This is the fourth post in a series of images from my travels for the Wheels on Walls motorcycle scavenger hunt sponsored by Team Strange Airheads. For it, I need to collect photos of my motorcycle and rally flag taken in front of outdoor murals. The primary goal is to get photos of murals featuring wheeled vehicles. I can also collect up to ten that don’t feature wheels in them. The winner of this year’s grand tour will get a lovely plaque and bragging rights for the year, and everyone who finishes will get an enameled pin.
I was scheduled to meet my friend Mike at his house at 7 this morning so we could get out on the road early before the brutal heat that’s been plaguing us could get into full swing for the day. (Yesterday’s high, out here on the prairie was at least 101 degrees Fahrenheit.) But I woke up at 5:45 a.m. to hear the sounds of heavy rain, thunder, and high winds – a major storm that had not been in the forecast when I went to bed last night. Clearly we were not going to be getting an early start.
We ended up going to breakfast here in town and hit the road a little after 9. There were still some moderate winds, and rainclouds that had passed us off to the east, but overall it seemed like a pretty good day to go collect murals north of Kearney.
Given the late start, we skipped heading northwest to all the way to Anselmo, NE and instead went north to the tiny burg of Arcadia. Although this town has fewer than 400 residents, it has several thriving businesses and at least three nice murals featuring wheels. Since I’m only allowed two murals per town, the mural of a service station with car tires out front had to get skipped.
July 29 – This agricultural-themed mural is largely hidden by the Arcadia, NE Post office.
July 29 – Arcadia also has one of the seemingly ominipresent city name and scene murals. This one was particularly nice, featuring a historical look at downtown Arcadia, including a little boy and his dog in the middle of the street. (Thanks to Mike for the photo.)
July 29 – Is this town named “Howard City” or “Boelus” Nebraska? Both the mural and Wikipedia assign both names to the town, while Google Maps labels it as Boelus, but will find it if you search for Howard City. Why? It’s a mystery!
July 29 – Cairo, Nebraska is pronounced “Care-Oh” but it clearly is referencing the city in Egypt – elsewhere in town there is a sign featuring a camel.
Wood River, Nebraska was our last stop today on our way home, following the Lincoln Highway. Unlike most of the murals I’ve collected on this grand tour/scavenger hunt, which are located at street level, this one was up high above a roof covering a restaurant’s porch. The featured vehicle for this mural is an older woman in a wheelchair, who can be a bit hard to pick out from a distance. But believe me – she’s there!
July 29 – This is the mural above a covered porch in Wood River, Nebraska. If you look carefully, you can see the older woman in a wheelchair.
Here is the detailed image that makes the woman in the wheelchair easier to see.
You can view all of my Wheels on Walls Grand Tour posts here.