(Re)Learning to hike in the summer is hard work, especially with the hot blast we’ve had recently. The 79-acre wooded forest near the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center in Nebraska City, Nebraska, provided enough shade that I didn’t burn and offered a cool breeze as I walked down to the overlook above the Missouri River.

Discovering the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center along route IA-2 was a happy accident. On my day-trip to Omaha, I stopped at the Sapp Bros Travel Center in Percival, Iowa, for gas. The small unincorporated area is just off I-29 going through Iowa; the scenery is beautiful in June.