NASHVILLE. That was my next stop. Leaving Pigeon Forge, of course, it was a beautiful day out. Could have used that weather the day before on my hike! (Sidenote: my legs hurt for a week from that damn hike....) Can I say how much I love that city? I only spent two nights there, but I could have spent a week. I just really enjoy the whole scene downtown - all the honky tonks, live music, nice people. The first night I was there, it was Super Bowl Sunday. I don't like football, but I still wanted to watch the game - for the commercials and half-time show. Of course, I picked the one bar downtown that wasn't non smoking. Not cool. Also while in Nashville, I did the tour of the Ryman Auditorium - which is the original home of the Grand Ole Opry. I also went to the Country Music Hall of Fame. I really enjoyed it last time I went and a few of the exhibits had changed. And all I've really been listening to during this trip is my country music playlist. It's good driving music!
After Nashville I made the long drive out to my aunt's house in Alliance, Nebraska. Mostly boring ride but I did stop in St. Louis for lunch at Schlafly Brewing and to take some pictures of the Gateway Arch. I made it as far as Rockport, Missouri that night. The next day, I pressed on. Route 80 is the worst. Nothing to look at, flat and just horrible. So to mix it up, I took a little pit stop at the Pioneer Village in Minden, Nebraska. It's basically an entire replicated village from the beginning of the century. And every building has artifacts and stuff galore. It's a picker's paradise! A hoarder's dream come true!
I decided to ignore Serena's (my GPS) warning and took a nice backroad to Alliance - Route 26. It brought me up and down these beautiful hills, saw some deer and drove through a few towns that had less than 100 people inhabiting them. All during a nice sunset.
I ended up spending close to a week in Alliance. I managed to do a lot of relaxing, and mainly because the minute I pulled into town, I got sick. Nothing crazy, just annoying. The first full day I was there, I ended up sleeping 8 hours that night, then a 4 hour Benadryl induced coma and then 10 hours of sleep that night. Guess I needed my rest! During my time there, my aunt took me on a trip up to Devil's Tower in Wyoming. One of the coolest things I've ever seen.
We spent the night in Rapid City, South Dakota and then next morning went east a little way to Wall, South Dakota and then the Badlands. I love the Badlands. They're beautiful. Saw a lot of different wildlife - tons of antelope and deer, some buffalo, one poor little mountain goat and my favorite - PRAIRIE DOGS! They're just the cutest little rodents - even if they do carry the plague...
I really enjoyed my time in Alliance with my aunt, the cat Gaby and the dog Gertrude. I wish I could have stayed longer, but it was time to get back on the road. Hopefully the next time I visit won't be too far off in the future!
So, yesterday I left Nebraska and headed south to Fort Collins, Colorado. Never been to Colorado before except the airport, but that doesn't count. I had big plans on visiting a few breweries so that's what I did! New Belgium was up first. GREAT tour. Highly recommended. You sample 6 beers during the tour and then can purchase more samples for only a $1.50. We don't get New Belgium in Mass. so I really thought it was fun. After that, I headed down the street to Odell - another beer we don't get on the East Coast. Another good tour, and I enjoyed some samples afterwards that I'll probably never get to try again. After that, I drove a half hour south to Longport to go to the Left Hand Tap Room. This is a beer that we get out east. Good stuff. Found a hotel right there in town and was passed out by 10:30!
Today I ended up in Denver, even though my original plan was to press on towards Oregon. Oh well. Plans changed. I figured since I was so close to the city, it'd be kind of dumb to not drive down and do a tour of Coors Field - home of the Colorado Rockies, and the ballpark the Red Sox won the 2007 World Series in! Great facility. Even better was that there was only 4 people on the tour. I can't wait for baseball season to start!
Now since I changed the schedule up a little bit, might as well keep changing it! I knew that I would make a stop in Salt Lake City, but now I'm thinking that tomorrow I will spend TWO nights in Park City. I really want to check out the Olympic Village and watch some athletes train. But first, I apparently have a 6 hour ride ahead of me in the morning. Today I took Route 40 through the middle of Colorado. It was a beautiful ride through the Colorado Rockies, over a couple of the Passes. Thankfully the weather has been cooperating because I could see how that ride wouldn't be fun. Hoping for blue skies tomorrow!
THERE. DONE. I think....Did I leave anything out? Basically, in a nutshell, I'm having a blast doing this trip. Didn't think the second time around could be just as fun. But it is, and I'm thankful that I get to do this.
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