Despite the rather frantic activity at the park yesterday that didn't die down till after 9, I slept great once all the locals left. It lightly rained and misted all night till right around sunrise. Forecast was wrong here. But it was warmer than predicted too. I broke camp and noticed my front tire was soft. So I took advantage of the creek to find the extremely tiny hole in my tube. Patched it using a scab patch for the first time and it held. I rode back to the trail and rode out of town. Very shortly I came to a huge trestle over the Niobrara river, certainly the highest and longest one I've ever ridden across. The wind was light from the northwest and I very gradually climbed to Wood Lake. It didn't have much except a post office. I continued on, past Johnstown, which was barely anything also, and the foggy mist I'd been riding through turned into light rain. No rain in the forecast today either. Wrong again. I felt my front tire go soft and upon examination I found two big goatheads. I threw a new tube in and took off on the trail again. Soon the trail was covered in ground hugging foliage, and I stupidly rode right through all of it. It actually was overgrown enough to get my feet wet from the moisture on the leaves and I decided I was pushing my luck and turned off at the next cross road to get on the highway. But it was too late. My tire went flat really fast suddenly. I pulled off and turned the bike over. I lost count after removing 10 thorns, and I was very meticulous about making darn sure nothing remained before I put a new tube in. Both these flats happened in the span of a quarter mile, and still it rained. As much as I really wanted to do the Cowboy Trail, I lost patience at this point and I doubt whether it's even possible to complete it with tubes. Some parts don't get a lot of traffic and it's infested with whatever plant is responsible for the goatheads. I decided it wasn't worth the risk, and just gave up, sadly. The whole reason I came through Nebraska was to follow this trail, and I had better luck with the unofficial sections than even the proper open part. Oh well. I finally arrived in Ainsworth and stopped at the grocery store and got some food. While I did the rain stopped and soon after I left town the temperature warmed up ten degrees quickly. I pushed on, with a good tailwind and I made good time. It rained off and on but mostly stayed dry. That is till just a few miles from O'Neill, and it began to lightly rain again. I had planned to camp in the city park that allows it. But as I rolled through town in the rain I just spontaneously decided, sod it, I'm getting a hotel. I checked the one in downtown first and it had a room, was really cheap and the room is great! And on top of that it's in a historic building!