aN E-ND: The Final Two Conquered! Along with 57 Years on this Planet!

 

Hey, a law is a law!  Cheers! 

4/18 - My epic Birthday Trip started today!!  I took an early flight to Denver to start one of my most ambitious road trips ever encompassing 6 western states in a 1,700-mile+ loop.

I can't start any trip without a beer, so before I got out of Colorado, I made a stop at Parts and Labor Brewing in Sterling.   Very cool place.  This brew pub is set up in an old Cadillac dealership building (hence the name).  I had their nice Rantallion Red IPA and a tasty Thai salad with chicken for lunch.  I finished with their super-smooth Slowhand Nitro Stout.

State # 49 checked off the list! Hello, Nebraska! My rental car was this sweet, little gas-sipping Buick Encore that was a very comfy ride.   I got a great deal on it renting blind thru Hotwire.com from Dollar Rent-A-Car.  

My first Nebraska point of interest was the famous and historic, Chimney Rock National Historic Site.  I had this beautifully, quiet place all to myself during my visit this afternoon.  This stubborn piece of rock was a clear marker for settlers heading west thru Nebraska on the Oregon Trial in early America.  I am sure it was sacred to the Native Americans in this area as well (aka "Elk Penis").

Next up was Carhenge which I learned about thru AtlasObscura.com (thanks, as always, folks!).  This is a one-man odyssey of Plains art started back in 1987, and it is truly a modern wonder.  The wind was biting cold on my (again) solo stop here with no one else around and the gift shop not opening until later in the spring/summer, so I didn't stay long to explore beyond this center piece, but definitely got the feel for it. 

The miles kept rolling as did Day 1 as a Nebraska sunset shown in my somewhat dirty rearview mirror.  I, of course, cranked up "Nebraska" by Bruce Springsteen to help the flat-land miles go by. 
 
"They declared me unfit to live
Said into that great void my soul'd be hurled
They want to know why I did what I did
Sir, I guess there's just a meanness in this world"
- THE BOSS 

Another great help to pass the time and miles was an audio version of my favorite book of all time, "Watership Down" with the fantastic narrator, Peter Capaldi.   At 17 and a half hours long, I needed every minute of the adventures of Fiver, BigWig, Kee-har and Hazel-rah!! 

My first overnight stop was in Valentine, Nebraska, at The Niobrara Lodge.  Nothing fancy, but clean and quiet in this decent-sized town that I chose as a jumping off point for the only two waterfalls in Nebraska that I know of which are nearby.  I will see them tomorrow.  But tonight, it's beer-thirty!  I dropped by the Bolo Beer Company here in town.  It's small and cozy and the barkeep was friendly.  I started with their cleverly named Alpacalips IPA which was solid.  I finished with The Waggle Scottish Ale that I thought was very good.  

4/19 - Snake River Falls - yes, it's a waterfall in flat-ass Nebraska, and a pretty nice one at that with a strong volume of water rushing over a 54' wide ledge.  The neatest thing about this place is that it is located on a private sportsmen's club property, and they allow the public to view the falls from a safe distance and only ask for a dollar per visitor to help with upkeep.  They got two bucks from me because this is a special one in my waterfall collection, and I really appreciated the access.   

OK, Nebraska, now you're just showing off...Smith Falls State Park is at the end of a rather rough dirt/gravel road.  I am very glad it was a dry, sunny day.  I had this enchanting place ALL TO MYSELF this morning, never seeing another soul driving in or out or walking the half-mile or so to the base of the falls and back.  This 76' delicate drop is quite amazing to see in person and even better than I expected.   Another cool aspect to the experience is that you have to cross the national scenic Niobrara River (hence my hotel name from last night) to get to the falls whose stream runs into the river and to do so you cross the historic and repurposed Verdigre Bridge (1910).

Hello, again, South Dakota!  Most of my drive through the entirety of mid-South Dakota was fairly dull with all the interesting stuff farther west which Ashlee and I had seen some of a few years back, but once I got on Highway 73 North, some of the iconic Badlands topography popped up for me to see and enjoy.  What a cool little stretch of knobs and needles of white rock springing out of the seemingly endless green pastures.   

Nearing the North Dakota border is the Hugh Glass Memorial at the end of a dead-end road seemingly in the middle of nowhere just like what the man himself had to endure.  And since The Reckoning is one of my favorite films in the last ten years, this was a must-stop and must-see.  Thanks again, AtlasObscura.com.  The force of the wind to get this shot was something to remember in terms of endurance.  Wow!   But, otherwise, I could not have asked for better weather for incredible landscape vistas and thus, photography, in every state I encountered.  

Even closer to the border in the little town of Lemmon, South Dakota, that have a Petrified Wood Park.  And I don't mean just some little corner park, this their main city park encompassing an entire city block and it is chocked full of the stuff that they have around here by the ton.  It sure was tempting to find me a hammer!!  But I didn't.  

50th State!! DING! DING!!  Hello, North Dakota!  What better way to start my visit to my last state visited in The Union than by seeing the largest scrap-metal iron sculpture in the world!   Yep, "Geese in Flight" is the start of another one-man art odyssey even larger than Carhenge and known as "The Enchanted Highway." I actually did not get to experience all of the art on "The Enchanted Highway" due to fading daylight, the need to keep moving, and a bit of a navigational error on my part, but I got the gist of it and it's pretty dang amazing.  Well done, sir!  Keep up the good work!! 

One of my few surprise finds along the way was Phat Fish Brewing Company in the cool little college town of Dickinson, North Dakota.  I was ready for dinner to when I found this place and their peppery cheese curd "appetizer" was enormous and delicious.  Beer-wise, I started with their fantastic (and award-winning) Jalapeno Honey Blonde Ale which I can now say in hindsight was the BEST BEER OF THE TRIP.  It was amazing.  I finished with their solid Pipelayer IPA.  I wish I could have had more beer at this fun place and also in hindsight maybe have stayed the night nearby, but I still had an hour or so to my hotel for the night, so I forged on.   

My regret for not staying the night back in Dickinson was put away quickly once I checked into the Rough Rider Hotel in Medora, North Dakota near the Theodore Roosevelt National Park's southern entrance.  Now this hotel and town feel like the real old west!  There were mule deer grazing near the main street!  This was the nicest hotel I stayed at during my trip.  My room even had its own Teddy Bear!   

4/20 - Happy 57th Birthday to me!!  And welcome to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park - South Unit.  It also happens to be the start of National Park Week today, so FREE ADMISSION!!  This big guy in the photo above welcomed me early into my drive into the park.  I also saw tons of prairie dogs, antelope, mule deer and feral horses throughout the park.  

The badlands of TRNP have a beauty and starkness of their own.  

I moved on west into Montana (that's state # 5 for this trip if you're counting) after my national park visit and my first stop was just across the border at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Wibaux.  This amazing structure, covered in volcanic rock (aka scoria), was built in 1895, but the unusual exterior was added in 1938 in an idea by the pastor there at that time.  Thanks again for the heads-up on this one, AtlasObscura.com! 

Eastern Montana is fairly flat and monotonous similar to its bordering states to the east.  And staying tonight in Miles City was not because it's a picturesque place.  It's just a working town and the Miles City Hotel and Suites is just an interstate hotel, but again was clean and quiet.  The main reason I picked Miles City for my birthday night stay was the fact they do have TWO BREWERIES and Tiltwurks Brewery and Casino was my first stop.  

I got my 10th Birthday Brew Badge on UNTAPPD with the check-in of Tiltwurk's very nice Bang Back Blueberry Wheat beer.  I followed that with their excellent Reply IPA and a yummy fried beef appetizer.  The pinball machine decor was pretty cool, but Montana's idea of a "casino" is a few slot machines stuck in a corner.  Let's just say, there are lots of "casinos" in Miles City.  

My next stop was the tiny Otium Brewing where I started with their excellent red ale caleld Alewife.  I followed that with an interesting pairing of their solid Ora stout with a shot of nitro coffee also brewed there (photo above).  It was tasty and a nice pick-me-up!   These guys also won my buy-a-hat lottery since theirs actually reads that they are located in Montana.  

With a not lot else to do in this town and the casinos being a joke, I jumped in and won a small tournament on Global Poker vs. 11 other players for 700% ROI.  Happy Birthday to me!  I also bought me another present (besides the Otium hat).  A beautiful large chunk of petrified wood from an antique mall in town that I actually wound up chipping some of it off as presents to a couple of my friends and my dog-walker client.  

I tried to get another couple regional craft beers at a promising looking beer bar in town tonight, but they had had an issue with their taps and weren't serving tonight.  Bummer.  So instead, I headed out of the city lights about 20 miles to catch some of the night sky.  Light pollution is real, folks!  Even with an almost full moon, I was able to see with my naked eye the International Space Station orbit by and it was clear enough to even capture it on my phone camera.  Amazing!!  

4/21 - On south to Wyoming, that's six states touched on this epic road trip!   Flat, fairly uninteresting landscape continued and I detoured a bit for lunch at Blacktooth Brewing in Casper. Casper looked to be a pretty cool town and they actually have a nice bunch of craft breweries, but BBC was the only one open on Sundays.    Come to find out they didn't have food here, but some decent beer.  I started with their excellent Scotch ale called Cattle Kate.  I finished with a bit of a disappointing DIPA called California Transplant that just didn't have the hoppiness I was expecting. 
I was given advice to have lunch nearby at Wyoming's Rib and Chop House and it was good advice!  I choose the excellent steak and eggs off their brunch menu and washed it down with a very good Outlaw Amber ale from Ten Sleep (WY) Brewing.  

Near where I was staying tonight in Wyoming are a couple of cool historic places associated with the Oregon Trail.  First up are these amazing 4- and 5' deep ruts (photo above) left in soft sandstone by countless wagons heading west along the Oregon Trail.   This is national historic site and another place I had all to myself during my visit. 

Nearby is Register Bluff where these same Oregon Trail passersby would carve their names into the soft sandstone.  Over the years others have carved their names here as well which diminishes the overall affect a bit, but I still saw carvings from as far back as 1872.  

I chose this area to stay my last night thanks to this sweet AirBnb I found near in Hartville, Wyoming.  Nice AirBnbs were kind of non-existent on the route that I took, so I was happy to at least snag one that I thought was really comfy and cool.  It is a private loft apartment with a huge deck and a hot tub as well.  The flooring seen in the photo above represents cattle brands throughout Wyoming.   

I had accumulated a few beers-to-go on my trip and enjoyed them tonight out on the deck of my AirBnb in mild, but cloudy weather.   First up were a couple (or three) Jenny Lake Lagers from Snake River Brewing over in Jackson, WY.  I picked up a six-pack of these at a liquor store during a gas stop on the way today.  They were smooth and tasty.  I left the other three for my host.  She thanked me for them.  Cheers!  Next up was a crowler pint can of Drowning Mountains IPA from Otium Brewing back in Miles City, MT.  It was very good.  I concluded with a crowler can that had rolled around in the back of the car for a few days (photo above):  The superb Boost Juice DIPA from Parts and Labor Brewing a thousand-plus miles ago in Sterling, CO.  
I had a fun, relaxing evening even though the cloud cover remained and blocked most stargazing as I had planned (glad I went out last night in Miles City).  I got to see the Preds play (and lose, unfortunately) in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and played a little online poker as well with more losses to report.   Oh well, at least the losses were ON VACATION IN WYOMING!! 

4/22- Sadly, I had to drive back to Denver today to fly home tonight, but I did have all day to get there!  I said goodbye to the great AirBnb and continued my trek south under sunny skies. 

My great AirBnb was stocked for breakfast, but I had it in mind to drive an hour or so and eat at the historic Chugwater Soda Fountain.  I had their giant breakfast burrito that keep me full for most of the day and a coffee-flavor shake as well made in their vintage soda fountain (the oldest operating one in Wyoming). 

My next stop was back in Colorado at the beautiful, gushing Boulder Falls.  As with many of my other stops I saw a few people coming in and out but had the falls to myself for a good amount of time.  Such a beauty!!    A perfect place to visit on Earth Day! 

I had some time to hit a "brewery or two-ery" (aren't I witty) on the way to the airport and started with the cooly-named, Liquid Mechanics Brewing in the Denver suburb of Lafayette.  Here I began with their West Coast Cartel (Beachwood) IPA.  It's a collaboration with Beachwood Brewing (CA) and it was excellent.  I finished up with their also impressive Skin and Bones pale ale.  

I had very nice view of some of still snow-covered Rockies on my drive around the northern outskirts of Denver.   I believe that's Long's Peak in the distance at 14K+ in elevation.  

My last stop before the airport was the very cool Something Brewing (clever name) in the Denver suburb of Brighton.  I started with their excellent NEIPA called By the Beard of Zeus, and finished with their solid Vienna-style lager called Godspeed. 

My flight home was smooth and uneventful.  A nice closure to one amazing trip!! 

And if you are keeping score, that's:  

1,900+ miles driven 
thru 6 states
with 8 craft breweries visited 
20 new-to-me craft brews consumed 
and 1 dead tumbleweed,,,

- yep, my only "road incident" was when a tumbleweed rolled out in front of my car (in Wyoming I think) and instead of getting caught under my car, it exploded into a thousand pieces.  Who knew??