Photo courtesy of Jeremy Blomstedt, McCook Gazette. Rick Hammersley in Nebraska.

The days off in Hastings are quickly drawing to a close. While here, I had another TV interview, two newspaper interviews, and a radio interview. I had a physical and a complete blood workup at the VA in Grand Island and they were very pleased at the condition I’m currently in. I want to thank Karen K. and her nurse Rose for taking me in on a rather short notice and for their efforts in helping me eliminate some of my diabetes medicine (there will be more on future blogs as this materializes). I also learned what a cornhusker is, and I got to visit some of the guys I’ve worked with at Hastings Utilities in past years. I also got the front end of the RV aligned. So, the stop has been fruitful and tomorrow morning, it is back to work.

I want to thank Mike Smithson of KHAS Radio for the radio interview. He also informed me that a cornhusker is someone that removes the husk from an ear of corn. I mentioned to him that I thought that was shucking corn, and he said shucking corn was removing the kernel from the cob. Now, I didn’t know an ear of corn had so many technical jobs associated with it and it got me to thinking about my mom. When I was a kid, my mom had all of these jobs associated with corn. First, she was a planter, then a grower, then a picker, husker, cleaner, shucker, cooker, server, eater, and because she had five boys who didn’t know any better at the time, she finally was a cleaner-upper. All this associated with an ear of corn. Who knew it was so demanding? I imagine in a year or two, it’s all going to go to ethanol and we won’t have to worry about any of the above anymore anyway.

Miles Covered: 9
Total Miles: 1,711.25
Money Found: $0.34
Total Found: $56.64

Well, we’re in Hastings! We got into town around 11:00 this morning and after a short break, I did another TV interview, this time with KHAS-TV Channel 5 of Hastings, the local NBC affiliate. I want to thank Jennifer Berry for the interview and the opportunity to spread the word of what I’m doing. Later in the day, I had a newspaper interview with John Huthmacher of the Hastings Tribune. That should come out tomorrow and I want to thank John for that. After all of that, and by the way, this all came after a 9 mile walk this morning, then I went swimming. What a day. 😀

I also want to thank Don & Mary B. of Hastings for arranging some of the interviews, and doing some legwork for us while we will be here. Don actually came out and walked the last 8 miles with me this morning and that brought back memories of his and my walking together while I was here working in 2004 and 2006. Thanks Don.

I passed a field full of Texas Longhorns this morning and stopped and took some pictures. I was surprised to see Longhorns this far north and I wondered if there are any Nebraska Cornhuskers wandering around the hills of Texas. Then I got to thinking, what exactly is a cornhusker? I know what a corn husk is and I know that if you remove that husk, you are shucking the corn, not husking it. I asked Don what a cornhusker was and he didn’t know either. He said he just rooted for the football team. So, if anyone out there knows what a cornhusker is, let me know.

In the next few days I am supposed to have some more newspaper and a radio interview. I’ll keep you posted. Check out the Media Page and Video page for links to these after they happen.

The bottom picture was taken in Kenesaw, NE. It shows an old gas station. If anyone out there knows what the brand of that station was, let me know. I have four brothers who know because our Dad owned one in Indianapolis in the early 60’s.  Hint: The sign gives it away.

Miles Covered: 9
Total Miles: 1,711.25
Money Found: $0.34
Total Found: $56.64

Ten more miles tomorrow and I’ll be in Hastings, NE, my halfway point! Today we left Minden and I did a 20-miler. The day itself was overcast all morning and cool, then scattered clouds in the afternoon and not too hot. There was a nice breeze out of the east all day and I don’t think it hit the 90’s that was projected.

We are currently sitting in the driveway of Lloyd S. of Kenesaw, Nebraska. Valda & I drove into Kenesaw for our dinner break, looking for a city park or some shade tree somewhere. We saw Lloyd outside and stopped and asked where the park was. After a brief conversation he said to pull into his driveway and use his shade tree, which we did. After I completed walking, we came back here to spend the night. I want to thank Lloyd for the hospitality, the four ears of sweet corn he gave us, and for letting us plug into his garage for electricity tonight. The generosity of strangers continues 😀

I plan to blog tomorrow night, but after that, I’m not sure. I know I won’t be walking on Thursday, but plan to walk on Friday and maybe Saturday, though not a full day of walking. We will leave Hastings on Sunday morning and head toward Iowa.

Valda took some pictures of a crop-duster today. We may not be in the mountains, but the picture opportunities come in different ways.

Miles Covered: 20
Total Miles: 1,702.25
Money Found: $0.00
Total Found: $56.30

Something happened this morning that fits right in with some of the stories I’ve related over the past few months concerning unexplained coincidences. I did the interview with Leslie Means at the TV station and then another reporter, Chris Neyenhouse did an interview inside the RV for broadcast later in the day. Chris said he hadn’t been in Nebraska too long and I asked him where he was from. He was from Plattsburgh, NY. Now Plattsburgh has a population of around 20,000 people and Valda & I know exactly one of those people, Linda N. – guess who Chris knew? Yep, he knew Linda and said his mom and Linda taught at the same school. Now what’s the odds of that happening? Chris moved to the Axtell, NE area (population 204) at about the same time I started my walk. I’ve thought about this all day and I just can’t figure out how something like this happens.

I emailed Vincent Yu yesterday and got a response from his wife in Taiwan. Seems Vincent is somewhere in Poland and has very spotty internet access. His wife said he is doing well and getting along okay. She will pass my message along to him via phone.

Personal to Mick M. of Highland Park, IL. Thanks for matching my ‘money found’ up to 100%. It is very much appreciated!

We are in Minden, NE at the present and about 30 miles from Hastings. As I was walking today I remembered walking into and out of Minden, Nevada a couple of months ago. I wonder how many people in the world have walked from Minden, Nevada to Minden, Nebraska before? Strange things I think about while walking in the heat. 🙃

Miles Covered: 15
Total Miles: 1,682.25
Money Found: $0.01
Total Found: $56.30

We are currently near Axtell, NE and that’s where I have a live TV interview tomorrow morning. More later on this subject. It was pretty hot today and I didn’t walk in the afternoon, choosing instead to sit in the A/C and walking a little further in the evening. I have three more days to get to Hastings and it is only 45 miles, so the next three days I may slack off a bit.

Personal to Dennis S. from Illinois for his personal donation to us for gasoline expenses. Many thanks for your help, it is much appreciated! Also personal to Len & Carol S., currently of Peoria, IL for their 100% match for my “money found”. Many thanks to you also and it too is much appreciated!

Valda & I are working on a couple of fund raising events that will take place in the Indianapolis area when we reach there. Check out the August newsletter for more info on these events.

Miles Covered: 15
Total Miles: 1,667.25
Money Found: $0.22
Total Found: $56.29

Well, after all the grief I got (from relatives mainly) about picking up an ear of sweet corn and eating it for supper yesterday, Valda decided to do the right thing and bought some ears today.  We had them for supper this evening, and they were good, but the one I picked up off the highway – it was exceptional! The only problem with it was that it was pretty small and there was only one.  I saw some today too, but they were all brown and dried out.  I left them on the road, but the thought of putting them in a casserole did cross my mind.

Miles Covered: 20
Total Miles: 1,652.25
Money Found: $0.00
Total Found: $56.07

We are parked beside the cornfields in Central Nebraska, looking out over the fields at lights that come and go. We think it is probably some farmer in his field, doing whatever they do after dark. We are about six miles east of Arapaho, NE and about two miles from the little town of Edison, population 154. We have broadband – go figure.

Tomorrow we should get real close to Holdrege. Just east of that town, there is an NTV affiliate and we have a live interview scheduled with them on Monday morning. The NTV stands for Nebraska TV, and we thought it was a PBS station, but we got an email from a friend in Hastings that stated it was an ABC affiliate, so we aren’t sure. Guess we’ll find out on Monday.

Nothing happened today. I walked 20 miles, found a little money, found an ear of sweet corn on the side of the road and ate it for supper. The weather was a lot cooler today, only in the eighties but it was muggy all day. I’ve been deluged by grasshoppers for the last two weeks. They are in the grass by the road and jump all over the place when I walk by. They don’t bother me, but they are a pain to walk through. We also saw our first lightning bugs a couple of nights ago, in McCook. It’s strange we haven’t seen them before then.

Miles Covered: 20
Total Miles: 1,632.25
Money Found: $0.76
Total Found: $56.07

It’s hard to believe that in five days, in Hastings, NE that I’ll be halfway done with my Walk Across America. Looking back, I just don’t know where the time spent on the Walk has gone. It just seems like I left that jetty yesterday in California and now here we are sharing the road with the farmers. Pretty soon, I imagine I’ll be waving at the Amish in Pennsylvania. I’ve said before it seems surreal, and it really does. It’s amazing what getting up and walking 17-20 miles a day and stringing a hundred days in a row will get you.

We are now in Cambridge, NE and taking a day off. Last night I could not get the broadband to pull up the website, but this morning it is slow, but working so far. I will try to blog again tomorrow night because the blogs have been few and far between this past week. You’d think that in this ‘flat’ part of the country that the cell service would be just fine, but that’s not the case. It’s almost as bad as in the mountains. I know we will have it in Hastings, I’m just not sure about the next 100 miles.

It looks like rain today and hopefully a little cooler. It doesn’t matter though, we have the A/C on. We’ll leave Cambridge tomorrow morning and head further east. The miles seem to just flow by – how curious. 🙂

Miles Covered: 19
Total Miles: 1,612.25
Money Found: $0.56
Total Found: $55.31