up in the shop to pick it up in the morning. I checked into my room on the second floor, showered, and crashed for the night hoping to not have any encounters with ghosts in the old railroad hotel built in 1886.

Of all the sights in this country, the view of seeing a town over a hill has become one of the best