May 19, 2025

Kansas City, Missouri > North Platte, Nebraska

Driving BMW back to California

According to Google map it is a 6 ¼ hour drive from the Cascade Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri to the Ramada by Wyndham in lovely North Platte Nebraska. The Google Maps driving instructions tool us by a different route out of Kansas City. Normally we would take the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive (Highway 59) along Bush Creek to Highway 71. After a while that would connect to Highway 29 north.

This morning Google Maps directed us to go west to the Southwest Trafficway and connect with Highway 35. Downtown you the you connect through a couple different highways and end up going north on 169 and connect to 29 closer to the Kansas City Airport. However, apparently the navigation program in the BMW didn’t know about the relatively new reconfiguration of the Highway 169 and Highway 70 interchange. Fortunately, Harry V drove us this way coming from the airport, so we did.

The bottom line is that we made the connection with Highway 29 andstarted our journey Northwest towards Omaha. Initially there was a bit of traffic e but one we passed the airport it thinned out considerably. The ride up Highway 29 is over rolling hills, green and brown fields, newly plowed fields, and lots of small patches of woods.

At St. Josephs Missouri we take a decided heading further to the west. There was some confusion about how to get around Omaha and connect to Highway 80 heading due west. On the map Highway 2 appears as a small think line, indicating that it might be a two lane highway with stops and cross roads. However it did look like a good bypass of Omaha, Nebraska, and was headed for a connection further west than continuing up Highway 29 all the way to 80. The navigation on the BMW suggested this route.

Well, we aren’t in any hurry and one of us had already been up the highway 29 route, so why not. The terrain didn’t change much, maybe a few small added towns, but it looked lot like Highway 29’s terrain. Yes, a few parts were two lane but not much, There were a few intersections controlled by traffic lights, but for the most part it was newly constructed highway. It was a good route around Omaha and connected to Highway 80 some distance east of that city.

It had rained the night before in Kansas City, but it wasn’t raining when we started out. The sky was grey but there weren’t any looming dark clouds lurking on the horizon. It did sprinkle a little out near the Kansas City International Airport, but it wasn’t much.

The terrain leveled out once we connected with Highway 80. It now had rolling hills but they were fattening out. Few cities, either large or small, more farms, less wooded areas, and the occasional feed lot for cattle. Our first stop was outside the city of York, Nebraska, now we didn’t make it to England, at the York Westbound Area Rest Stop after almost 300 miles and four hours. It was just a little past noon. Good stopping point, clean restrooms, and a staffed information center. We asked the nice man where we should get lunch. His response was a little disappointing but perfectly accurate. The next exit is York, he said, there are lots and lots of fast-food joints there.

We were hoping for some nice local restaurant recommendation. He continued and asked where we were from. California. Where? Sonoma? Oh, I used to live in San Francisco. Turns out he now has a son living in Oakland, California. We said our good-byes and got back in the car and drive the few remaining miles to the York Exit.

We stopped for gas. Love the gas prices 91 octane high test was only $3.31. It was 10% ethanol and the pump had more selections than we have seen before. Of course they had diesel, but they had 89 octane with 15% ethanol, 89 octane with 20% ethanol, 83 octane with 15% and 20% ethanol, and an 80 octane with 30% ethanol. Interesting to say the least, but the cheapest one was $2.89 a gallon, so understandable.

We decided to make it a quick stop after filling the car with gas. We simply crossed over the Main Street to the McDonalds. The McDonalds was very mechanized, like the ones in Italy, with machines where you placed your order. Being used to that side of the operation we quickly entered our order and then waited. We a took table tent number for them to deliver it to the table, as they do it Italy. Here they simply called out the table tent numbers rather than bring it to you. Which makes little sense since each receipt has a number. Why do you need the table tent number?

While the ordering process was efficient and well organized, that seemed to be the only part of the place that was. The kitchen was either significantly short staffed, very poorly trained, or just incredibly slow. They called out our number, but I had to point out, they forgot our drinks. The young man said sorry and disappeared. After about five minutes he returned with a drink tray. Now mind you, there weren’t any drinks. It took another trip to get the drinks and put them in the drink tray.

Understandably the food was cold. We ate quickly and got back on the road. There are still some 200 miles left we get to North Platte. The trip between York and North Platte was just an uneventful and the first part, just now it is flat and the small rolling hills continued to flatten out and all but have disappeared. There was some construction along the way, but the detours were well planned and easy to maneuver. As usual highway 80 has lots of trucks but it also has a 75 MPH speed limit.

We arrived in North Platte about 15:30. The Ramada was almost just opposite the off ramp of the highway. Easy to see from the off ramp. IT looked like it was built sometime in the early 1970’s. Two story boxy construction. Very utilitarian in design. There was one car under the portico, a red Camero, other than that the parking lot was empty. We pulled up under the portico just opposite the front door. As we approached the front door a nice man greeted us. He turned out to be the proprietor. We walked to the front desk and were greeted by a young woman. The conversation somehow got around to Grace’s graduation and our just celebrating our 51st anniversary. The proprietor upgraded our room to a suite in celebration of our anniversary.

We couldn’t help but notice the large industrial fans and waste baskets scattered in the main area near the front desk. Turns out there was a major hailstorm last night and there was damage to the roof which caused water to get into the main lobby. The rain had since stopped and water was no longer dripping into the buckets.

Room 104 is very nice. Two large rooms actually, a bedroom and a sitting room. The decor might have led one to believe the hotel was built sometime in the 1960’s rather than the 1970’s. Not that it was overly worn out or anything, just the style. There was a lot of Ikea here.

The temperature in the room was set at 66 degrees when we arrived and was really cold. It took some doing but we did manage to get the device to switch to heating and we set the temperature to 70. We got a little organized and then decided a trip to Starbucks next door would give the room some time to heat up. Mary got a iced green tea and I got a hot Royal English breakfast tea.  

We walked back to the hotel to find the room had little chance to warm up. The device in the living room was doing a good job, but the bedroom was still cold. Although it was still early, we decided to head out to dinner; after adjusting the device in the bedroom in the hope that it would get warm enough to sleep.

Mary has done some research online for a place to have dinner. It was described online as: “Western Nebraska’s Premiere Chophouse and Lounge. Dry-aged Nebraska beef, a renowned chef, live lobster tank, curated wine list, craft cocktails, and a warm, comfortable atmosphere make the North 40 Chophouse North Platte’s premiere fine dining destination.” It was on the north end of town about two miles from the hotel.

It didn’t look like much from the outside, but the inside was very upscale. We were treated by a 50ish woman at the front desk. Taken to our seat by a gentleman. He made polite conversation and asked where we were from. California. Turns out he is also from California, in fact the Bay Area. He knew Sonoma County but not the city of Sonoma.

The tables were nicely set. There was a leather charger with the logo imprinted on it. The waitress delivered us the menus and water. We had a chance to talk with her as well. She was also from California. In fact, it was her mother that treated us and her stepfather that seated us. Later we would find out her cousin was the one that delivered our food. A real family operation.

They did indeed have a lobster tank, although the lobsters look very large and weren’t moving a whole lot. Probably been there a while. We wondered if they were in fact alive. Mary ordered soup, cream of artichoke, and a simple house salad. I ordered the wet aged New York Strip and a baked potato. We shared the steak and baked potato.

They also gave us a skilled with four hot beautiful fluffy dinner rolls. These were a tasty as they looked. They had German Chocolate Cake on the menu for dessert but apparently, they were out this evening. We were a bit disappointed. It was ok because we still took part of the steak and potato, and one dinner roll, back to the hotel with us. It was a very nice experience. We would recommend staying in North Platte just for the experience if you are diving through.

After dinner we went back to the hotel. The room was finally comfortable. We played a game of cards to allow dinner to digest before heading to bed. It was a fairly easy drive from Kansas City, Highway 2 made a large difference, compared to other trips when we had to go through Omaha.

Buonanotte e ciao, Enrico e Maria