6:42 a.m.
When we left our motel in Scottsbluff it was a chilly 54 degrees outside, but the sky was mostly clear. We headed east on U.S. Highway 26, toward Ogallala. We stopped to take a few photos near Chimney Rock National Historic Site, then continued southeast to the Ash Hollow State Historical Park.

I had driven by Chimney Rock for the first time in the spring of 1967, and again in the spring of 1968, and several other times over the following years. I remember the inselberg as being farther away from the highway, but maybe that's because we stopped to view it from farther to the east, along the highway. We seemed to get much closer on this trip than I've ever been before. Perhaps, too, it has something to do with the time of day. On prior trips through this area it was later in the day, and on this trip the morning sun was illuminating the spire. In any event, we had great views of the site for quite a ways along the road on this clear, cold, morning.

We did not take the time to drive to the Visitor Center and Museum. It probably was not open at the time we drove by, and we had to be in Omaha before it got too late in the day.

After Chimney Rock we did make a quick stop at the Ash Hollow State Historical Site.