Western Nebraska & Denver, CO!
After leaving Pierre, SD we were on the road once again. Denver was too far to make it in one day so we decided to overnight in North Platte, NE. We didn’t expect much from the day drive but it turned out to be much better than expected. Going south on Highway 83 from Pierre the terrain started out as huge rolling hills with ranch’s that supported cattle & horses. We drove through almost desert like conditions on top of the hills then down into valleys with streams and rivers that were lush covered in big trees and bright green grass and flowers. Once we were south of I-90 the terrain changed to what we had expected for the middle of the country with huge fields of corn, lettuce and massive sunflower fields.
Once we crossed into Nebraska (our 19th state/province!) the scenery changed again. We had expected the normal cornfields that you would think that you would see in the Cornhusker state but to our surprise none were to be found in northwest Nebraska. We had entered their sand hill region. Sand Hills are basically 20 to 50 high foot sand dunes that have a light grass covering. From time to time we would see a farm field but for about 100 miles or so from the South Dakota border almost to I-80 we just passed sand hill after sand hill. It was pretty neat since we were just expecting to see corn. Eventually we made our way to North Platte, which is a small city right on I-80 which we would be taking the next day to Denver. As it looked like it was about to storm when we pulled in we opted to eat out at an Applebee’s that was next to the campground. Applebee’s doesn’t have the best food of a chain restaurant but it was a good way for us to check out what the locals look like. No rain on us and a glance at local life was a win-win for us. After our meal we retired back to our campground for the night.
The next morning we woke up ready to see our first major city since Winnipeg. It was another all day drive but at least this time we were on a major highway so there would not be too much stop and go. After a few hours of heading west in Nebraska we crossed over into Colorado. We stopped at the state line information center picking up a few brochures of things that looked like they would be fun before continuing on towards Denver. As we continued on Julie grew a bit frustrated as she expected to see mountains right away after crossing into the state. I explained that the mountains were only on the western side of the state and that the entire eastern part of the state was still flat prairie land. She finally understood but didn’t like it as for hours we passed over big rolling hills of brown grass and small ranching communities. Finally though we entered the eastern Denver suburbs and got our first glimpse of the foothills of the Rockies. The foothills of the Rockies on the western side of the city are pretty big. To an east coaster they look like mountains themselves but these foothills are just the appetizer for the actual Rocky Mountains behind them. The actual mountains would have to wait however as our first few days were to be spent in the city of Denver itself.
We had reserved a spot in an RV park in Golden, which is just to the west of Denver in the foothills. It was around 5pm when we pulled in and we wanted to see what Golden had to offer. We were finally in a town with Uber so we booked one and we were off to the little downtown. For being one of the outer suburban towns Golden was pretty neat. They bill themselves as “Golden – Where the West Lives” and really try to play the wild west role in Denver. We wandered around downtown before stepping into a Mexican Cantina that the Uber driver had recommended. After a few happy hour margaritas and some dinner we thought that we had a pretty good day and it was time to get back to Bubbles for the night.
The next morning we woke up and were excited to go explore Denver. We decided to Uber again so we could enjoy the city without having to worry about parking so after ordering one we were on the road again and were dropped off at the Colorado State Capital building in downtown Denver. This capital building was huge. It reminded us a lot of the capital building in Minnesota although in the middle of the city instead off to the side. We took a guided tour, which took you from floor to floor going up until you reached the dome at the top. This was the first time that we really felt the Colorado altitude. Walking up the last flights of stairs we were huffing and puffing not yet used to being up so high. We then walked back through the capital building having lunch that we brought in the little park in front of the building. As we sat there we noticed across the street was a food truck festival in another park. As we had only brought sandwiches to eat we decided lunch 2.0 was needed. After walking through the food trucks we decided on a bbq truck getting pulled pork tacos. We split 2 of them on some steps while listening to a guy belt out some tunes on a guitar. The atmosphere of the place was really great
Next up for the day we walked down the 16th street mall, which goes through most of the central downtown area of Denver. It’s a pretty neat street as its set up as sidewalk-bus lane- park- bus lane – sidewalk. The bus’s that go up and down the street are free as well so you can hop on and off as you wish. This street goes on for quite a while and has everything that you would want. There was everything from restaurants & bars to clothing shops & Colorado souvenir stores. From there we stopped at a German Restaurant/Bar called the Rhein Haus, which had free bocce ball inside. It was mid-afternoon so we were able to play bocce and have a waiter for as long as we wanted. After a few games we decided to continue and checked out Union Station. This is still an actual working Amtrak train station however most of it now is taken over by an upscale hotel and restaurants. It was still cool to see that you could take a train from Denver to Chicago or Los Angeles. Lastly on our Day 1 tour of Denver we stopped by the Rockies baseball stadium and picked up tickets for a Rockies game in a few days before heading a few blocks over to Great Divide brewery. It just started to rain by the time we got there and it wasn’t that big of a place so we made quick friends as we had a few beers while we waited for the rain to subside. As we had had quite the day we called an Uber and rode back to the RV Park for the night.
The next morning we woke up ready to go. First up for the day was a tour of the Denver Mint. We called an Uber and before we knew it we were standing in front of the Mint. Unfortunately for us we did not do any research ahead of time and found out that it was closed on Fridays. Nonetheless we still had a good day ahead of us. We walked from the Mint back to the 16th street mall having our packed lunch at a city run beer garden in the middle of the city. Next up for the day was something that both of us were really looking forward to. The previous night we had booked a bike beer tour of Denver. We headed over to the starting point, which was a bike shop and got fitted up. Our group consisted of a mother & daughter from California, a Father & 2 son’s from Oregon, our tour guide, a tour guide in training and Julie & I. The tour started going through Denver’s bike/walking path that runs next to a stream that cuts through downtown. This is lower than most of the city roads so we were by ourselves next to a small stream going under bridges. It was really cool. The tour took us to 4 of Denver’s breweries, Prost Brewing Company, Denver Beer Co, Wynkoop Brewing Co and Lowdown Brewery before finishing back at the bike shop. It was a lot of fun as we tried lots of beer and made some great new friends. The tour was called Denver Bike and Brews and we highly recommend people try it out if they like beer or biking and are in Denver. After the biking (and maybe the beer) we were both pretty tired and decided to call it a day. We called and Uber and went back to the RV Park for the night.
Next up…… We tour Central & Northern Colorado!
