(Won't you be my) Valentine, Nebraska?

My first time in Nebraska

Leaving South Dakota behind, our first brief (one night) stop in Nebraska was in the small town of Valentine.  I had actually heard of this town only because when I was a girl, I mailed some valentine cards there in a large envelope to be hand-stamped.  According to Wikipedia, 

Valentine participates in an annual re-mailing program where thousands of pieces of mail flow into the local United States Post Office so that they can be re-mailed with a special Valentine's Day postmark and verse.

So, I was expecting a kind of cutesy Valentine-themed town, but there really wasn't much of that, at least in late September.  Perhaps in February they really get the decorating thing going.  There were red hearts painted on the main street's sidewalks, but that was about it.  I had hoped for more.

Barry was interested in this town because the Cowboy Trail ends here.  He had thought he might ride some of it on this trip, but he had heard that parts of it were in pretty poor condition after some flooding that occurred.  And timing-wise, it just didn't work out.  I'm sure it would have been a letdown after the fantastic rides he had on the Michelson Trail anyway.  It was a bit neglected looking, to be honest.  Looks like maintaining and promoting it just hasn't been a high priority lately. 

This sign greeted visitors as they entered the town via the trail.
 

This stretch of the trail certainly looked rideable if a bit monotonous compared to other rail-trails we've been riding lately.  

A little weedy...

But the prairie flowers were pretty!

The trailhead

We had time to take Paisley on a little walk on the trail, but that was all.  And a cold front was coming through overnight, bringing cloudy and much cooler temperatures the next day, so it was just as well that we were moving on in the morning.

We did get to witness a bit of a farm auction as we walked through town and see a couple of cowboys.  If memory serves me, I think this was actually a woman.  

And that's about all we did in Valentine.  Our next stop, Lincoln, was a bit more up our alley, so stay tuned!