Day 12 Limon to Columbia, Missouri

 It was another long 640 mile drive to Columbia from Limon. However, it included a random stop for lunch at a place Sylvia found on the Internet. It was just three miles off route 70 in Salina, Kansas called the Hickory Hut (hickoryhut.com. I just couldn't pass up an opportunity to try authentic East Kansas BBQ. The Hickory Hut was just what you'd think a small town Q joint should look like, and it was packed with locals at 11:30 in the morning. Now, I know less than nothing about BBQ, all the types are just way too much for me to comprehend; Beef, Pork, Back ribs, Short ribs, Spareribs, Country style, Baby Back, St Louis, etc. Plus the different styles; Kansas City, Memphis, Carolina, Texas, Wet, Dry, etc. Not to mention all the ways to cook them. It's just that another level of education is required to know anything about BBQ ribs. Anyhow, I walked in, totally out of my element, and asked the guy in the window "What are you famous for?" He smiled and told me the ribs and baked beans. I said, "Give me them and a pork sandwich with sides." He asked, "Where I was from?" I told him and he smiled rather kindly and welcomed me to Hickory Hut. Cool!

Well, it was an experience, and totally great. Like I said, I know nothing, but the two large ribs I got were very good (by my uneducated standards), and the beans were like nothing I've had before. I should have gotten a gallon to take home. Sylvia really like her pork sandwich, and she thought the coleslaw and potato salad were perfect. It was an excellent lunch stop.

The Hickory Nut

It was late afternoon when by the time we got to the Best Western in Columbia, Missouri. Sylvia had made a reservation from the car about an hour before we got there. As we pulled up we both thought something looked familiar, but we never remembered being in Columbia before. Once we got settled in, I checked the USA2017 blog, and sure enough, we had been at this hotel on December 26, 2017 after leaving Nashville on our way to Oregon. Thank goodness writing this junk is of some use. We would have been driven crazy all night.

Neither of us were at all hungry, so we didn't go to dinner. We just made plans for tomorrow to go to Lexington, Kentucky. 

Day 11 Jackson, Wyoming to Limon, Colorado

 There wasn't much happening today except driving. It was a 600 mile, 9 hour drive from Jackson Hole to Limon Colorado. The drive from Jackson south and then east through Wyoming was beautiful, as was the northern part of Colorado. The drive through Denver and east is awful. Limon is a little town about 60 miles east of Denver on route 70. The only reason we stopped there was the drive was getting boring and I was ready to quit driving. There wasn't much there except truck stops, a few motels, and Oscar's Bar and Grill (oscarsbarandgrille.com). The motel we checked in was fine, barely fine, but fine. Oscar's was another story. It was designed around a Hollywood theme with old famous movies stuff all over. The menu was extensive and the food really good. The tables were made out of old bowling alleys, strange but interesting. The manager at the motel recommended the 5 1/2 hour pot roast and so did the waitress. I wasn't interested in pot roast because there were so many other good things on the menu, but I got it anyhow. It was another lesson relearned - just listen to people! It was the best pot roast I even had and obviously recommend it. Limon turned out to be an excellent stop and I don't think if I drove by again, I'd never pass it by. 

Tomorrow we continue east through Kansas and into Missouri. We might just try to get east of Kansas City, or might just stop for the night in downtown?

Day 10 Jackson Hole

 Hooray, I've now spent at least one night in every state. Today is the final day of our western tour as tomorrow we start back home. We decided to spend the day hanging out in Jackson. I got up early, had breakfast and went for a walk while Sylvia was kind enough to do the last load of laundry. The hotel we're staying at has several nooks and crannies in the parking lot that are nice spots to sit in and enjoy the day. I took advantage of one to write this blog.

Hotel Nook in parking lot

Yesterday we walked the town, today we shopped the town. Yesterday I thought there weren't many souvenir shops, today there were many. You just had to actually go in the stores. One of the many things of interest was Jackson Town Square. It's in the center of town and is one square block and at each of the four corners there's an arch of made of hundreds of elk antlers.

Jackson Square Arch of Elk Antlers

For lunch we didn't exactly do local fare, we had lunch at the Thai Plate. Sylvia had Tom Yum Gai and I had Tom Kha Gai. Both were good and refreshing. Afterwards we walked around a bit more and stopped to checkout a restaurant called Local Restaurant & Bar. We each had a drink, talked to the bartender, and decided to make reservations for the evening. The menu looked like something we should do since we hadn't really done much in the way of local food. After that we went back to the hotel to plan for tomorrow's getaway.

The dinner at the Local Restaurant (localjh.com) was terrific. We had a couple glasses of wine, shared a Buffalo Tartare, Sylvia had Steak Frites, and I had an Elk Chop. Everything couldn't be better. We followed up by splitting a Chocolate Budino which I have never had before, and I can't describe it, but it was good. If I ever got back to Jackson (Hole), that's the first place I would go.

Tomorrow it's time to start home. I think we'll try to get east of Denver without too many lively discussions.

Elk Chop

Steak Frites

Day 9 West Yellowstone, Montana to Jackson, Wyoming

 Today we got an early six o'clock start and drove the 4 blocks from our hotel to the Park. There was no  line at the entrance gate, we showed our National Park Pass and went right in. There was no traffic and it was like we had the park to ourselves. We eventually did see some other cars, but they were far and few between. Along the way we saw some wildlife and had to stop a few times for bison. We stopped and watched a few bison swim across the river and they walked right in front of our car, totally ignoring us. In another incident a herd of 50 or more bison with many calves were walking down the road in front of us and we had to take a pull off road around them. It was a very easy 31 mile drive along the Madison river which was flowing very high and very fast. A fisherman in town had told us that the fishing was tough because the river was running too fast. However, we did see some hardy fly fishermen giving it a try. 

After swimming the river he just ambled past us like we weren't there

I was amazed as we drove through the upper geyser basin. I had no idea there were so many geysers and geothermal features. There was steam and smoke everywhere. I later learned that Yellowstone has the most geysers in the world. It's a pretty special place. 

Geysers everywhere

We arrived at Old Faithful, parked right in front of the visitor center, and walked over to the viewing area to see the Old Faithful do it's thing. When we got there about 20 people were already there and 30 minutes later, when the eruption occurred, there were over 100. There was a bison grazing next to the geyser, but the bison left about 5 minutes before it went off. I guess he sensed it coming. We then went to the cafeteria, gift shop, visitors center, and old hotel. The visitors center was really informative and the old hotel impressive, both need to be visited. I think a night or two in the old hotel would something worth doing. There's so much to see and do.

Sylvia, Bison and Old Faithful

The drive out of the park was about 40 miles and beautiful. We pulled over to take pictures at least a half dozen times. I didn't take one picture that did the scenery any justice. Since the flooding of Yellowstone two weeks ago, the northern part of Yellowstone was closed so we could only drive less than half the park (90 miles). Yellowstone deserves at least 3 days.

After exiting the Park we continued on by the spectacular Tetons mountains. By then I had given up taking pictures, just Google it. We ended up at the Lexington Hotel in Jackson, or Jackson Hole, whatever they call it. It seems to have multiple names. Anyhow, it's a very upscale town with expensive restaurants and upscale art galleries. If you ever wanted a painting of a bison grazing in a field, this is the place to come. Thankfully, there aren't many souvenir and t-shirt shops. We spent a couple of hours wandering around the very walkable town and had lunch at Hatch, a taqueria, and later in the day pizza at Hand Fire Pizza, an old renovated movie theater. Both were fairly good. And I'm tired of writing now. Tomorrow's another day.

I did manage one photo of the Tetons

Tetons

Day 8 Billings to West Yellowstone, Montana

 I can't believe how great the weather's been. The days have been t-shirt warm in the day and sweater cool in the evening. It's perfect for touring Montana and Wyoming. Today's drive was pretty simple, we drove west to Bozeman and then south to West Yellowstone, and it was only 240 miles. When we got to Bozeman, instead of going around the city we decided to go through it check it out. So we went directly through the center of town and down Main St. It's an exceptionally nice downtown and would definitely be worth spending a few days hanging out there, but we had Yellowstone in mind. When we turned south the scenery totally changed. Route 193 is two lanes and runs for 90 miles along the Gallatin river through the Rocky Mountains. The river was running extremally fast and high so it was full of kayakers, rafters, and fishermen. It was a beautiful and fascinating 90 mile drive. 

We arrived in West Yellowstone shortly after noon and checked into a fairly dumpy motel. We were only going to be there for one night, so it didn't really matter too much what the place was like. At least it was clean and in the middle of town. We sort of unpacked and walked around looking for a place to have lunch. There wasn't much of anything that looked special. So for no particular reason we picked Bullwinkles.  We each had a drink and split a Bison and Elk burger. The burger was good and the drink was needed. But best of all we chatted with a guy who was riding his bicycle cross country from Oregon to Virginia and he was taking a day off the bike. He was riding solo but told us he had ridden a few days with a girl he met on the road who too was riding solo but from Seattle to Las Vegas.. They had separated four days ago because she wanted a day off the bike and he wanted to keep going. Amazingly, as we were chatting, that girl walked in. They had planned to meet in Yellowstone and it was really cool to see them so happy to see each other. She was in her 20's and beautiful and he was at least twice her age and not as beautiful (That's solely my opinion). So I don't think there was anything going on other than they got along very well and they both were on a similar missions. Brilliant!

Later in the day I think I walked the whole town twice looking for something of interest. I was totally unsuccessful, but maybe it was just me being goofy. Anyhow, we went back to Bullwinkles for dinner. I had Elk Ravioli and Sylvia had pan fried Walleye which was excellent. We spent a lot of time talking to the bartender about the Park and what to do once we got there. It was some really good information, I'm planning on entering the Park by 7, or whenever Sylvia feels like it.

Sylvia's Walleye

Day 7 Hill City to Billings, Montana

 Today's destination was Billings with a stop over to see Devil's Tower. The drive to Devil's Tower was 120 miles and we took 90 miles of backroads via 385 and 14. They were only two lane roads but the speed limit was 70. There was absolutely no traffic until we got to Deadwood. There was one stretch of 28 miles where we only saw two other vehicles and one was a side by side. Definitely a fun and pretty drive. Devil's Tower pops up in the middle of nowhere and it seems as though geologist's can't agree on how it developed, it was a very special place to the Native Americans, and is recognizable from the Close Encounters movie.

We didn't spend much time there, we still had 270 miles to go to get to Billings, and that was 220 miles of two lane road. The back roads out here are really easier to drive than anything back home, you're always going at least 70 with little traffic and you can see forever. 

The drive into Billings wasn't very impressive, but we checked into a Home 2 Suites and it was pretty comfortable. At 5 o'clock we went to the downtown area which was really pretty cool and very active. We didn't walk around too much because we we hungry and hadn't had much to eat all day. After much deliberation we decided on Walkers (walkersgrill.com). It was the best decision we made all week. We split the Morel Mushrooms, Sylvia had the Wedge Steak Salad, and I had the Apple Brined Pork Shank. It was by far the best meal we've had in a long time. I wish I had taken better pictures, but I was really hungry and it looked great.

Morels

Steak Salad

Pork Shank

Day 6 Hill City to Badlands

 We got up this morning and decided we wanted to stay another day so we could go to see the town of Custer or maybe actually go up to Mount Rushmore. Unfortunately the hotel was booked up for the weekend, so today's the last day in the metropolis of Hill City (Population 862).

The plan for the day was to drive to Badlands National Park and stop off and finally see the town of Wall and Wall Drugs. First of all, we had to decide which entrance we wanted to take to enter the Badlands, and his was no easy task (i.e. lively discussion). Somehow, someone , no one know who, decided on the Northeast entrance and then we would drive the 39 miles through the park and come out at Wall, SD where Wall Drugs is. What a plan, it actually worked out okay. The park was not at all crowded, and we used our National Parks pass, so it was free. I'm not much of a sightseer, but the drive was really very interesting and well worth spending the hour and a half it took to get there. The views were unlike anything I had ever seen before.  It's hard to believe land can be that massively scarred and still be beautiful. Plus we saw Bighorn sheep, Bison, and Prairie dogs. You could take a thousand pictures and not get a true feeling of the sights, nor a sense of the size of the park it's self. The stop at Wall Drugs did nothing but satisfy my curiosity.

Badlands

The hour and a half drive back to the hotel went by fast, maybe because the speed limit is 80.  Once there Sylvia did laundry and I got the car washed. Later we went to dinner at a neat old hotel, the Alpine Inn (alpineinnhillcity.com). It's supposedly the best pace to eat in town. They open at 5 and people start lining up before 4. Well, it was interesting, the menu consisted of no appetizers, two entrees, no side selections, and 23 desserts. The entrees were a 6 or 9 oz Bacon Wrapped Filet Mignons for $14 and $16, and Spaetzle Primavera for $14. We ordered the steaks which came with a baked potato, lettuce wedge, and Texas Toast. There were no other options, that's just how it comes. The steaks were actually good as was everything else. I don't think things get too complicated in the kitchen. We split one of their 23 desserts and that was also good. The place sat 151 people and was packed. We were in and out of there in 45 minutes and as we left people were still lined up waiting to get in. Amazing! 

That was it for the evening as we're going to Billings, Montana tomorrow with a stop to see the Devil's Tower.

Alpine Inn Entertainment

Day 5 Fargo, North Dakota to Hill City, South Dakota

 We got up early to get started on another long day of driving. We left Fargo and drove west to Bismarck then headed due south right through the middle of North and South Dakota. It was an amazing drive through absolutely nothing except rolling prairie and cows. No cars, few if any houses, no phone connections, no nothing for at least 300 miles, and it was interestingly beautiful. You could see prairie for forever, and could drive for miles without seeing another vehicle. The whole drive was over 500 miles and were lucky we got gas before we left because it was more than a hundred miles between gas stations, and the ones we saw were like you'd see in a 1940's movie.

Dakota Drive

Our destination was Hill City in the Black Hills about 40 miles southwest of Rapid City. On the way we drove through Sturgis and Keystone where, at the recommendation of a friend, suggested that we turn off on to Cemetery road until it turns to dirt, then up the hill to the top of the cemetery where you can see Mount Rushmore. It was pretty neat and we didn't have to fight the crowds.  We arrived in Hill City midafternoon and drove through town which is maybe 5 blocks long before checking in our hotel, which fortunately had our reservation. 

After walking around the very touristy town checking out the t-shirt and trinket shops we stopped and had a refreshment at the Mangy Moose Saloon where we chatted with a couple from Iowa who brought their side by side along and had spent a week driving it around the Black Hills. I suppose it's the thing to do because we must have seen a hundred muddy side by sides driving around town. Anyhow, we ended up walking over to Mangiamo Wood Fired Pizza and had a pizza and a Caprese plate. Both were okay, but the waitress was fabulous. Her name was Lauren and she was a college student from Sioux Falls working here for the summer. She chatted with us for a relatively long time and gave us a detailed hand written note on where to go and what to do in each place. Everybody we've talked to on this trip has been so nice, but she was more than that.

Afterwards we went back to the hotel and called it a day. Tomorrow we're thinking of driving the Badlands. It's an hour and a half away, but everyone says it's something we should really do.

Lauren's Note

Day 4 Fargo, ND

 It sure was nice just getting up in the morning and not have to drive somewhere. Around 8 o'clock I walked up the street to BernBaum's (bernbaums.com) for breakfast. For some reason I didn't expect a Jewish deli to be in Fargo, but it was and I enjoyed the Shakshuka and got a bagel to take back to Sylvia.

Later in the morning we walked up to Plains Art Museum and wandered around there for an hour before going to Pound's, a small restaurant recommended by Manny, the hotel clerk who's been providing us with extensive culinary information about Fargo, and he's been spot on. Anyhow, we split a club sandwich that was unlike any I've ever had. That, and a beer made for a very good lunch. Feeling satisfied we walked down to the river and stopped at Sidestreet Grill and Pub. I had just one of their 50 draft beers before going to the hotel to figure out tomorrow's destination and make a hotel reservation.

Fargo city center

In the evening we figured out tomorrow's destinations. Turns out we made two reservations, one in Sioux City and one in Hill City at the opposite end of the state. There seems as though there was a mix-up at our end. I'm not allowed to say who goofed up, so I won't say her name. Neither were cancelable, so we decided to go to Hill City near Mount Rushmore. It's another 8 hour drive, but wtf. 

We skipped drinks and dinner, we had enough food and drink for the day. Fargo is really nice city and I would totally recommend it to anyone.

Day 3 Eau Claire to Fargo, North Dakota

 Left Eau Claire this morning for a relatively short 5 hour drive to Fargo. It was a beautiful cloudless day and perfect for seeing the countryside of Wisconsin and Minnesota. The 250 mile drive through Minnesota was amazing. Minnesota's moniker of "Land of 10,000 Lakes" is for sure an understatement.  It seems as though I saw more than that just on the drive up route 94, but that's probably an overstatement. Back in the early 70's I spent 3 months in Minneapolis and I knew there were some lakes, but I never thought there were actually 10,000 lakes. Beautiful!

We arrived in Fargo early afternoon and checked in the Jasper Hotel (jasperfargo.com/). The location is perfect as it's in the dead center of town. The rooms were very nice, modern, and somewhat less than $200 a night. We had a corner room on the 9th floor with a great view.

Our room at the Jasper

It didn't take long to unpack before we did a walkaround town and were amazed by the difference between what we thought Fargo would be and what it actually was. First of all, it's the largest city in North Dakota (125,000) , a young extremally vibrant population, many unique eating establishments, a well preserved downtown with a mix of modern and older well preserved buildings, and sits on the waterfront of the Red river. So after scoping out some of the town we stopped for a libation at the Wurst Bier Hall (wurstfargo.com). They had a huge selection of beers and an interesting noshing menu. An order of potato and onion perogies with a sriracha butter sauce and a bacon flight of four different bacons was just what was needed to take the edge off. Maybe the beers and wine helped too.

Wurst Bier Hall Snack

After the refreshments we walked around town some more, Sylvia went one way and I went another (conversations were getting a little lively). I enjoyed the walk and there's a lot of shops worth exploring, but the highlight of my walk was the bike shop. It was the biggest bike shop I'd ever seen and was in a beautiful old train station. I didn't buy anything, but sure was nice place to hangout.

In the evening we decided to go to the Beer and Fish Company (beerandfishcompany.com). It's a relatively new place in an actual alley (Roberts alley). It was a really cool place with a great selection of fish. I had halibut and walleye, and Sylvia had all walleye. It was excellent and neither of us could eat it all. We took it back to the room and it shall be my breakfast, unless I finish it later tonight.

Beer and Fish Company

That's about it. We're spending another day in Fargo and I have no idea what we're doing. I'm just glad I'm not driving.

Day 2 Dayton, Ohio to Eau Claire, Wisconsin

 We left Dayton this morning for a 10 hour drive to Eau Claire, Wisconsin. The day was beautiful and the drive was uneventful and from time to time scenic. We checked into the Oxbow Hotel (www.theoxbowhotel.com) around four and immediately went for a walk around downtown. It was 95 degrees so it wasn't a long walk, but the little we saw was still impressive. It's a charming smallish city that sits on the junction of the Eau Claire and Chippewa rivers, both of which are rather picturesque with 11 bridges crossing them in the downtown area. Also, there's a lot of new construction going on downtown that fits in well with the older architecture. Definitely a nice place to live.

We skipped lunch and were hungry, so we decided on the District Pub and Grill just a few blocks across the river from the hotel. Since we were in Wisconsin we had to get the Cheese Curds that seem to be served in every restaurant in the state. They were interesting and good. We both had sandwiches and they were very good too. They had 30 beers on tap and one of the more interesting was the Liberal Tears. Of course I had one! And a few others too.

It had been a long day so we went back to the hotel and called it quits for the day. We had only planned to stay here one night, but for sure we would have liked to spend a few more. It's definitely a town worth exploring for a few days.

Tomorrow it's off to Fargo, North Dakota. It's only a 5 hour drive, so that's not too bad. We might even spend two days there.

Liberal Tears Beer Tap

 

Day 1, Home to Dayton Ohio

 We finally decided to complete a trip around the United States by visiting the last four states that we have not spent the night nor have had a drink in. Those states are Montana, Wyoming, and North and South Dakota. Sylvia has not been to Hawaii, but that's another issue, and that issue is not in my favor. We have not exactly planned this trip in the utmost detail, in fact we never got much beyond going to Dayton and maybe figuring out the next day or two once we got there. Well, we got there and it was a relatively nice 8 hour drive through Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio.

We checked into a regular blah chain hotel and immediately headed downtown to checkout the real Dayton. We were not expecting much since it was a late Sunday afternoon and everything was pretty quiet. The drive down town evolved into a lively discussion between Sylvia and I, but we did get there and I was mostly wrong (of course). First of all, Dayton streets are not exactly horizonal and vertical streets and avenues. There is no way anyone new to Dayton could navigate around the city by the seat of their pants, at least I couldn't. Anyway, we eventually found our way to 5th street in the older part of Dayton called the Oregon District.. It was permanently blocked off for walking, shopping, and drinking, and of course my reaction was "What a great place", so many varied pubs, coffee shops, restaurants, knick-knack shops, etc. We walked around for awhile and finally decided to eat, or maybe it was to drink?  Not being up for a major meal we settled on Lucky's Taproom and Eatery. It didn't look much different than any other joint on 5th, and it probably wasn't, but what a score! There's nothing more comfortable than a little local pub like this with young people, old people, families, and a bunch of regulars just enjoying a beautiful and sunny day in a dark and dingy pub. Hah! how great is that! Even though the food was more than good, the atmosphere and the people there added so much more.

So, tomorrow it's off towards the last of the unvisited states. We're thinking of landing in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. At least Sylvia just made a reservation there, so that's the goal - for the time being.