Heading south...

Just what you want to be doing on a nice hot day.  ;-)

It's time.  We unhooked the Aspect, pulled in the slides, pulled up the leveling jacks, and connected the CR-V and trailer.  We are rolling south.  Not in a hurry, but we do have an appointment for the Vespa in Austin at the end of this week... 1,200 or so miles and 5 days to get there; yep, no hurry.

We left Hart Ranch, turning south on Highway 79...

Highway 79 used to be "one of the most dangerous roads in South Dakota"... the expansion of the road to a divided 4-lane has made a difference.

As we come up on the turn to go to Hot Springs (we aren't), one last look at the Hills...

All those trees are why, from a distance, the hills look black.  Another hour or so, and we are into Nebraska...

Yeah, it looks a lot like southwestern South Dakota, except for the 2-lane road instead of 4.  The flatter terrain means more agriculture...

We stopped in Chadron for lunch and fuel.  I fed Rufus, while Joan picked us up some fine Mexican fare at Taco John's.  There is a big parking area for trucks at the truck stop next door...

With the fuel tank and bellies full, we continued south.  Lots of hills south of Chadron, in the area that is the far west end of the Sand Hills and the bluffs named for nearby Scottsbluff.

Most of the time, Rufus sat on his tower between our seats; he would make an occasional trip to one lap or the other...

He is handling the traveling fine... happy as long as he is where we are.

Some fall colors along the way...

The elevations here are still above 3,000'.  We may see a lot of this color this early as we continue south.  Getting closer to Ogallola, there are more hills...

Just before making the turn towards Ogallola, we ran into this...

Fresh oil/tar on the road.  Ugly.  I tried my best to stay where the few cars who passed this way ahead of us sucked up some of the spray... I know there will some tar remover in my future.  (Sigh)

We are down for the day reasonably early - no need to rush.  It is 95º, but comfortably cool with the A/C running in the coach.  Joan is making us an adult beverage.  Rufus is sitting by my side.  It's all good.

Cue Willie's music: "On the road again..."

;-)