Hit the Road Jack

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Hit the Road Jack

Come along with Mark and Becky as they travel along back roads and lonesome highways seeking out small towns and other forgotten locations.
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Hit the Road Jack follows along the excursions of Mark and Becky as they road trip along county roads and dusty trails to visit and document small towns in America before they all vanish. From one horse villages to bustling outlying county seats, visit these unique locations with them as they reveal through photographs and first hand impressions that these towns are far more than just points on a

map. "We are neither photographers nor historians. We roll our eyes along with you at the poor quality of some of our photos and cheer when they miraculously turn out well. We don't apologize for not getting everything correct, these are after all, just our impressions after a 20-30 minute 'tour' of a town. We do, however, welcome comments, opinions and corrections from locals. It makes this page even better when more people contribute."

07/19/2024

PSA from Omaha, NE.

Milestone Development, the managers of the The Cornerstone Lofts and Jams Modern American have been pointing fingers at each other, avoiding responsibility for the past three weeks as raw sewage level runoff has continued to accumulate in the basement/parking garage of 1105 Harney St.

If any diner could see what they're leaking into the substructure of this building, they would immediately vomit.

Please, don't patronize Jams Modern American in the Old Market Omaha until they get this cleaned up. Your health may very well depend on it.

07/08/2024

NE 92 between Arthur and Tryon. I love this. 😊

07/08/2024

Saying an early goodbye to the Scottsbluff-Gering-Terrytown area. A very nice stay. Good meals. And interesting exploring. Thanks for coming with us. These are all our photos from Scottsbluff.

07/07/2024

Tried to snap some photos of Chimney Rock as we flew by on NE Hwy 92. 😊

07/07/2024

Bridgeport, NE. Morrill County Seat. Population 1454. Bridgeport benefits from being located at the junction of several highways and right on the river. The main business district is very active. There's a beautiful new school. (Bridgeport Bulldogs.) We saw several churches, parks and a big community center. All the residential areas looked neat and cared for, with very few exceptions.

07/07/2024

Dalton, NE. Cheyenne County. Population 315. The school seems to be central to the town. (Leyton Warriors, for both Gurley and Dalton.) Some streets are still gravel, but the homes are mostly nice. There's a neat well-maintained park. As far as commerce, it's tough to tell what's open and what's not, but there are a lot of storefronts for bar/grills and cafes. There's a grocery store right on the highway. Cute little town.

07/07/2024

Sidney, NE. Cheyenne County Seat. Population 6410. We focused most of our time here in the main downtown business district. Even took a brief walk. It's a very vibrant downtown with a variety of businesses of different sizes and very few vacancies. Of course there is also development along the highways and interstate. What we saw if the residential areas is nice and well-maintained from older homes to new construction. The school system looks very modern and well-supported. (Sidney Red Raiders.) We took a gander at the former Cabela's World Headquarters. The campus is still beautiful and the large store is still very busy. Still, sad to see the empty office building. The town doesn't seem like a place that has lost its heart though. It's vibrant, hopping, and relevant.

07/07/2024

Brownson, NE. Cheyenne County. Unincorporated. A very long slow train blocked our access to this former town site, so all we got was this historical marker from right across the tracks.

07/07/2024

Potter, NE. Cheyenne County. Population 380. Potter has a very quaint feel to it. Everything seems well cared for a purposeful. The Potter Sundry is located here, famous fir creating the Tin Roof Sundae. The Potter-Dix School is here, as well as the football field. (It's a little confusing which school is the actual high school, the one here or the one in Dix.) There's a lot of renovation going on. The downtown grocery has been closed for a while, but according to signs in the window, something grocery-like is going in soon. There's a large hall just off the downtown that is undergoing a nice renovation. Pretty park. A couple of nice churches. The condition of the gravel roads through town is a little distressing. Still, the place is just cute. We saw lots of people out and about taking care of yards and gardens, and visiting.

07/07/2024

Jacinto, NE. Kimball County. Unincorporated. Former town site. All the houses we could see appeared abandoned.

07/07/2024

Dix, NE. Kimball County. Population 255 (2010). Many areas of the town appear abandoned. The main business district is oky remnants with just city offices, a lending library, post office and one or two businesses. There is a Cafe and gas station on the highway, as well as some ag businesses. Houses are a mix, but appear lived in and cared for. The high school is a gem in a town this size. (Potter-Dix Coyotes.) The new high school addition connects to the historic building. The firmer elementary school has been repurposed to residential. (We were greeted by a happy pack of Goldens when we stopped. 😊 ) There's a well-maintained park in the center of town.

07/07/2024

Kimball, NE. Kimball County Seat. Population 2290. Kimball is a typical western outpost town. The central business district is well-developed, but there are several vacancies. Commerce is also so read out over the two highways and near the interstate. The high school looks very nice. (Kimball Longhorns.) Residential areas vary from very run down to very nice with some distinctly nice homes interspersed. We saw several churches. The centrally located Courthouse is beautiful.

07/07/2024

NE Hwy 71 from Scottsbluff to Kimball. Wow! Wide open heartland. A mix of agricultural and ranch land and Bluffs.

07/07/2024

Harrisburg, NE. Banner County Seat. Unincorporated CDP. Population 100. We've seen smaller county seats, but not many. Harrisburg definitely has an outpost feel. The Courthouse is typical county government efficiency. The Banner County School is a little more architectural, and appears well-supported. (The Wildcats.) Theres a football field. We're interested in what kind of football they play. Six man? There are no services here or apparent commerce of any kind. There are several homes, and most everything seems dedicated to ranching. We looked for a sherrifs office or county jail but couldn't find it. Harrisburg certainly fills the needs of its residents, but in all likelyhood, its citizens are probably spread through the entire county.

07/07/2024

After a delicious breakfast at Rise and Shine in Gering, we are on the road! Heading south from Scottsbluff-Gering today. 😊

07/06/2024

Abandoned building at the junction of NE Hwy 71 and NE Hwy 2. There used to be a historical marker here, but now it's gone. Sign on the house says "private property".

07/06/2024

Crawford, NE. Dawes County. Population 997 (2010). Crawford is another outpost town with a storied history. Despite its larger size and it's singular location, it suffers from many of the same issues that other small towns suffer from. It's great to see three bar/grills open and active (for the commerce), but sad to see a lack of other businesses in the main downtown area, and especially that the grocery store is permanently closed. Like many other small towns we've visited this year, the swimming pool is not filled and is closed. This seems like a disservice to the future of the community. We're hoping there's some other explanation. The residential neighborhoods are tree-lined and pretty with homes in various states, many very nice ones. There are several pretty churches, that appear to be well-attended. The school system looks supported. (Rams.) There is also development along the highway and more than one nice retirement facility.

07/06/2024

Marsland, NE. Dawes County. Unincorporated. At one time this little dot was a bustling burg of 200 people when the Belmont tunnel was being built. Now all that remains is a garage... of some sort... a former school, and a few houses. For me (Becky) I love seeing these places and imagining what was.

07/06/2024

NE Hwy 71 south from Crawford. Very nice drive.

07/06/2024

It's not in our plans to stop at Fort Robinson State Park. But how could a person drive through and not take a few photos? 😊

07/06/2024

Harrison, NE. Sioux County Seat. Population 251. At one time a few years back we actually considered purchasing a business in Harrison and making the move. Things fell apart, but not before we got an idea of what we would be looking for in a small town for our retirement. Revisiting it today we are reminded of all of that. Harrison is an outpost town. Sturdy, nice homes with yards and gardens. A well-supported school system. (Sioux County Warriors.) The center of government for the county. Harrison does a good job in several ways. It's disappointing that there's no grocery store and absolutely no development along the highway. Seeing the pool closed and not even filled with water is very sad. The business district is a bit sparse, but a large hardware store thrives, a bank, a bar and grill, and a bed and breakfast, among various others.

07/06/2024

Agate, NE. Sioux County. Unincorporated. While there used to be a post office here until 1968, there's nothing left of anything town-like. We saw four mailboxes, so a tiny community remains.

Agate Fossil Beds National Monument. Beautifully picturesque. There are several informational signs and historical markers, a visitors center, trails and camping. Very interesting place.

07/06/2024

NE Hwy 29 Scottsbluff to Harrison. Beautiful vistas!

07/06/2024

Mitchell, NE. Scotts Bluffs County. Population 1548 (2020). Mitchell is considered a part of the Scottsbluff MSA, but seems very independent and self-sufficient. The school system is well supported. (Tigers.) The business district seems well populated and active. (Hard to tell on a holiday weekend.) There are lots of churches and community areas... parks, etc. There's also a great deal of commercial development along both highways. The beautiful and tragically abandoned Western Sugar Factory is very picturesque on the edge of town. We saw so many beautiful homes! Couldn't photograph them all. But there are also several modest neighborhoods. The city hall downtown is a great building!

07/06/2024

Getting a late start today. After breakfast at Rise and Shine in Gering, we're slowed by the train crossing. 🤷🏼‍♀️ Headed north-ish today. Lots of driving through beautiful empty spaces, but also a few towns and attractions. 😊

07/06/2024

We made it to Scottsbluff a few hours ago, checked into the lovely Powerhouse Suites, then dashed off to dinner at Flyover Brewery. We sat in the little adjacent 18th Street Plaza and talked about our plan for the next two days. Tomorrow a north route. Sunday a south route. So many towns!! Here are some photos from the hotel.

07/05/2024

These are especially for Arne Ronny Svensson. 😊

07/05/2024

Pretty clouds from NE Hwy 92 as we head west. We're sneaking out for a road trip to and through the Panhandle. We haven't explored there much, and neither of us have ever been to Scottsbluff. 😬 I know! We should turn in our Nebraska cards right now! Today is all about getting across the entire state, Omaha to Scottsbluff. Tomorrow we start 'splorin'! 😊

06/26/2024

Hey Bassett! 😊

06/16/2024

Murdock, NE fly-by. 😉

Address

1105 Harney Street, # 310
Omaha, NE
68102

Website

http://www.facebook.com/MarkandBeckyHTRJ

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