Matt's 40th Birthday Adventure - Day 1

We left Sunday morning bright and early!  We headed north up through Lincoln towards Valentine, Nebraska to the Sand Hills of north central Nebraska.  

On the way there we heard from friends who were near our destination in Anselmo, NE and they invited us to stop by our friend's childhood home.  It just happened to be the town celebration and they were having a rodeo.

It was a ranch competition style rodeo.  Literally, my first rodeo.  It was so much fun!  We were glad we stopped to visit.  

We made it to Valentine in the late afternoon.  Look at that sky!

We checked into our hotel and rested a bit.  There wasn't much town to explore but they did have a few good restaurants.  We ate at a steak house.  I had a great prime rib sandwich.  Matt's steak was just okay but not terrible.  We think he just ordered the wrong thing.  

After that we headed to Fort Niobrara Wildlife Refuge.  You can drive through an area with buffalo, elk, and prairie dogs.  We only saw prairie dogs.  It was fine, they are small and cute. 

See, there's one in the photo below.   

After that we went to the falls.  It was a nice hike down to the falls.  They had made a nice ramp and stairs to make it easier to get down there.  

Fort Falls.  

Two things I love in this photo.  Matt and a waterfall!  😍

We hiked around a bit and realized the rest of the way was pretty overgrown so we went back the way we came and got in the car.  We headed to the scenic overlook.  

This place is beautiful.  I'm normally all about the beach and the ocean.  But really it's nature.  I am is such awe of God's creation.  I spent most of the trip in that state of awe and appreciation of our God who created this land.  

Check back for more trip photos and updates.  

Days 2 & 3