2008 - Saturday, July 19

MEM-DEN
Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming
July 12 - July 19, 2008

• Made it back to Denver and checked into the Hampton Inn downtown. We got settled then made our way to the Denver Art Museum. The museum is home to a very large collection of Native American artwork, and has a collection of about 68,000 pieces.
• After the museum, we headed to the Great Divide Brewery, had several beers and took a tour of the brewery. Sufficiently tipsy, we walked down to Coors Field for a Rockies game. After the game we walked (stumbled?) toward the hotel, hit up bar or two and ended up back at the hotel. Somehow. No one knows, and it is a mystery to this day, one that haunts the citizens of Denver.
• The next day, seeing that we had survived the evening, we were proud of ourselves. And then left for the airport to go back to Memphis.

2008 - Friday, July 18

MEM-DEN
Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming
July 12 - July 19, 2008

• Was very cold last night - mid to low 40s. We were up around 7 AM and headed back into the park. We hiked the Fern Lake Trail, about 4 miles. Very scenic hike along rushing stream.
• Went to the Moraine Park Museum which schooled us on glaciers and moraines. Back through Estes Park to Estes Park Brewery for a tour, but they didn't have tours, so it was just for a bite (and a beer of course). We tried some samples and walked over to a miniature golf course next door. Brad won by a couple strokes (he calls it a slaughter).
• Took Hwy 7 south to find camping - the first 3 places were full. Woman at the Pawnee Recreation Area told us we could camp off-road in Roosevelt National Forest, but we would be "roughing it". This is after we offended her by saying we didn't want to be near old people or RVs (she presumably belonged to the latter group, certainly to the former). We found a really nice, secluded spot about 1/4 mile down a (very) primitive dirt/rocky road. Tons of HUGE mosquitos, but they are less annoying than screaming children.
• Tried to use the rest of the food and beer (tomorrow headed to Denver). Dinner consisted of chicken drumsticks, beans and grilled corn. BOD: Estes Park Pale Ale, Red, Raspberry Wheat; Bud Light, and misc remaining beers
• Mileage: 1779 total/60 today.

2008 - Thursday, July 17

MEM-DEN
Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming
July 12 - July 19, 2008

• Departed camp around 10:30 via Hwy 230 toward Colorado. Stopped in Walden, CO for lunch, which was pretty shitty. Within 10 minutes of leaving town, we FINALLY saw a MOOSE! This was the first moose we had seen on any of our vacations, and to be able to finally know that they weren't really a myth was priceless. Unfortunately the camera was in the console, and the thing took off, like it had something to hide (hello, sasquatch). But it did look like all the other meese we'd seen in photos, so...
• Went to Stanley, CO and entered Rocky Mountain National Park from the west. It was a really pretty drive, but no wildlife. HUGE mountains!! Did a one mile hike at the top of one peak through tundra. All the campgrounds in the park were full so we drove through the park and on to Long's Peak campground. By far, the crappiest spot this whole trip (perhaps ever?), but we were pretty tired anyway. It started raining as soon as we put up the tent and didn't appear to be stopping any time soon, so we drove back to Estes Park (~ 9 miles away) to eat. Ended up dining at a pizzeria (salad bar!).
• Back at camp, and we were in bed by 8:30 (sad).
• Elevation here is about 10,000 feet. Neither of us drank anything all day (!!!) so there was no BOD. This could be another first.
• Mileage: 1719 total/231 today

2008 - Wednesday, July 16

MEM-DEN
Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming
July 12 - July 19, 2008

• Got up and ate the "continental breakfast" at the Showboat Motel. It was the kind of breakfast setup that would most likely house families of cockroaches. We ended up leaving Casper around 9:30.
• Drove south through the Shirley Mountains and stopped in Hanna, WY to check out a museum. We ate lunch at Hanna's Wild Wonder Cafè. Both of us had the Janet chicken sandwich. The museum was actually closed so we headed south toward Medicine Bow National Forest.
• We stopped in Saratoga, a nice little western town. We bought a few things at a couple gift shops and walked around the town a bit. On the way out of town, we stopped at the NFS office for camping ideas. We were told to head south to Encampment, WY.
• We passed through the suggested campground and went farther into the Sierra Madre Mountains. There was a very secluded campground that we found called Lost Creek, where we set up camp. Elevation here is 9,ooo feet. There was snow on the side of the roads. There was lots of firewood in the campground due to a beetle infestation (the forest service had to cut them down).
• BOD: Grand Teton IPA (Jackson Hole) and New Belgium Brewing Co Abbey Ale (Ft Collins), PBR
• Mileage: 1488 total/238 today.

2008 - Tuesday, July 15

MEM-DEN
Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming
July 12 - July 19, 2008

• Departed camp around 10 AM and headed north on 14 - very scenic drive up to I-9o.
• Made our way to Devils Tower in northeast Wyoming. It's essentially a giant pillar of a rock, rising about 1200 feet off the ground. Sioux Indian folklore tells of a group of girls chased by bears. The Great Spirit felt sorry for them and raised the ground under them, saving their lives. The bears scratched at the side of the tower, creating the vertical marks on the side. Ate lunch here, which consisted of leftover chicken shoved into wraps.
• Heading back on I-90, Nick got pulled over by the Wyoming state highway patrol going 88 in a 75. Shady cop took the ticket payment in cash, after following us to an ATM up the highway.
• Took highway 50 south but turned the wrong way and ended up back on 59. Drove to Douglas, then on to Casper. We thought it would be a cool western town, but no, not so much. Downtown wasn't so bad, but there weren't any hotels. We found the LAST hotel. room in the city at the Showboat National 9 Motel - the sort of place of you would find a dead hooker - all for just $95 a night.
• Dinner: some brewery/pub downtown Casper. Our waitress was fun and chatty. She told us all about Mormon crickets and prairie dogs.
• BOD: wheat and pale ales from the brewery (they were so-so).
• Mileage: 1250 total/377 today

2008 - Monday, July 14

MEM-DEN
Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming
July 12 - July 19, 2008

• Departed camp around 8:30 and drove to Mt Rushmore, outside Keystone. We were in and out within 30 minutes, but it was already very full of tourists. We explored the interpretive center, and looked at the monument, and that was the extent of the visit. It was impressive, but less so than either of us expected. It seemed smaller, less grand than we had envisioned. In fact, the nearby Crazy Horse Memorial was massive in size in comparison to Rushmore.
• After Rushmore, we drove to Sitting Bull Crystal Caverns - home to the world's largest intact collection of dogtooth spar crystals. We were with a small group led by a young, fairly knowledgeable guide who took us through part of the cave and its extensive passages, explaining some of the underground formations and the science behind their creation. About 45 minutes later, we emerged from underground and made our way back to the highway.
• We stopped at a Ruby Tuesday's in Rapid City, the second-largest city in SD (at ~60,000 people). Had a shitty quesadilla and a couple salads, all for the low, low price of $30!
  
• We then made the trek to the Badlands from there. Badlands National Park is pretty cool - it reminded us quite a bit of Bryce Canyon National Park (click link for 2007 entry). It was HOT! Temps were in the 90s. We wanted to camp here, but there was nothing - just desert and RVs. And no fires were allowed, even in the limited amount of campspace available at the park. We don't tend to enjoy camping at a national park anyway, so we returned west via I-90, which is the longest interstate in the country.
• After driving (and driving) we found a place to camp back in the Black Hills at Roubaix Lake, about 15 miles outside of Deadwood. We were the only campers in this area of the national forest, but camping was the most expensive we've experienced so far, at $19/night. It's fairly quiet and peaceful here.
• Filled up gas tank in Rapid City for $75 (at just $3.99/gallon!). BOD: Breckenridge Amber, Boulevard Wheat (KS City), and PBR. Dinner: BBQ chicken, with grilled potatoes and onions. Mileage: 873 total/309 today.

2008 - Sunday, July 13

MEM-DEN
Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming
July 12 - July 19, 2008

• Got up around 8, left Crawford, Nebraska by 9 AM or so. Drove to South Dakota via US 385 through Buffalo Gap National Grassland. Stopped at Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, SD. It's essentially a museum dedicated to...mammoths, which were very common in this area of the country a couple years ago. Refueled for $90 and went to Custer, SD. Had lunch and Dairy Queen (blizzards!)
• Went to Wind Cave before going into Custer but decided to tour Jewel Cave instead. After leaving Custer, we drove to the Crazy Horse Memorial. We did not, however, agree with paying the gate attendant $20 to enter the parking lot, so we drove over all the cars with our tank, AKA Chevy Suburban. No, we did not do that. We simply took a few pictures from where we were and left.
• Stopped at Jewel Cave, but the tour we wanted was not starting for another hour and a half or so. Decided to begin the hunt for camping instead. Drove through Black Hills National Forest and got a bit turned around - a couple ATV riders helped us find our way through the forest...there are very extensive dirt roads that are pretty confusing, even (especially?) with a map.
• After finding, then rejecting a few campgrounds in the forest, we decided on Custer Trail campground, on Deerfield Lake (elev 5,700 ft). Camping = $12. There were lots of boaters, but by 7 PM or so the place cleared out
• Dinner: Chicken sausage and corn. BOD: Moose Drool (a favorite each year) and PBR. Mileage: 564 total/190 today

2008 - Sat, July 12

MEM-DEN
Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming
July 12 - July 19, 2008

• Arrived in Denver around 10 AM and picked up the rental "car". No compacts were available (think 2008 = insane gas prices) so the rental car company gave us the next best thing they had - a MASSIVE Chevy Suburban. They agreed to provide us with a tank of gas...which we would soon learn was very valuable.
• Hit up the Super Target in Brighton, CO outside of Denver for supplies - once again, we forgot to bring the cooking/grilling grate...and then forgot to get one at Target. So we stopped at a Wal-Mart (gasp!) in Sterling. This town seems to be a meth-town with lots of, shall we say, mouth-breathers. Ate at Arby's (anything will do at this point). Beer was secured at Nick's Liquors.
• Everything ready to go, we finally hit the (wide) open road. Got into Nebraska via Hwy 113 to 385 - it's the Gold Rush Scenic Byway north through the NE panhandle to the northwest corner of the state. After a bit of driving through the rolling Nebraska hills. YES! there are hills in this state. On through to Oglala National Grasslands to Toadstool National Geologic Park to camp for the night, but there was no firewood and there were people there. The scenery there was pretty odd - lots of sandstone and rock formations. Click the link for more info.
  
• We drove a bit more and then went a couple miles out of the way to go to a place called Carhenge. Carhenge is a car monument, replicating Stonehenge, built in 1987. Bizarre thing to find in the middle of the prairie, for sure (see satellite map). Other sculptures have been erected since, including dinosaurs and giant salmon.
• Continuing on our way, a woman at a gas station outside the N.G. recommends Soldier Creek National Wilderness Refuge, which we promptly found (in Nebraska National Forest - YES! there is forest in NE) and claimed a great camping spot in the middle of...well, nowhere.
• We discovered that this land was clearly used for cattle at one time. We explored some cattle pens, which we referred to as "Cowschwitz". We thought this was the funniest thing...at least all week. (Nick is allowed to say this due to his ethnicity). The cows were led up ramps, into cattle trucks, never to be heard from again. And no one said anything.
• Beer of the Day (BOD): New Belgium Skinny Dip Ale, *Odell 5-Barrel Pale, and PBR
• Mileage: 373

2004

CLT-SLC

Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming

We flew from Charlotte, NC into Salt Lake City. After shopping for some supplies and gear (like a grate for cooking over fires), we took off in the rental car (a little red Hyundai Accent) via Interstate 15N. Driving through the southern Idaho desert, we came across signs for a place called City of Rocks, a US National Reserve. This was where we stayed the night. We were able to look out at the scenery right at the entrance to the reserve. The place was an amazing collection of jagged rocks, massive boulders and huge cliff faces. The reserve is popular with rock climbers, but as we passed through the camping area, we realized that we were the only people there. Watching the sun set on the cliff in front of our tent was by far the best part of the night. Oh, yeah - camping was free!

After leaving City of Rocks, we drove through a few small towns like Pocatello and Arco, site of the Idaho National Laboratory. Stopped at Craters of the Moon National Monument an

d Preserve, an expanse of lava rocks stretching through about 400 sq miles. Did some hiking, went through a small underground cavern created by flowing lava, then took off for Harriman

State Park, where we stayed the night. Hiked through the forest and arrived at some pretty incredible water falls.

The next day, we drove into Montana and went to the town of Butte. We hadn't really heard much about Butte, and probably for a good reason...there was nothing there. Butte was an old

mining town and it was clear just driving through that its heyday was long past - so that is what we did...passed through and continued on to Bozeman, where we set up camp...in a hotel. Brad was in need of a shower. After walking around the downtown area for a while, we drove outside the city a bit and went for a pretty strenuous hike up a large mountain and ate a lunch we had packed at the lake at the top of the mountain. Ate dinner at some chain restaurant where we were served by a nice (but Republican) college student.

Off to Yellowstone National Park! We spent two nights camping outside of Yellowstone.

Driving through the park is an experience - we saw sulfur pits, hot springs, forest (including parts of the park damaged by fire), lakes, rivers, waterfall all in the course of a day's worth of driving in the park. Animals: elk, deer, eagle, fox, lots of buffalo...and of course, Old Faithful. Leaving the park, we drove

south through Grand Teton National Park. The mountain range was pretty incredible - Grand Teton Mountain reaches more than 13,000 feet into the sky and the entire Teton range is more than 40 miles in length.

That afternoon, we were driving through the desolation that is the state of Wyoming and in the process of discussing where to camp, Brad must have been a bit distracted and sped past a state trooper. Needless to say, there isn't too much for those guys to do, so he had some extra time to pull us over. After issuing Brad a citation, we inquired about a good camping spot for the night and pulled out a map. With shaking hands (seriously), the trooper pointed to a place on the map not far away that was on a lake. He said it was a pretty cool place. We left him to gather his nerves and calm himself, and headed to Bear Lake. Once we arrived, we were glad we followed his advice. Camping right on the lake - which was a body of crystal clear water. If it wasn't for the temperature and the mountains around us, it would be easy to imagine that the water was actually in the Caribbean. We had a great time.

The next day we drove the rest of the way to Salt Lake City and had lunch at a brewpub and lounged in a park downtown for a while before heading to the airport and real life back in Charlotte.