By entering Nebraska on I-80 and staying on it until Grand Island, you can ramp up to NE-2 for a long diagonal to the west/northwest and enjoy a part of the US which few people know about and even fewer see: The Nebraska Sandhills. NE-2 is referred to by tourism promoters in NE as the Sandhills Journey Scenic Byway. NE-2 follows a main rail corridor most of the way, so while the huge grassed-over sand dunes are in generally isolated territory, there are towns spaced reasonably close together along the highway. By branching off to the north along any of the US or NE highways, you'll experience near total isolation until reaching US 20 along the northern tier of NE counties. Chadron, NE is home to the Museum of the Fur Trade as well as the Sandoz High Plains Center. The latter celebrates the life and times of Mari Sandoz, an accomplished writer who grew up in northwestern NE during the early 20th century, right as homesteading was booming, then "busting" as weather patterns changed and a prolonged drought hit the High Plains. Just a little west of Chadron is Crawford, NE, where Fort Robinson State Park is located. Fort Robinson is a nicely-restored US Army cavalry post. There are smaller museum facilities along NE-2 which are focused on some of the features of the cattle ranch life in that part of Nebraska. And, there's always Carhenge just outside of Alliance, NE, just west of the western border of the "chop hills" as the dunes are called. If you stay on NE-2 all the way to Alliance, take NE-2/71 up to Crawford and Fort Robinson, then US 20 into Wyoming to Douglas and on through on US 20 to Cody. NE-2 is 2-lane, but wide and is mostly posted at 65 mph speed limit, so it's not a slow route, especially given that it "diagonals" rather then mostly N-S or E-W like so many other roads in the Great Plains.

Foy