JAMES: Driving out of the mountains is crazy. There are some serious steep stretches. Literally it is about 40 miles of braking. The scenery is fabulous as you careen down the 9% grade. The road finally levels out at Denver. We made a snap decision to forego the interstate and to take U.S. Highway 6. It was a little bit slower but a helluva lot more scenic and you drive through towns that you would miss by taking the interstate. Since I’m always thinking ahead to my next meal, we made a stop pretty quickly in Sterling, Colorado, just across the border from Nebraska. I require at least a cookie as my treat after lunch. We did a Google search and started looking for a bakery. It took us into a neighborhood where no bakery existed. So we headed for the highway and to try a place that we had seen earlier, the J & L Cafe. Its small, awkwardly designed parking lot, full of humongous pickups (everybody in Nebraska drives a pickup), made it difficult to find a spot. But once inside I was glad that we came. There are some fun posters on the wall.
There is a toy train that runs consistently around the ceiling. We were greeted by an elderly lady who was in the process of cutting up a pie. Bingo! We bought two frosted cinnamon rolls and a piece of cherry pie. We had a few hours to go, but we searched for a place to have lunch.
SUSAN: It was difficult to find a state park and there were literally no national parks. Finally I found Enders Reservoir State Recreation area. The map didn’t list any hiking trails that Jim wanted but it looked like it might have a picnic area. We were very pleased to find out it did indeed have picnic tables and we actually found a table with a nice shelter from the sun. Our cooler had our leftovers from our lunch in Frisco the day before so we had plenty to eat. After lunch we took a 2 mile hike around the reservoir and then we went to see Lookout Point at Enders. The hike around the reservoir was a bit underwhelming but Lookout Point was nice.
JAMES: We picked a spot about halfway to tonight’s destination, McCook, Nebraska. It was a reservoir near the town of Enders, NE, a little ways off of the highway. It’s a surprisingly large lake in the middle of nowhere and the weekend spot for people from miles around. There are multiple trailer camping spots and plenty of spots to launch your boat. It was not particularly hot temperature-wise but the sun was intense in the clear western sky. We took a walk along the access trail to the camping spots. It was flat and basically featureless but provided some decent exercise. Properly loosened up, we packed up and hit the road again.
It was an uneventful drive to McCook through wide river valleys and barren rolling hills. It was farming country and we passed dozens of enormous fields with massive automated sprinklers pumping away. We pulled into McCook around 4:30 pm. We hadn’t planned on being there so early so we had some time to kill.
SUSAN: We chose this town as it was off the interstate, with cheaper hotels and I must say the HorseCreek Inn was a cheap motel. I was underwhelmed to say the least. It was right on the main road in town. [The website makes it look much better than it is!] We arrived around 4 pm so Jim of course was antsy to do something so he looked through the motel brochure and discovered a few options.
JAMES: After we checked in to the HorseCreek Inn we went in search of a couple of interesting historical highlights in town. One was the original home of a four-term senator. The other was one of the few Frank Lloyd Wright houses west of the Mississippi. It was in immaculate shape and in the hands of a private owner. We discreetly took a few photos and then went in search of a likely hiking spot.
Our search took us to the banks of the Platte River just south of town. But since there was no developed trail we bailed on that idea. Next on our itinerary was finding a place to eat. Our number one choice was a BBQ joint but when we drove to the address, it was closed for good. We had passed a potential place on our trip to the downtown area so decided to go there. It was called the Axe House. it wasn’t apparent why the name, but I didn’t care enough to ask anyone. It was only upon going to the bathroom that I saw that the entire back half of the establishment consisted of three axe-throwing galleries. Got it. The food was typical bar food. Okay but not great.
When we were done eating, we wanted to take a walk. The woman who checked us in at our hotel had shown me a map of a new walking trail that was just a few blocks from where we were. It supposedly originated in a park and went for a 1/2 miles or so. We found the park but couldn’t locate the trail. So we walked a few blocks through some neighborhoods and enjoyed to cool evening. After the walk, we went back to our hotel, played a few games of Quiddler and called it a night.