Into Iowa

This was my map yesterday as I hit the road to finally pass from Nebraska into Iowa. A farmer looked at the image and said, “Is that the hills or your heartbeat?” I said both.

Nebraska has been one of my favorites – mainly because of the wide shoulder on the Lincoln Highway…. And the people. The people and their respect for farming and history.

Columbus, NE in particular had an awesome painting in its downtown at 26th Street and 13th Avenue. It was titled Discovering the colorful history of Columbus; commemorating Columbus‘s sesquicentennial 1856 to 2006 by artist designer, David Reiser.

“The mural reveals important moments in the cities development by peeling through eight of the numerous layers of time from present to past.

An aspect of the mural is the transition of color through the piece. It was intentional to use black-and-white as the most recent history, then to sepia tones in the addition of more color for further back in time.

The mural measures 26 feet high by 84 feet wide. The city history began with its founding May 28, 1856; that layer shows three of the 13 founders coming to Columbus.

Those depicted are Jacob Lewis, Vincent, Kramer, and John Brower. Intentionally positioned over one of the oxen is a bison from a previous layer in time to show what was here before the Founders arrived by representing the Pawnee Indian tribes in the area with bison.

Another layer is a portrait of William F Cody commonly known as Buffalo Bill because the first exhibition of the world, famous wild West show organized with Frank and Luther North was held in Columbus.

Also is a layer to note the construction of the Loup River public powerhouse in the 1930s .

Below the Loup and Buffalo Bill layers is the late model general locomotive layer depicting the importance the railroad has had and the cities growth and development.

The layer on the left of the mural. Includes the Behlen manufacturing, water tower, and a modern train. The water tower helps symbolize industrial growth, and the modern train shows something old being replaced with something new.

The contrast not only exemplified through the trains or the bison and ox, but also with grain silos and the agriculture layer of the painting.

The grain silos are juxtapose with the teepee to show that TP one started the planes and have been replaced to silo.

The Columbus arch tops the entire composition because it is primary and recognized symbol of the city.

There were two arch tops that welcome visitors to Columbus traveling Highway 30 also known as the Lincoln Highway in the 1940s and 50s.

One located near the intersection of 23rd Street and 23rd Avenue and the other north of the viaduct near the intersection of 13th St. and 33rd Ave.

A self portrait of the artist peeling back the layers of time.

Below are a few of the other murals depicting history in Nebraska.

There is amazing art everywhere along the Lincoln Highway.

In Overton, NE I needed a break from the sun. I walked into a Pump n’ Pantry and the kid behind the counter said, “I don’t know if you’re gardening or looking at gemstones.” I assumed he was looking at my tattered bicycling gloves and perplexed by my rearview mirror on my glasses.

There was an adorable little tourism info building just before heart attack hill as I headed out of Nebraska.

Kim, the attendant, started a black-and-white history video on the Lincoln Highway. Pretty remarkable. Henry Ford, who was getting rich with his automobiles and the assembly-line process, refused to chip in even though a cross country paved road would have done wonders for sales.

There were great images of old cars getting totally stuck on mud roads.

Fun fact: Did you know when the Lincoln Highway first opened the lines down the middle of the road were painted black?

Couple or random tidbits:

One of my favorite signs so far from North Bend, NE.

The weather has been mostly sunny and in the mid-80s. Awesome bicycling weather. I am in the sun from about 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. The skin on my arms has peeled twice.

Absolutely loved the cozy Pony Express Museum in Gothenburg, NE. These kids were 17, swapped horses after 10 miles. Rode 100 miles a day.

There was a great quote at the Wild Bill Cody home tour. It was from Annie Oakley. “When a man hits a target, they call him a marksman when I hit a target. They call it a trick. Never did like that much.”

This year’s tour is intended to highlight previous Winter Olympics as we head into the 2026 Winter Games in Milan, Italy.

Local speed skater Jordan Stolz is expected to compete in four events and if you would like to be part of Team Jordan feel free to pledge your support by using the QR code below courtesy the Dan Jansen Foundation.

Jansen’s foundation is a 501c3 and he’s agreed to donate 100% of all support noted to Jordan Stolz. Be part of Team Stolz today.