Colorado Adventure - Day Three

Day Three of our Adventure to Colorado started out with a free "hot" breakfast. As I am not very well traveled, I wasn't aware of the distinctions in hotel breakfasts: continental, buffet, and hot. Well, now I am informed!

I had the pancakes. Yum!

Since we had to wait until 9am to go to the Great Platte River Road Archway Monument, I took the opportunity to blog a bit on the hotel lobby computer, since Best Western Kearny's internet service basically sucks.

So far on this trip, I think the Archway is the coolest thing we've encountered. The museum is actually built across Interstate 80. When you go in, you're given headphones to wear, and you get to wander around learning about Manifest Destiny: first the fur traders, then the wagon trains, the transcontinental railroad, and finally interstate highways. Very interesting, but also very sad...17 out of 100 pioneers who traveled on the wagon trains died. It's amazing to think that anyone made it west!

I could probablyhandle camping out for a few days.

But walking through the prairie, mostly likely barefoot, day after day, probably would have killed me.

I bet this guy could have made it!

I probably could have made it when Interstate 80 opened!

After the Archway, we headed to the Golden Spike Tower in North Platte, which overlooks the largest train classification yard in the country.

Golden Spike Tower, and train yard.

Interesting, but I'm not sure it was worth the detour! However, finally having lunch at Sonic in North Platte was worth the stop. Not sure of the Sonic protocol, i had to text Tracy, who old us to order a Chili Cheese Coney, tots, and strawberry limeade. Mom decided to try out the Coney with a Reese's Sonic Blast. I opted for the Bacon Cheeseburger Toaster with tots, but panicked when the guy asked me what I wanted to drink, so I accidentally ordered a diet Coke instead.

I guess forgetting my strawberry limeade gives us another reason to return!

We hit Chimney Rock around 4pm. As a part of the landscape it was dramatic, but realizing what it meant to the wagon trains was pretty inspiring.

In the days of the wagon trains, it would have been a full day's ride once they saw this view.

It took us about 15 minutes to get there.

The visitor's center was pretty nice...we got to see a little movie about the pioneers, read the geological history of Chimney Rock, and look at lots of artifacts from the pioneers and Native Americans.

Oh, and rattlesnakes too!

Yep, apparently on the Nebraska prairie, rattlesnakes are prevalent, as the warning signs state. I figured we'd be fine, but then we stumbled across one on the way out. No pictures for posterity, as we scampered towards the car! Maybe another time, but probably not.

We left Chimney Rock around 5pm, and drove through the rest of Nebraska, a bit of Wyoming, and finally arrived in Boulder at 8pm, in the pouring rain! I hope that doesn't last. Paula, Punky, and Dylan were waiting for us when we got there. Super exciting!

And on a final note, we had dinner at Murphy's:

Fish and chips...very tasty!

It's so great to finally reach our destination after 3 days and 1830 miles of driving!