Week 46: In Nebraska, Near a Runza

This week I am a few miles past Arlington, Nebraska, a village, per the Internet, of 1,657. Arlington is close enough to Omaha (25 miles) that you could easily commute from there, but I guess the suburbs of Omaha aren't much.

Rather than try to find a picture of the town, I decided to check out the entire state of  Nebraska, so I found a site titled "15 Fun Facts About Nebraska." Not all 15 of the facts are very interesting, but here are a few:

• There is a place called Carhenge in Nebraska, a replica of Stonehenge made with cars.
• There is a lighthouse in Nebraska, oddly enough. It's next to a lake.
• There is a fast food chain in Nebraska, called Runza, with 82 restaurants. They sell stuffed pastries, maybe similar to pierogis, although apparently German in origin. If I go to Nebraska again, I want to try Runza.
• Nebraska is not very populated. Sounds familiar.
• It's home to many big-name stars. Examples they give are Fred Astaire, Marlon Brando, Gerald Ford, and Nick Nolte. At least Nick Nolte is still alive, age 81. Fred Astaire died in 1987. I guess they do say "It's home to many stars" and not "Many stars live there."

They did not mention Chimney Rock, but that merits a bonus picture.

Jarrod learned about Chimney Rock when he was very young, because it was a landmark on the Oregon Trail. Wikipedia says it was also on the California Trail and the Mormon Trail. Travelers wrote about it back then because it was very recognizable and let them know they were on the right path.

There are two Runza restaurants in Fremont, Nebraska, a few miles from Arlington, and one in Bennington, ten miles ahead. After I pass Bennington, I will be in the greater Omaha area, where there are at least another 16 Runzas, so I will never be too far away from one until I make my way into Iowa this coming week.