At the top of any NFL fan’s bucket list must be a visit to Lambeau Field. We watched the Packers trounce our division rival Redskins, and it was awesome!
September 15, 2013 (Sunday) – We went to asleep around 1 am last night and the alarm rang at 5:45 am. Though we had put Kenny’s signature dry rub on the wings last night, preparations still had to be made, the game started at noon local time, it is a three hour drive, and we could not be rushed through our tailgating. My dad’s old Subaru Outback was passed on to Kenny to take to business school, and we added a little to its 153k miles. It poured rain for much of the drive.
The parking lot at Lambeau is perennially sold out to season ticket holders, but the theory of supply and demand proved true yet again. Commercial lots and homeowners all around the stadium sell parking spots in their driveways and on their lawns. Oneida Street is the main drag, we parked in someone’s back yard on Stadium Drive and it seems $20 is the going rate near the stadium. Our host even had a Porta-Potty on his front lawn.
The hatchback provided workspace and some shelter from the rain. Kenny worked up the Bloody Marys while I cut some onions and peppers that we had bought yesterday at the Madison farmer’s market along with the brats. We sautéed the veggies in butter on our backpacking stove.
A friendly family parked across the lawn had a more comprehensive set up and invited us under their shelter. Barry, Zach, Lauren and Lee stepped up for us, and further supported my belief that Wisconsinites are friendly folk. They chaperoned our three tailgater brats on their stand up grill and we ate those with pretzel buns and German mustard, both from Whole Foods. Delicious. The wings we had were actually all drumettes which we cooked on our portable Weber propane grill while we heated the Frank’s hot sauce and butter in our pan on their grill. We tossed the wings in the sauce and ate them with a thick, high quality blue cheese and they were outstanding. A nibble of brownie for dessert and we were satiated.
After a couple stiff Bloody Marys and some Bud Lights, the rain stopped and we made the three minute walk to Lambeau Field just in time for the first play. Kenny had secured Section 135, row 130, seats 4-6 at $220/each. That is pricey, but it could have been worse for very good seats at the home opener.
At this juncture, it was not clear (at least to me) who was driving home. I stood up to buy a round and asked Jenni and Kenny what they wanted. Kenny said “water.” He cracked the door and I plowed through it. The beers flowed nicely, the game was a crowd-pleaser and we saw at least four Lambeau Leaps. Kenny sat next to a very large woman and this was amusing.
Lambeau is a wonderful stadium with classy fans. They clapped always when an injured opponent stood up. I think if I had to wear the opposing team’s jersey to any stadium, it might be Lambeau. I think that many fans equally relish the game itself and the opportunity it offers for debauchery, and I submit that many favor the latter. But here one senses that football is religion. These fans are not at Lambeau to get hammered, they are there to worship at the temple of football.
Here I must give major proppers to Jenni. She was adamant about getting a cheesehead at the game, going so far as to demand it. When you spend $440 on two tickets to a football game and instead of asking for shoes or a handbag your wife asks for a $20 cheesehead…well, you have a cool wife.
Starving
As the game went on, the sun emerged and all were happy. Well, I was ecstatic and I think my companions had a good time when they were not babysitting. When we returned to the car we again fired up the stove and grill and made bacon jalapeño brats with more onions and peppers. If there ever were a time that I would knock over sautéing onions and peppers leading to an open flame in the back of a wagon, today would probably have been it. Theoretically.
Kenny stepped up big and drove both ways, and I got to check off a great item on the bucket list.
As I am still too far behind on the blog and spent a lot of time covering Madison, I am going to write this very quickly…
September 14, 2013 (Saturday, cont’d) – Wisconsin is sparsely populated for a while east of Madison. Jenni’s close friend Emily grew up in Milwaukee and it is on the way to Chicago so we decided to spend a few hours there seeing her childhood home and getting a wonderful tour from Emily’s gracious mother. They live in the Story Hill neighborhood right next to Miller Park, and the area reminded me some of where my mom’s parents lived in Queens.
There is undeniable evidence of urban decay in Milwaukee as the manufacturing base eroded, but overall it was nicer than I expected with some very impressive architecture. We passed the Miller building, a big Harley plant, and the old Pabst brewery before parking near the county courthouse. This building would hold its own in Washington D.C. or St. Petersburg. In front is MacArthur Square and there is a statue of General Douglas. I learned that his father was also a General and his grandfather was a judge, and all were Milwaukee residents.
Milwaukee county court
We crossed the Milwaukee River which has a river walk and saw the Northern Trust bank building, the Marshall building and some nice churches. I think Northwestern Mutual is based here, too. The Milwaukee Art Museum is on Lake Michigan and has an addition designed by Santiago Calatrava. We parked at McKinley Marina on the lake where there is a kite store, bike and skate rentals etc. There is a huge park here and I am told a very big summer festival each year. Between the lake and the road is a smaller body of water where people rented paddle boats and there are weeping willow trees. Discovery World and Reiman Aquarium are also here. I think in the summer time they do fish fry and films here.
We continued north along the lake and passed villa terrace and then a beach area with live music and a volleyball tournament. There are lovely mansions on Lake Drive and the homes were old and beautiful with ample property as we drove through the village of Shorewood and then Whitefish Bay, with its quaint, several block downtown.
Jenni had been schooled by Emily for years in the ways of Kopp’s frozen custard, so we knew a visit was mandatory. It has an amazing greasy burger smell but we stuck with custard. It was packed but we only waited about five minutes in the custard line. I think each day they have vanilla and chocolate and two special flavors, which are listed for today as well as on a two-day flavor forecast. One of the special flavors was Reese’s but we opted instead for Bienenstichkuchen. Ah, the old childhood favorite of Bienenstichkuchen, naturally.
Milwaukee also has a city bike service. Emily’s mom taught us about Little Free Library which is a great concept that hopefully is rapidly spreading. Check it out.
September 12, 2013 (Thursday, cont’d) – We crossed the Mississippi River and immediately I felt closer to home. To avoid any confusion, I use home to describe both my upbringing in the Northeast as well as Los Angeles. I am not sure if it was the symbolic value of crossing the river or entering a state where many I know attended university, or some combination, but I felt it. Perhaps it was the sign for Dunkin Donuts. Clearly this was Wisconsin and not the Northeast as instead of promising food and restrooms the Shell billboard advertised cheese and beer.
I did not realize a ski mountain was nearby until we saw a sign for Cascade Mountain. Approaching from the north, I noticed Ella’s Deli before we took a detour to the hipster part of town. At the corner of Winnebago and Atwood were a few spots. There are several more south on Williamson Street. Lao Laan-Xang gets good reviews but would not serve us just before 9:30 pm as they were closing. Our consolation prize was an excellent meal at the highly regarded gastropub A Pig in a Fur Coat. The waiter was very friendly if a bit wet behind the ears. It was cute when he guessed we had not heard of burrata and explained it to us. We ordered that with heirloom tomatoes, rabbit rillettes with pistachio and pickled cherries in honey, and pappardelle with oxtail, mushrooms and parmigiano reggiano. A robust offering of beer and wine by the glass rounds it out.
We stayed in another airbnb place and it was phenomenal. The location was great and we had a spacious en suite room akin to staying at a fancy hotel. Mike and Patricia were very friendly and accommodating. They left chocolate by the bedside and a bottle of Rosenblum cellars zinfandel. Cereal, yogurt, fruit, freshly brewed coffee, etc. were available for breakfast. We enjoyed our conversations with Mike who grew up in Chicago and explained that to Wisconsin natives he is one of the FIBs, a/k/a Fu#*ing Illinois Bastards. Capitalizing on the nickname, there is a food cart on the Square serving Chicago dogs and whatnot called Fine Italian Beef and Sausage. Anyway, there is more info available at the airbnb link above, but I cannot recommend this place highly enough and at $95 it is a steal.
September 13, 2013 (Friday) – Armed with recommendations from my friend Dani and now Mike and Patricia, we walked up to Capitol Square and soaked in the views from Monona Terrace. Frank Lloyd Wright, a Wisconsin native who spent many years in Madison, designed the terrace and first proposed in 1938. Met with resistance for years, it was finally approved and constructed in the 1990s, long after Wright’s death. Never mind that Jenni was incensed at the lack of symmetry between the path to the terrace and the State Capitol.
Monona Terrace, off-center and all
A quick orientation to Madison is that there are two larger lakes separated by an isthmus. In the center of the isthmus is Capitol Square and more upscale/business dining and drinking establishments. On the eastern side of the isthmus is Williamson Street, with more hipsters. At the southwest edge of the isthmus begins the University of Wisconsin campus. The campus and Capitol Square are connected by the pedestrian only State Street, which is lined with bars, restaurants and shops…mostly independent but with a couple chains represented.
Some places on the Square we heard are good include Coopers, Old Fashioned, Brocach and L’Etoile (ranked #14 restaurant in the country some years back by Gourmet or Bon Appetit, I can’t recall). We had dinner at Graze, by the same owner and in the same building as L’Etoile, but more on that later. The “Good Food” cart looked popular.
Wisconsin State Capitol
On the Square we saw a little circular garden with a sign from Great Dane Pub & Brewing saying they will soon make a pepper pilsner with the peppers growing here. On another corner was a group of protesters against Governor Scott Walker and his anti-union policies. There were perhaps 50 people in a circle with drums, trombones, guitars and tambourines and they had song books with original songs that folks actually knew. Politics aside, it was enjoyable to observe.
Protest groove
We bought a cleaning pen and flimsy tripod at The Camera Company before strolling down State Street. Kilwins Candy had an impressive selection of chocolates, fudge, ice cream etc. We were met at the edge of campus with a funky DJ set accompanied by live guitar and lots of food carts.
Jenni and I each selected nasi goreng from the Indonesian cart and took our food to a lakeside table at Memorial Union Terrace. I grabbed beers inside at Rathskellar (or really Der Stiftskeller) and we watched the sailboats while listening to sorority girls discuss pressing matters. While I have Tufts pride, I admit we had nothing this cool in Medford.
Lake Mendota from Memorial Union Terrace
After lunch we walked past the boathouse and through the lovely campus, taking in Bascom Hill and views back to the Capitol before visiting enormous Camp Randall Stadium.
Bascom Hill
The Giants’ disappointing Heisman winner
From here we walked several blocks on Regent Street which is dingier and I think has a bar scene particularly vibrant on game days.
What is that?!
We returned to State Street and walked past incense-burning and head shops up to Graze on the Square. Given the quality of the experience, it is remarkable there was no wait at 6 pm on a Friday. The space has high ceilings, a large U-shaped bar, huge windows, silver colored metal and medium wood tables. The crowd was a mix of friends, couples and families.
Graze
We started with a small order of cheese curds (these are THE thing in Wisconsin) fried in a vodka batter served with house ranch, which was heavy on the mayo and more like a cross between ranch dressing and aioli. They were bigger than I expected, some approaching golf-ball size, all delicious. Jenni loved her market tomatoes salad with fried squash blossoms, fresh mozzarella, Thai basil and gochujang mayo. I chose the $21 Graze burger. This beauty has fresh ground bacon, sirloin, ribeye and short ribs, caramelized onions, Worcestershire-cabernet jus, Swiss Emmental compound butter and garlic aioli served on a SarVecchio sesame brioche bun with housemade fries. The fries were solid but ordinary, the burger was exceptional. I have eaten a lot of burgers and they rarely live up to the hype, this one did and then some. It has an intense beef flavor, rich taste and perfect consistency. Described as a fork and knife burger, though I found 10 digits sufficient. This is probably one of the top 3 or 5 burgers I have ever had.
As a point of comparison, I have had the burger at db bistro moderne (in NY) on more than one occasion. Despite an ingredient list that includes sirloin, braised short ribs, foie gras and black truffle, I found it lacking. The texture was off. Maybe because it is a stuffed burger rather than being all ground together. Why did I order it more than once if I was not enamored, you ask? Stop asking silly questions.
Returning to Graze… there is a great selection of beers on tap. Jenni got the Spotted Cow from New Glarus Brewing and I got the Luna Coffee Stout from Hinterland. The back of the menu lists all the suppliers and there is a rotating selection of 12 different artisan cheeses. I highly recommend Graze. The service was top-notch, and despite the $21 burger (worth every penny), beers were only $4.50 each and our total bill was $67 with tip.
September 14, 2013 (Saturday) – After a banana and some more conversation with our airbnb hosts, we went for a run along the bike path past Monona Terrace to the Red Caboose then circled back to the center of the Square for the Saturday morning farmer’s market. WOW. Stalls line the entire Square and it draws a huge crowd. On offer is every kind of pepper, squash, tomato, potato etc. I had heard of, and many I had not.
There were flowers, pastries, venison jerky, beans, carrots, apples, pickled everything, ground cherries, baby rice popcorn which is a tender and hull-less variety of corn…Fresh cheese curds are promised to squeak in your mouth and we grabbed a satchel for $4.50, though kind of wish we had held out for the Farmer John’s stand. At Stella’s we got the famous hot and spicy cheese bread. It is basically challah and not that spicy and needs more cheese. Solid but a touch disappointing given high expectations.
Hot spicy cheese bread
With tickets for tomorrow’s Packers game, we knew we needed some brats for the tailgate. D&G came through with an impressive selection, we opted for a package of the fittingly named tailgater with beer and onion and also a package of bacon jalapeno. Jenni got a date and currant scone from Sugar River Country Bakery, where the guy advised to stick it by the windshield on the drive home to heat it up. We grabbed a delicious bottle of apple cider from Morren Farm.
Squeakiness: confirmed
I struck up a conversation with a young lady speaking to one of her older relatives (who had a stall) in a foreign language. I had seen multiple Laotian (some mixed with Thai) restaurants and stall owners who appeared Laotian so I was curious. The young lady told me there is a large Hmong population around Madison. She said that many Hmong supported the US in the Vietnam War and that the US brought them here to protect them from reprisals. As Laos is on our itinerary, I got a recommendation or two before we walked back to the apartment to pack up and hit the road for Milwaukee then Evanston.
Summary of Madison: I thought I would like Madison a lot, and I was far from disappointed. We had two spectacular, late summer / early fall, sunny, clear, crisp days. It is like a grown up city in a child’s body. The university presence is large and unavoidable. It is a well-respected institution with strong athletics. I love the culture of learning, curiosity and tolerance that one often finds in a college town. Concerts (check out the Majestic Theatre and the Orpheum Theater) and renowned speakers come through. Politics (and protests) play a big role since it is the state capitol. Outdoor activities abound with bike trails (and a city bike service), kayak rental on the lakes, nearby small mountains, etc. Madison is health conscious yet the foodie culture is prevalent, with terrific local produce, a strong brewing tradition and more. There is a hipster area. The city is very walkable. It is liberal but not in that echo chamber, obnoxious, in-your-face kind of way.
It occurred to me that on paper, Madison has a lot in common with Austin, Texas. They are both fairly liberal cities in more conservative states, the seat of the state government along with the state’s major university (and each is prominent academically and athletically), smaller than other cities in their states, on lakes with an active outdoors culture, etc.
Special thanks to Dani and Elyssa for their great recommendations. I will pass along some of what they said in unedited form below as it might help if you plan to visit Madison…which you should definitely do, likely between May and September!
“sardine also new, and by the capitol but haven’t been.
Also up by capitol, but old school: the great dane (brew pub), jenna’s (bar), jolly bob’s (carribbean restaurant). Coffee: espresso royale/ancora coffee/cafe michaelangelo. brewery tour if you’re interested, also essen haus (beer hall).
By stadium: mickey’s dairy bar (breakfast), dotty’s dumplings. Nitty gritty for burgers (closer to kohl center I think).
MUST go to the terrace at the memorial union and sit if it’s nice outside. Depending on the weather there are all kinds of lake activities too. The lakeshore drive walk/nature preserve. The KK (kollege klub) is a cheesy but classic college bar. The plaza bar off of state street. babcock hall ice cream. State street brats if you are into them. Bascom hill. Try to see a football game if you can, and there are tons of bars by the stadium. Walk up and down state street. Farmers market by the capitol on saturday mornings. I think it’s a really pretty campus, so just walking around the campus is nice too. In general, up by the capitol tends to get an older crowd, and the closer to campus the younger it is. All bets are off on football weekends though, as alums will go to bars closer to campus too.”
“Nikki’s pub; Alchemy (free music often); Nepalese food on State Street; Weary Traveler.”
When the billboards starting boasting beer and cheese, we knew Wisconsin was in our near future. We got in rather late given the long day’s drive, so opted for a quick dinner before checking in to our AirBnB spot. We tried to stop at a Laotian spot, which was unfortunately closing for the night, so headed on down the road to Pig in a Fur Coat, which is solid! We shared the rabbit rillettes with pistachio and cherries in honey, the house made burrata and heirloom salad, along with the pappardelle with oxtail mushrooms and parm (I think these were all app or “bite” sized dishes, and there were plenty of mains that sounded amazing but we were trying to be quick slash not excessively unhealthy) and enjoyed these over a few glasses of sangiovese. Oh boy, I think that tomato salad may be the best I’ve ever had, and I’ve had a lot of tomato salads in my day. Is there anything better than a ripe tomato? Mmmm. Maybe a tomato toast trumps the tomato salad, but I’ll take my good tomatoes any way they come. Anywho, this was the first of MANY impressive meals in Madison.
Our bellies full, we headed on over to our AirBnB spot, which was, dare I say, amaze-balls. Patricia and Mike are amazing hosts, and their guest set-up is phenomenal. I adored the place, the people, the service… thumbs up ALL AROUND. Go there, stay with them, thank me later. (Here’s their AirBnB page: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1533109.) Plus side of me being over a month late in writing this and almost completely done with our 3 month road trip, I can honestly say this was one of the top accommodations we had on the entire journey. On top of being a lovely, inviting, homey abode (with world’s most comfortable mattress!) in a phenomenal location, our hosts provided us with stellar recommendations. I could tell our host Mike’s love of architecture stemmed from his Chicago upbringing, and he pointed us toward a wonderful walking tour of the city. He and Patricia both had great ideas for food and various activities. I could go on, but I’ll continue with the highlights of the city itself.
First day in town, we walked up to the capitol square, stopping to admire a little garden outside, where a sign noted that a local brewery was making pepper beer out of the produce grown in that spot! Could this place be any cuter? I remember a few minutes later being suspicious of a man who said hello without wanting something, before I realized he was just exemplifying the Midwestern charm. We checked out the waterfront patio area designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. While lovely, I still can’t quite understand why it’s designed to have the view of the capitol slightly off center. The OCD in me was not cool with this.
::see how off-center it is?! ugh::
Continuing around the square, we began to hear protesters’ chants heard every so often, eventually coming upon a circle of 50 or so people surrounding a group of men playing drums, trombone, guitar, tambourine, and singing, along with much of the crowd, and encouraging others to grab a song book (yes, they had real song books printed up!) and join in. I was impressed. It appeared numerous people knew the lyrics by heart.
::happy protestors::
::love this guy::
On down State Street we checked out some really cute stores with gifts and knick-knacks and lots of Sconnie pride greeting cards, t-shirts, and gifts. We passed lots of amazing restaurants. Of course, it is a college town so there was the obligatory Jimmy Johns and Pita Pit.
Once we arrived at University of Madison campus, we stopped for lunch at the food trucks, enjoying some live music from what I assume was a student band while we waited for our nasi goreng. We brought our Indonesian food over to the memorial union terrace to savor alongside the lakeside view and a beer. Afterwards we continued wandering around campus for a while, celebrating the lovely weather and vibrant college campus.
::union terrace, great lunch and beer spot::
::cute little badger::
::football stadium::
For dinner we walked back up to capitol square to check out Graze. While I said before that the best tomato salad I’ve ever had was at Pig in a Fur Coat, the best tomatoes were at Graze. MMM. Can you blame me for ordering so many tomato salads with this kind of success rate? We also enjoyed some fried cheese curds, and Alan tried their legendary burger (too ridiculous to try to describe so I’m copy pasting from the website: fresh ground bacon, sirloin, ribeye & short ribs, caramelized onions, Worcestershire-cabernet jus, Swiss Emmental compound butter, SarVecchio sesame brioche, with fries & aioli). Yeah… it placed in his top burger list. And yes, Alan has his top burgers ranked. Fun Fact: Rachel Ray said this is the best burger in America. The restaurant also had a vast selection of beers on tap AND wines on tap. This will be a new trend I suspect. Pretty neat idea for wines by the glass.
Our second day in Wisconsin we started off with a cup of coffee and a nice chat with our hosts, after which we set out for a jog along the bike path and up to the farmer’s market. The Madison Farmer’s Market is somewhat of a legend, and for good reason. A novice might not know to travel counterclockwise around the square, but it’s quite obvious as the masses practically pull you along. I’ve never seen a farmer’s market quite this crowded. You have to jump in and out of the steady current of market-goers as you find stalls that pique your interest. There are of course the usual items – every kind of pepper, squash, tomato, potato, flowers, apple cider, carrots, plums, and so on – and then are some more obscure items like ground cherry, baby rice popcorn (which, we learned, is tender and hull-less), and anything you could want pickled. In addition, there were bakeries aplenty, including a stand of scones rated from super healthy to semi healthy. It was scone heaven at this market, though surprisingly few raisin or currant varieties. I bought one for later and the vendor told me to stick it in the dashboard to heat it up. Interesting idea! We tried the famous hot and spicy cheese bread from Stella’s bakery (my take: not that spicy, and not that incredible for hot fresh bread that is filled with melty cheese, but this is not to say I didn’t eat a half a loaf by the day’s end). We also picked up some brats and onions for our upcoming tailgate (Packers game, you’ll hear about this in my Chicago post, stay tuned). The brat people had an impressive array of sausage flavors, and we opted for the beer and onion and bacon jalapeno. But the highlight by far, was the cheese curds – guaranteed to squeak! And squeak they did!!! I adored the cheese curds. It’s hard to pin down what makes them so great, but it’s like a bite sized cheese stick that tastes better and has a better texture than the grocery store kinds.
::guaranteed to squeak!::
::nom nom nom::
::packers pride and fall cheer::
::turks turban!::
::so. much. food.::
::mmm cheesy spicy bread::
After filling our bellies at the market we said goodbye to our most favorite AirBnB hosts and headed east to Milwaukee for a quick afternoon visit. My college roomie, Emily, is from Milwaukee and we were lucky to have her mom as a guide for the afternoon. We started at their home, getting a little tour, including some awesome baby and teenage year photos of Emily (I’m tempted to share…), as well as checking out her mom’s free library. I had never heard of these before, but what a lovely idea! People build little boxes, or “libraries,” in their yards where people can take a book and return a book for free. You can check it out here: Littlefreelibrary.org.
::little free library::
We drove around next, passing Emily’s high school, the Miller beer plant, a Harley plant, and passed the old Pabst brewery. (P.S. I once saw a greeting card that involved some joke of why you shouldn’t let men take phone messages and displayed a note on the fridge that said “your gyno called. He said you need another Pabst beer.” I always think of that now when I see Pabst). You can see the city is a bit past its prime in these areas where the lifeblood was manufacturing in days past. We stopped by the library and the impressive county courthouse which was a building St. Petersburg-esque in its grandeur and monstrosity.
From there we headed to the river walk where we saw a few weddings at the museum on the lake. Emily’s mom said it costs $20k just to rent the space here – holy! Nice park area where summer fest is held, and folks flying kites, biking, and so on. Passed discovery world and the aquarium where they do fish fry and movies in the summer. Our first sight of fish fry country on the trip.
Lastly, we took Lake Drive up past some stunning mansions in the suburbs just outside of Milwaukee. And then to the place of much anticipation – Kopp’s for frozen custard! Emily’s been telling me about this since college, and this one did not disappoint. They have a few flavors every day, and the specials on the day we were there were Reese’s and Bienenstichkuchen. Despite being awkward to order given my absolute inability to pronounce that flavor, I went with the german almond-y concoction and it was fabulous. In addition to the specials they always have vanilla and chocolate. The burgers there smelled incredible and I wished we had tried them.
::frozen custard!::
Alas, from there it was back to Emily’s to pick Sven up and head off to Chicago for some time with the brah-in-law.
In Minnesota we had our second (count ‘em) spider in the car incident. It started with an innocent, ‘let’s get a picture of the welcome to Minnesota sign’ moment! There was, conveniently, a parking area by the welcome sign, and, not so conveniently, a large grassy area between the parking area and the welcome sign which we traversed for the photo op. (All for you, bloggers). Of course, in this trek a small but still terrifying spider made it its business to cling to my pants and crawl up my leg as soon as Alan began merging back onto the highway. It was then that I blacked out. I enter this phase of sheer panic in the presence of spiders. It’s the absolute worst in confined spaces and a million times worse when actual contact is made. I screamed bloody murder and squished myself as far up against the door of the car as I could while Alan simultaneously managed to merge with moving traffic and transport the spider from my pants to the window. Ugh. Thank god for a husband that vowed to kill the spiders for me. I hate spiders so much, if I could wish for anything in the world I would wish that spiders didn’t exist. ONE WISH. I would choose that over world peace and calories that don’t count. That’s how much I hate them.
::here it is, worth it?::
I digress. Aside from the spiders, we saw a nice little slice of southern Minnesota’s diner and gas station scene. We stopped for lunch in the town of Luverne at JJ’s drive-in, a 50’s feeling spot where we got our skinny burger, fries, and dessert fix. I love skinny burgers. In fact, the thinner the better. Yum. These were just right. And finishing it off with a Blizzard type ice cream concoction was mighty dynamite.
::JJ’s::
::mmm, skinny burger::
From there we drove through long stretches of corn and cows. While I can’t say I agree with the southern Minnesotan majority’s political and social views (spotted in southern Minnesota: anti abortion signs everywhere and an impeach Obama bumper sticker), the folks here are lovely, and their accents even better. The gas station attendant said, “here ya go” in the “oh Bobby, don’tchya know” dialect. That about made my day. We bought a lotto ticket at this Fairmont, MN gas station hoping it was one of those “random” enough places to win. (This is our new retirement plan… playing the lottery in weird places).
I’m pretty sure the folks in charge of naming stuff in Minnesota used up all their energy working on the names for towns (for instance, Welcome, Harmony, Blue Earth) that when it came to counties they just admitted defeat and numbered them.
Another observation made while driving through Minnesota: corn fed cows are not happy cows. (But they are tasty cows).
Also, the clouds here are real nice.
Big moves were made this day… we crossed the Mississippi! And, even bigger and more awesome milestone… we are back in the land of DUNKS! God I love Dunkin Donuts. They say America runs on Dunks, but it’s not true. Only the eastern half does, and it’s a shame, because the only thing holding back the west coast is its lack of Dunks. I’ve been told for years that a Dunks is coming to LA, but my pipe dream is yet to come true, so I live in bated anticipation of those pink and orange signs each time I make it back east.
Phew. That LONG day’s drive took us finally to Sconnie! Comin’ up next.
Before I forget, there are a lot of deer in the US. Everywhere. Tons of deer. Also, at frequent intervals on I-90 there are railroad crossing type gates that allow the authorities to close the highway. Presumably for bad weather, but I do not recall ever seeing this in the Northeast and found it interesting. And I have been meaning to write that for camping, if I had more space it would be nice to bring a citronella candle and a pop-up shelter. And I need to fill space because there is not much to say about the Corn Palace or Minnesota as seen from the highway.
September 12, 2013 (Thursday) – We exited the Badlands by completing the Highway 240 Badlands Loop Road, which is not actually a loop unless you complete it on I-90. There is a helicopter tour place by the park’s northeast entrance. Today was our longest drive of the trip at 700+ miles as we crossed most of South Dakota, all of Minnesota and some of Wisconsin to end up in Madison.
We passed 1880 Town which has old buildings and I think is often used for film sets. My notes are spotty again but I think I want to say some of the drive is pretty with hills and trees near the Missouri River. We noticed a lot of horses hanging out by billboards, seemingly even where shade was not provided. Less appealing to me were the multitude of Jesus signs and anti-abortion billboards. This is not the forum for religious debate and I am no theological scholar, but the believer in me wants to think that Jesus would rather you spend your money helping those in need instead of paying rent to Clear Channel.
Passing a sign for the town of Winner, I envisioned Charlie Sheen there holed up with hookers and blow. Which sounds more fun than the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota. Nonetheless, it is a famous roadside attraction and parts of it were neat.
The original corn palace was built in 1892 to showcase the rich soil of South Dakota and encourage people to settle in the area, after Lewis & Clark had proclaimed that one could not make a living farming here. I thought it would be a palace constructed entirely of corn, but it is actually a steel and brick building adorned with murals and decorations of corn.
Admission is free and there are educational exhibits and the most corn-decorated gymnasium I have seen.
All those pictures are made of corn
Local high schools and Dakota Wesleyan University play games here. Some proms are held here. This calls for jokes but it is a PG-13 blog. They sell corn palace wine and flavored popcorn balls. Really, this place is a shrine to corn and its primary objective seems to be promoting corn and ethanol.
Farmer Jen?
Shortly after crossing into Minnesota we stopped in Luverne for lunch at the Tasty Drive In.
I enjoyed my thin patty, greasy diner-style double cheeseburger and the fries we split. Dessert options include endless types and combos of soft-serve with mix-ins. I do not recall my pick.
DISCLAIMER: I have little doubt that Minnesota is a fine state and have heard good things about Minneapolis (not in the winter), the Boundary Waters, etc. There is a vibrant distressed investing community and I have friends who live in Minnesota. So I mean no disrespect and am only commenting on what I could see from the highway. I guess residents of New Jersey can empathize with Minnesota.
Visible from the highway, there is nothing but corn and windmills. I did stop at a gas station and see Tweaker energy drink on offer. And the highlight of our cross-state expedition had to be the town names. These include Blue Earth, Harmony and Welcome, in addition to Austin and Houston. The scenery becomes pretty and hilly right before crossing the Mighty Mississippi into Wisconsin.
First impression: woah, Rapid City is like a legit, proper city! I had this fleeting feeling of guilt towards the residents of Rapid City. Do they feel bad that we all forget about them? Has anyone outside of South Dakota ever, like ever ever ever stopped to think about Rapid City, South Dakota? And there’s a whole bustling city there! Not a New York, or Chicago, or even Boston’s worth of people, but 70,000 people nonetheless. I don’t know, sometimes I have these moments where my anxiety and panic about overpopulation really take over and I freak out that these places I’ve never heard about, much less think seriously about, have so many people I guess I get a little emotional. So, I’m publicly apologizing to the people of Rapid City, for never ever thinking of you. I hope you enjoy your little city. Also, I apologize to the town of Interior, South Dakota, population 67, because I also (literally) never heard of you. I guess I can’t be totally to blame as there aren’t all that many people in the state altogether. Case in point: travel 440 miles across South Dakota and the area code never changes. How’s Ludacris gonna tally his hoes in this state?
Anyway, I guess people do think of South Dakota for a few reasons – Mount Rushmore chief among them. Lots of people like to ask us now, “is Mount Rushmore worth the visit?” Well, it’s most certainly worth stopping by on your drive through South Dakota. Is it worth a plane ticket and hotel and car rental from pretty much anywhere else in the world? Probably not. Though I do think that a nice little quick vacation would be the South Dakota tourist quadruple header (Mount Rushmore, Badlands, Corn Palace, and Wall Drug – more on the rest of these below) in conjunction with Devil’s Tower (Wyoming, but not too far). To be sure, I thoroughly enjoyed the fifteen minutes we spent at Mount Rushmore (exaggeration, but hardly). You could probably extend your time at this site if you tried. The town right next to the monument, Keystone, is full of touristy, kitschy shops and restaurants. They do also do a lighting ceremony at 8pm (I believe daily) and I’m told the fireworks on July 4th are pretty spectacular there. Also you could get an ice cream cone, as apparently Jefferson is responsible for the first ice cream recipe in America. Note that it’s $11 to get into the parking lot and it’s not covered by the national parks pass (lame-o) and your parking attendant is not guaranteed to have teeth.
Off and onward with our touristing of South Dakota we headed next to the road-trip destination of Wall Drug. You could miss it if you tried really hard, but there are about 10 million signs for Wall Drug all along I-90. It’s essentially a mall, but the shops are all owned and run by the same company. It’s a pretty brilliant idea/marketing job (is Hustead a Kellogg grad??), as it apparently draws in $10m a year. Not bad for a drug store in the middle of South Dakota. Alan tried the 5-cent coffee. It was really only a nickel, and he said it wasn’t half bad. That was really the highlight. That and being able to say we went to Wall Drug. So, I guess a win.
Alas, we get to the really awesome tourist destination – the Badlands. They are pretty badass. The landscapes are a mix of awe-inspiring, beautiful, and trippy. The animal sightings were also superb. We saw tons of prairie dogs, many more pronghorn deer, and a coyote, and this was all at once! In addition, we saw a badass badlands bunny who reminded me of a chocolate bunny because someone had taken a bite out of his ear as I have many an Easter basket gift. We were warned of rattlesnakes but encountered none of these today.
::badlands bums::
::badass badlands bunny::
::coyote::
::coyote, deer, AND prairie dogs::
The history in this place is pretty neat too. There are short walks throughout the park where you can read about the history of the formations and look at fossils of crazy animals that used to exist and live in these lands many years ago. We did a short hike here, called the Notch hike. It was a very easy hike, though true to the US park service’s form, they warn you big time that it will take 1.5-2 hours (took 50 minutes with lots of stopping and hanging out for pictures), and a big warning that it’s not for those with a fear of heights. I of course fear said obstacle so naturally we forged ahead. Going up was no problem. Going down I panicked slightly at first, but it’s really not even remotely comparable in scary heights to some other hikes I’ve done (think especially Devil’s Backbone on Mount Baldy in California… oh my god I can’t put into words how much I hate that stretch of the hike!!). Definitely worth the trip though, it was really neat to get in there and explore the rocks on a closer level and get a 360 view of the landscapes. We would have tried some of the longer hikes had we had more time there (only had an afternoon essentially), though I believe they are more walks than hikes (i.e., no elevation gain). We spent the better part of an afternoon at this park, which was perfect. We felt we saw everything we wanted to (we stopped at almost every viewpoint and did the one hike that is closest to actual hiking). You could definitely take your time a bit more and spent a full day or two around there, but I wouldn’t alot any more time to this park.
“not for those with a fear of heights”
::cue Rocky theme song here::
::seussian, isn’t it?!::
::trippy::
::i’m obsessed::
For lodging we forewent the national park camp right by the entrance and opted instead to camp at the KOA nearby. Meh. While the KOA at Devil’s Tower was pretty nice, I think I’ll make a moderate effort to avoid KOAs in the future. It was not super impressive, largely because much of it was shut down as part of their post-labor day reduction, notwithstanding the fact that they neglect to tell you that they close most of the bathrooms so you have to walk forever to get to them. Oh well. One pretty awesome perk of the location however: our evening spent camping in the Badlands was peppered with the sounds of coyotes howling at night. I kept thinking of the poor prairie dogs they were getting ready to eat.
This was our last night camping for a while as we prepared to head into cities and family time in the Northeast. We tallied it up and noticed we spent 14 of our first 27 nights camping. Woot woot to the budget!
Of note on the drive east from the Badlands, there was a little town off I-90 that was set up like a little 1880s village. Nothing but fields and plains as far as the eye can see, then this little pop up of old time village. Neato. Didn’t stop but I imagine it’d be a nice diversion.
Last but certainly not expected to be least, was the corn palace. I’ve been irrationally excited to see this thing for nearly 9 years, ever since my college friend and Milwaukee native, Emily, told me about it freshman year. A palace made entirely of corn? Yes please. But talk about a build up that disappoints. To be clear, Emily didn’t really hype it up that much, I think I built this up this experience in my head to be akin to the way one might feel when they first look at a newborn child. I don’t know why, but I did. It’s a palace made of corn, people! Is no one else’s imagination picturing something as cool as mine was? Well. To start, it’s a brick and steel building, decorated in corn only for a few mural-like spaces. Bummer. Also, it’s kind of a shrine to the corn industry inside. Major bummer. There were some pictures inside of the historical corn palaces, including the first one, made in 1892, which was much more impressive. Also, it’s free. So who can really complain? Also they have flavored cornballs. Didn’t try them, but man did they smell good.
::slightly more impressive corn palace::
::auditorium/basketball court of course decorated with corn murals::
Mount Rushmore was good to check off the bucket list but may not merit extensive travel on its own. The Badlands National Park was spectacular, and a visit to these two combined with Devil’s Tower in northeast Wyoming would make a lovely long weekend.
September 11, 2013 (Wednesday, cont’d) – After visiting Devil’s Tower we drove a couple hours to Mount Rushmore via Rapid City, which was surprisingly urban. On the way we passed Spearfish which has a water park and several commercial establishments, as well as Sturgis which is famous for its annual motorcycle rally. Neither Reptile Gardens nor Bear Country USA drew us in, and we breezed through the very touristy and kitschy town (think fudge and general schlock stores) of Keystone just a couple miles from Mount Rushmore. Western South Dakota is more developed than I expected.
Parking at Mount Rushmore costs $11 (and the annual pass is not accepted) unless you find a spot on the street and walk a bit up the hill. There is no charge to enter the monument. Information and food concessions are available. There is a walkway with stone (?) columns representing each state and displaying its flag and the year it was admitted to the union. By coincidence, we visited three national parks/monuments on September 11. Some ribbons on the New York column here were the only visible difference we noticed.
Each night there is a lighting ceremony at 8 pm and they recommend you arrive an hour early. There are some orientation films and walks available but we missed these.
Here are a few stats and things we learned: each face is 60 feet tall; each eye is 11 feet wide; Washington’s nose is 21 feet long while the others are 20 feet long (what’s up with that?); the sculptor was Gutzon Borglum, and there is also a small bust of Gutzon carved by his son Lincoln; Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, blah blah blah, but critically he is credited with the first ice cream recipe in America.
The explanation offered in the park’s official newspaper for why these Presidents: Birth (Washington, first President); Expansion (Jefferson, Louisiana Purchase); Development (T. Roosevelt, Panama Canal + Trust Buster + National Parks); Preservation (Lincoln, saved the union during Civil War).
After leftover pasta in the parking garage (you see, there are advantages to keeping your job), we returned to I-90 where the landscape began to look more like the plains. Innumerable billboards starting from afar battered us into visiting Wall Drug. This is a famous attraction that is essentially an old shopping mall where all the stores operate under a single entity. It has been there since 1931 and is worth a look if you are in the area. Among countless other necessaries, one can purchase a five cent cup of coffee or a bottle of Red Ass Rhubarb Wine. I was surprised by how many young foreigners work at Wall Drug.
You’ve been warned, Bordeaux
Inside Wall Drug
Just down the road we entered Badlands National Park. Almost immediately we saw some bighorn sheep by the road and proceeded to stop at several overlooks. There is a paved driving loop which is the obvious activity for any visitor. The overlooks have explanatory displays and various hikes are possible. The scenery is otherworldly.
We entered the park from the north where you are atop the plateau and look out and down at formations and canyons. The loop descends so that on the south side you look out and up at formations and mountains.
The cracked earth and multitude of rattlesnake warning signs reveal the harshness of this terrain. The park service addresses the name’s origin as follows:
The Lakota people were the first to call this place “mako sica” or “land bad.” Extreme temperatures, lack of water, and the exposed rugged terrain led to this name. In the early 1900’s, French-Canadian fur trappers called it “les mauvais terres pour traverse,” or “bad lands to travel through.”
Today, the term badlands has a more geologic definition. Badlands form when soft sedimentary rock is extensively eroded in a dry climate. The park’s typical scenery of sharp spires, gullies, and ridges is a premier example of badlands topography.
Many fossils have been discovered here and there are educational displays about the animals that previously ruled the area. We fortunately avoided sabre-toothed big cats and encountered prairie dogs, pronghorn antelope, a coyote (all three prior animals visible in a single photo below!), and a rabbit with part of his ear missing that Jenni dubbed the Badlands Badass Bunny.
Badlands Badass Bunny
At Burns Basin Overlook there was a big green patch partway across the canyon, and I just know that if Trump were president then future generations would find fairways and waterfalls here.
The air was clear and we could easily see Eagle Nest Butte 30 miles away from Panorama Point Overlook. Though it was nearly 90º in the afternoon, the weather was delightful by the time we hiked the Notch Trail. This requires ascending a wooden ladder where Jenni subdued her fear of heights.
Ladder on Notch Trail
End of Notch Trail
While the park allots 1.5-2 hours, the out and back hike took us only 50 minutes, including time to frolic at the end over views of White River Valley.
Quite a spot
Shelter
Another view of the ladder if you look closelyFear shmear
At the south end of the park is the town of Interior, population 67. There are a handful of camping and budget accommodations here, and we camped at a KOA nearby. It was passable but we were disappointed to learn that post-Labor Day the pool is closed and so are the toilets near our site. The coyotes howling at night were a nice touch. I have been surprised in general at how much changes after Labor Day in terms of availability of facilities and tours etc., at least in terms of the northwest and north part of the country. I guess that is the trade off for fewer crowds and often better weather. Next time at Badlands I would probably try to stay at Cedar Pass Lodge which is just inside the park and I believe has camping, cabins, etc.
Today was a great day filled with new experiences. I certainly enjoyed our time in the mountains of Montana and Wyoming, but I have done so much of that in my life. This was a welcome change!
This post is really about Devil’s Tower National Monument, but since the scenery along the drive by Shoshone National Forest was so breathtaking…
View driving east on highway 26
September 10 (Tuesday) – We packed up camp at Colter Bay and stopped briefly for another glimpse of Oxbow Bend before a long day of driving to Devil’s Tower National Monument in northeast Wyoming. On route 26 we passed the Togwotee Mountain Lodge, a place we had considered staying for our time in Jackson. I am glad we did not, as it is much further from the action.
With very few cars on our route, we crossed a pass over 9,500 feet and saw beautiful mountain cliffs and formations more reminiscent to me of Bryce or Zion or New Mexico than northern Wyoming. There was a silver structure atop one of these mountains and I cannot figure out what it is…so if you know, please do tell!
What is that building?!
Shoshone National Forest
There were great views from the area by Brooks Lake. We passed Triangle Ranch and Lava Creek Ranch. There are so many ranches in this part of the country. I would imagine some are private while others offer the great western outdoor experience to those willing to pay.
My notes are a little spotty but I think there was a big vista where the road crosses the Wind River. We stopped for gas in Dubois which backs against red and beige hills that reminded me of Sedona. Here there are several gas stations, a food store, the National Bighorn Sheep Interpretive Center, and the obligatory large “D” on the hillside. Making its way onto the list of signs I rarely see where I live was a motel touting “Bikers Welcome, Gun Shop, Lots of Ammo.”
The drive continued to be very scenic east of Dubois. I noticed that most trucks here have imposing metal bars on the front, perhaps to minimize damage to the vehicle when colliding with wildlife? About 40 miles west of Casper we stopped at Hell’s Half Acre, an area composed of deep ravines, caves, rock formations and hard-packed eroded earth (thanks wikipedia). Native Americans drove herds of bison into this area for slaughter during hunts.
Salt Creek Days appears to be an event in mid-August celebrating central Wyoming’s history and frontier spirit. We missed it, and also skirted most of Casper which seems to be an industrial and oil and gas city. Probably not the kind of place where you want to be at the bar for last call.
Some general thoughts: we invented a new road game here, where the goal is to find a vehicle that is not a Ford pick up truck; people quickly and unabashedly express their dislike for Los Angeles; there are a lot of towns around here where the elevation in feet greatly exceeds the population; a lot of two lane roads with speed limits of 65+; a lot of Caterpillar and Deere and Case equipment.
The idyllic picnic spot we sought never materialized, so instead we pulled over across from a broken down truck. It was in this very spot that I invented the Central Wyoming Bahn Mi. It consists of wheat bread, sliced left over teriyaki pork tenderloin, carrots, mustard and green Tabasco sauce.
Check out the decal on rear window
Good living 🙂
As we continued on our way, we saw tons of bison, some pronghorn, not as much cattle as I would have thought, and the (self-ordained?) energy capital of the US: Gillette, Wyoming.
In the late afternoon we arrived at Devil’s Tower. Per wikipedia, it is an igneous intrusion or laccolith in the Black Hills of northeastern Wyoming, above the Belle Fourche River. It rises 1,267 feet above the surrounding terrain and the summit is 5,114 feet above sea level. Devils Tower was the first declared United States National Monument, established in 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt. The surrounding area is attractively composed of hills strewn with pine and reddish rocks.
We camped in our first KOA of the trip (vs. state or national parks) which had an unbeatable location directly beneath the Tower and about 100 yards from the road entrance. This campground seems more popular with RVs but there is a big grass field for pitching tents with scattered fire rings, picnic tables and potable water pumps. A handful of cabins are available for rent. There is wifi and free hot showers. The mosquitoes were relentless but worth tolerating to be so close to this magical monument.
Doesn’t Sven look content?
Other direction at camp site
The RV pitch was made to us by a couple from Louisiana on their way back after a trip to Alaska that began in May! I am not ready for that step, but I did consider the appeal more than I had before. This is our first night outside bear country in a while so we can be more relaxed about our spread. The tent field was practically empty so I got my first Frisbee sesh of the trip with Jenni, my reluctant yet talented partner. We cooked up some three cheese tortellini with pesto and enjoyed an epic sunset with a Tuscan red blend.
The iPod portable speakers finally came out and we got along famously with Norah Jones.
We had driven 440 miles from Jackson yet the area code remained the same. Still in Wyoming, it felt like South Dakota to my mind’s imagination.
September 11, 2013 (Wednesday) – The morning was surprisingly wet but we had a busy day ahead, so after a feeble attempt to dry our tent we entered the Monument at 8 am. It would cost $10 without the annual pass. Black-tailed prairie dogs are everywhere as one ascends the road to park near the base of the Tower. We did a 1.3 mile paved loop around the Tower, and flip-flops were fine.
Geologists agree that Devil’s Tower was formed by the intrusion of igneous material, but they cannot agree on exactly how that process took place. The Tower is sacred to many Native Americans, and there are numerous, less scientific legends of its formation. One tells that some girls went out to play and were spotted by several giant bears, who began to chase them. In an effort to escape the bears, the girls climbed atop a rock, fell to their knees, and prayed to the Great Spirit to save them. Hearing their prayers, the Great Spirit made the rock rise from the ground towards the heavens so that the bears could not reach the girls. The bears, in an effort to climb the rock, left deep claw marks in the sides, which are what we see today on the sides of the Tower. When the girls reached the sky, they were turned into the star constellation the Pleiades.
The Tower is a climbing mecca and it is estimated that about 1% of the Monument’s 400,000 annual visitors break out the ropes. We were fortunate to spot a pair high up the east side, which was impressive and offered some scale.
Can you find the climbers?
The loop affords soothing views over the river and plains. I do not consider myself a very spiritual person, but there is something special about this place beyond its sheer beauty.
Entering Wyoming we were coming off our first storm (while camping, and you will all remember from my super helpful diagram that camping in the rain is no fun), and to top it off, I was sick. I don’t get really sick that often, and it got to the point that I pulled the sick card. I said to hell with the budget, if we can Priceline a hotel for a reasonable price in Jackson then we’re not camping, we’re nursing my cold and the first of my strange red spots (it’s getting a little weird, I keep getting bites or rashes on this road trip that are inexplicable. I thought the weird sicknesses don’t start til you go to third world countries!?) at a hotel with walls, a roof and a shower that has hot water in it. Well, Priceline, you disappoint me. (Has anyone really ever gotten the deals I always hear of?? We keep trying Priceline and HotelTonight and all that and while it may be a deal to us in our former lives where we were um, employed, they are not real life steals). Anyhow, I suppose it was a blessing in disguise, because after I bought like 4 types of generic cold medicines I was able to sufficiently knock myself out on our gravel bedded campground at night and stop my sniffling enough to enjoy the great outdoors Grand Teton style. We camped at Colter Bay, which I imagine looked a whole lot more like a bay when there’s water in it. All in all, solid little campsite. My two complaints, the area clearly cordoned off as the tent area is laid with gravel. What the? Gravel doesn’t feel good to lie on?? Also, the man at the little shop (which was great, guidebooks, food, huckleberry soft serve, fire starters, so on and so on) had an Aussie accent and told us he was from Florida. He also told me bear bells attract cubs and hence angry momma bears. I’m fairly certain he’s a serial killer. Also, they are beyond bear aware here, they are bear awarely serious. As in, no water bottles in the tents! Holy tchotchkes, did I hold the bear spray close when peeing at night!
::picturesque::
Hedging our bets that I’d feel more up for physical activity after a day of rest, and due to the fact that Taste of the Tetons happened to coincide with that date, we spent our first day in Wyoming checking out the town of Jackson. Driving down from our campsite we were treated with some phenomenal views of those peaks. Majestic! To top it off, there was a herd of 100s of buffalo along the road and the cloud cover parted for our photographic benefit.
In the main square of Jackson was live music and a host of local restaurants serving up small tastes for $2-4 a piece. After tasting the Tetons to our hearts delight, and exploring the rest of the downtown area we went into a sports bar (the Town Square Tavern) so Alan could enjoy some football while I was too weak to protest. I was sick, but I’m still myself, so I ordered a crappy beer and pulled out my laptop (free wifi, the best thing Town Square Tavern has going for it). Alan also ordered a beer, and when the waitress came back, no sooner than she dropped off the glasses did she say, “can I get you anything else, tequila shots? Jager bombs? Car bombs?” The glasses hadn’t hit the table, much less our lips. Um, no thanks. I’m not cool enough for that anymore. Clearly. The waitress clearly picked up on our relative uncouth early and decided to not ever bring us the waters we asked for nor come to our table ever again. In case you’re wondering we opted against ordering food from this classy establishment. Sorry waitress, bet you wish you knew you were serving a pair of travel bloggers 😉 If only we were that bad ass. But can you imagine one day? Where like, if you gave us crappy service your establishment would hurt when we post??? Haha, OK I fantasize.
::pronghorn::
::some deer hanging in the parking lot::
::buffalo::
::glacial gorgeousness::
::even the puddles here are beautiful::
Anyway, we drove over to Jackson Hole ski area afterwards and meandered the green slopes for a bit before checking out the various restaurants on site in search of the proper one for viewing the Giants season opener. We picked one of the lodge restaurants where the bartender was a fellow Giants fan and wound up seated next to a group of 5 guys also watching the game and eating “307 fries” (a large plate of fries soaked in braised elk and buffalo gravy, smothered with cheddar and of course Alan had them add bacon on top). Alan was in heaven: meat, dark beers, whiskey, manly men and football. Except for the Giants’ pathetic loss. I sat on the corner with my salad and iPhone and prepared myself for a terrifying drive home (yes I was sober but we drove through Grand Teton National Park on this practically unpaved and extremely winding road in the pitch-black darkness, rain and some of the most opaque fog I’ve ever seen. EEK.)
The next morning we set out to do some hiking along those rugged Tetons. We went up to Jenny Lake (obviously you can tell from the name that it was lovely). We spent $12 on a round trip boat ride that cuts out about 4 miles of non-vertical trail up to the base of the mountains. We then hiked along a beautiful valley trail which kissed a small creek along the way. Not much in the way of wildlife other than some pika. It was a bit cloudy but we got some decent views of les Tetons Grand (did you know the French men named them after tatas? Them ladies musta had some pointy lady parts). We stopped to eat our picnic lunch a few miles deep, and the trail having lost it’s vertical entirely by that point we decided to head back and see if we couldn’t find this granite hot spring our bartender had told us about.
After about a 30 mile drive south of Jackson we arrived at the turnoff, which lead to a 10 mile dirt road. This would probably take an SUV a couple of minutes, but in Sven? An hour. Each way. But boy was it worth it! We arrived at this gigantic pool filled entirely by a natural supply of hot water that flows out into a waterfall below. You pay $6 a person to use it and it’s incredibly refreshing. Added bonus, it does not smell like sulphur because the water is heated from some sort of mineral composition in this location.
Coming home we neared our campsite around sunset and stopped at famed Oxbow bend to snap a few pictures. One must come prepared to throw some bows at Oxbow bend, as the photographers there are serious and even more serious about the vantage points they’ve sought out and don’t intend on sharing with an amateur with a point and shoot.
Alas, we made it back to camp that night in time to cook and enjoyed some teriyaki pork tenderloin and baked potatoes on the hibachi grill.
::by the hot springs::
::the shadow of the tetons as the sun sets::
::can’t get enough of those mountains!::
::oxbow bend::
::oxbow bend::
::sunny skies::
Driving out of Jackson we encountered what Alan coined “the most unexpected magnificence.” Brooks Lake National Forest, leaving Shoshone National Park we saw some beautiful mountains. A bit further the landscape changed again and I swear I thought I was driving through Arizona. We stopped to check out Hell’s Half Acre, which is like a little Grand Canyon where the Indians drove herd of buffalo to slaughter. The caves and pigeonholes reminded me a touch of Cappadocia. It goes without saying the drive through Wyoming was a pretty one. Alan made the astute observation that almost all the towns’ elevations were much higher than their populations. Our foreign car stuck out like a sore thumb on a road filled with all American pick-ups. To the point that we invented a new road game where we tried to spot vehicles that were not Ford pick-up trucks.
Pronghorns and buffalo dotted the otherwise sparse views along the highway the rest of the route. Mind-blowing numbers of these pronghorns. You know how when you first see something exciting you go, “Oh my god, a [blank!] Look, it’s a [blank]!” and you feel the need to point it out first to anyone in your vicinity? Well, it started like that with pronghorns, and by the end we were pointing pronghorns with an incredulous, “Oh my god, another freakin’ pronghorn! Pronghorns everywhere!” Who needs Yellowstone when you can go to Gillette, Wyoming?
::loveliest gas station!::
::beautiful landscapes::
::az? or wy?::
::alan got all iron chef out in the boonies::
::cottage cheese and saltines at the prettiest rest stop around. ha::
And lastly in Wyoming we arrived at Devil’s Tower (America’s first national monument!). This was probably the happiest and most serene I’d been yet on this trip. Maybe it’s the relaxation that comes when you exit bear country on a camping trip, maybe it’s the view of the tower and the spectacular sunset we had from our picnic table, the cows mooing in the distance, or perhaps the family of deer that wandered sheepishly into our campsite, or maybe just the Norah Jones and bottle of wine that I shared with my love. But whatever it was, this was a moment that caused me to step back and truly appreciate the incredible opportunity and experience this is for me, for us. (And then the septic pump picked up and our moment of zen was somewhat diminished by the overwhelming presence of poo scent.)
::sven looks happy here::
::check out that view!::
::perfect sunset::
::really just epic::
We went up to the tower itself the next morning (our first of three national monuments that day!), driving all of 100 yards and then cashing in the full value of our annual national parks pass (thankfully early, as the national parks are now shutdown!! Thanks government. But really, how third world must the tourists who’ve come here to see our national parks think we are??).
The valley around the tower is home to a city of black tailed prairie dogs. Uber cute. Closer up, I had an embarrassingly frightening wildlife encounter with… wait for it… a squirrel! That thing ran at me so fast and with such gumption that I literally yelped and started running the other way!!! Hey, it could have had rabies. It gave me a sense of what it might be like to be under attack by a wild animal of legitimate size and why someone might pee their pants in that situation. Once I braved it enough to pass the squirrel we checked out the tower in closer detail. I adored the folklore about how the tower came into existence. Scientists themselves can’t agree on how it was actually formed, so I’ll choose to believe one of the Indian stories. Legend has it that two young girls were being chased by a big bear so they ran as fast as they could and then prayed to the gods for help, the gods then raised a section of the earth below them and the bear’s claws left the grooves along the sides as he tried to reach them. It’s not until you get some context that you realize how large each of those grooved columns actually are. Luckily we got to see some climbers making their way up. Incredible! Check out the pictures below, it is so hard to comprehend the size of the rocks until you see that little man tackling it. I have much respect for any climbers that can do that climb. 1280 feet of practically sheer vertical.
Here I must give major proppers to Jenni. She was adamant about getting a cheesehead at the game, going so far as to demand it. When you spend $440 on two tickets to a football game and instead of asking for shoes or a handbag your wife asks for a $20 cheesehead…well, you have a cool wife.
champagne&backpacks 