Out of Oberlin, US-83 sweeps through beautiful farmlands, often paralleling railroad tracks, and passes through low, one-horse towns with towering feed elevators. The road banks sharply west and then south, at which point you can either continue on US-83 until the road crosses I-70 near Oakley, or head west along US-24 to the I-70 junction at ambitious Colby, which calls itself “The Oasis of the Plains.” The town is simply a service center for the wheat belt, but it does have the fairly huge Prairie Museum of Art and History (closed Mon. in winter; $5; 785/462-4590) at 1905 S. Franklin Street. The museum is a sprawling, 24-acre complex that includes rare porcelains, china dolls, assorted historical stuff, a complete home decorated as it would have been in the 1930s, and the Cooper Barn, one of the largest barns in the state—over 7,000 square feet!
