Table Rock, Nebraska

My first thought when I saw "Table Rock, Nebraska" was "OMG! That's from Oregon Trail!" (Hopefully, because of my generation's incredible propensity for nostalgia, I need not explain that Oregon Trail was an educational computer game played in schools throughout the 1980s to teach kids how pioneers traveled west in the mid 1800s. It also taught us that diseases like cholera, dysentery and bad grass could kill you, that buffalo are easy to kill but impossible to carry and that it's really funny to name people in your party Butthead or Jerk so you could see those hilarious words pop up on your screen at school!)

Sadly for all of us, there will be no moderately paced, 2-oxen walk down memory lane today. Table Rock was in no way part of Oregon Trail. The Nebraskan rock in question was indeed the landmark before which Dumbface would inevitably die trying to ford the Platte River, Chimney Rock. Table Rock is just some tiny town in the bottom right (southeast) corner of Nebraska. It's got 264 people and not much else. Sad trombone.

Now, in my mind, every municipality in Nebraska is relatively minuscule. I know for a fact that North Platte, Nebraska, is the country's smallest television market. My friend Tom was a meteorologist there right out of college. He loved it, especially because he was quite a hit with North Platte's population of 4 single ladies.

I mean, even when I picture Omaha, I don't picture a city at all. I picture one of those highway exits that's got a lot of chain stores--a Target, a Best Buy, a Hardee's, a Ponderosa and a Dairy Queen. (If you've ever driven to from Milwaukee to Madison, you know I'm picturing that Delafield exit that used to have the smiley barn.) Sorry Omaha.

But, yikes. Table Rock is teeny. 264?! There'll be more people than that at the party I'm going to tonight. And it's at someone's house! However, the weird thing here is their population breakdown. Half of those 264 people live alone! 46.5% of Table Rock households are made up of individuals. So, either Table Rock is the hottest spot in the country for singles to mingle...or they all just spend all their time playing Oregon Trail, wishing they lived in the more notable Chimney Rock. My guess is the former. I'm movin' to Table Rock.

PS: Wikipedia makes no mention of where/what the "table" is in Table Rock. WTF?