Last year we really stepped up our game and turned our trip into an adventure. We had a couple of disappointments, but we have learned and will do better this year. One thing you might notice is that the Falken Wild Peak Tires are gone. They didn’t do bad necessarily, but they also didn’t really inspire a ton of confidence in the snow. This year we have gone to Good Year Duratrac Tires. The other change has nothing to do with the truck, but should make a huge impact here. I have really stepped up the camera game this year. New body, new lenses and hopefully new higher quality photos.
FRIDAY DECEMBER 27TH 2013 DAY 1:
As usual, we left a bit later than we wanted. Our first stop was the Benicia Bridge. Not terribly far away from home, but it was something I had never stopped to shoot before so we took the time. And that’s really what these trips are suppose to be about, taking the time to see things that you normally would just “road trip” right past.
A quick stop near Tahoe to Capture that beautiful sunset.
Last year our first stop of Carson City bypassed Reno. This year we changed it up and hit Reno for the night. We didn’t do too much night life activity but wasted a few dollars on slots before finding somewhere to stay for the night.
SATURDAY DECEMBER 28TH 2013 DAY 2:
We left Reno and just hit hwy 80 for the day. We saw a whole lot of this, no I didn’t take a ton of pictures of it to bore you with.
We made a stop off of the side of the road at the Big Meadow Cemetery to snap a few photos of the frozen landscape.
Another dead end looking for a ghost town. I have got to quit driving hundreds of miles based on random internet sites and spots on maps. This one wasn’t too far off the beaten path at least. About a 40 mile round trip to see the middle of a field isn’t a huge loss.
Stopped by the California Trail Museum or something like that. Not a huge place but they had some cool stuff and it was a great parking lot to make dinner in.
Wendover Will says this was the last photo from the second day of driving. We did continue on to Salt Lake City where we spent the night though.
SUNDAY DECEMBER 29TH 2013 DAY 3:
From Salt Lake City we headed north to Ogden Utah. I hadn’t been to Ogden before, but it seems like a cool little town. We weren’t really here to check out the town though. It took two days, but we were finally ready to really start the trip and venture off the normal “GPS Route”.
We headed north up hwy 89 through Logan Utah.
Highway 89 winds up through the mountains and then intersects with hwy 30 which wraps around Bear Lake. We spent a bit of time exploring the area and snapping some photos.
Continuing down hwy 30 you eventually cross into Wyoming. Just after you cross the board you will run into the Ghost Town of Sage. Guess what? It’s actually still here!
Sage is perfect. It’s actually a proper ghost town. While it’s just off the hwy, the hwy is so seldom traveled that it hasn’t been destroyed by vandals. A perfect place to explore.
After leaving Sage our next stop was Kemmerer Wyoming. Kemmerer is how to the original JC Penney store, and probably some other stuff. We honestly weren’t here very long to find out. It was getting dark and we had more ground to cover.
We left Kemmerer after getting a local map and finding a “Scenic Byway”. Well about 20 miles in, that byway eventually turned to what was either a snow covered trail, or maybe just a snowmobile track since that’s the only thing we came across out here. Once again we were faced with the decision of believe the GPS and head out in the dark or do some backtracking.
MONDAY DECEMBER 30TH 2013 DAY 4:
Day 4 started off in Jackson Hole Wyoming. By 9:00 AM we were out playing tourist, and all I can say is wow! There are a lot of places that shut down in the winter, but this area has so much going on that it’s just as much of a destination in the winter as what I assume it is the summer. We spent the day driving around the Grand Teton National Park, and even venturing a bit into Yellow Stone until we hit the road block.
The views are second to none in this area. Not only the Teton’s themselves, but the entire area was really just an amazing place that would make a great destination all its own.
In addition to the scenery, we found a wide array of wild life around. Some I had better luck photographing than others. We probably should have budgeted more time for this one.
We left out of the area around sunset on hwy 26, and ended up in the town of Riverton, Wyoming for some dinner and a bit of sleep.
TUESDAY DECEMBER 31ST 2013 DAY 5:
The town of Shoshoni, Wyoming is our first stop today. I’ve heard it referred to as a “Semi Ghost Town”, but I don’t think it’s ever really been much bigger than it is now.
We didn’t hang out too long, but did drive around a bit to take in the sites.
Hell’s Half Acre was our destination for the day. This place is described as:
“Hell’s Half Acre is a large scarp located about 40 miles west of Casper, Wyoming on US 20/26. Encompassing 320 acres, this geologic oddity is composed of deep ravines, caves, rock formations and hard-packed eroded earth.”
What they don’t tell you is that its completely fenced in and you have zero chance of really seeing things. I tried a few shots over the fence by standing on the tires of the truck, but never got anything I was really happy with.
We continued through nowhere Wyoming on hwy 26 checking out the scenery and eventually hitting Casper Wyoming.
Casper was nothing more than a quick stop for lunch, before heading out of town. Our lonely highway had turned into Interstate 25 so at Orin we headed off on hwy 18.
Somewhere out side of the town of Keeline we came across this farmhouse in the perfect state of disrepair. Obviously we had to stop and check it out.
Yeah, like you wouldn’t have stopped to shoot this impromptu “Smokey And The Bandit” scene. Oh yeah and I snapped a couple of others while I was in Lusk Wyoming.
We finished off our new years eve with a bit more driving and meeting some new friends out on the road:
Wednesday January 1ST 2014 DAY 6:
What better way to start a new year than with some dead presidents? Well maybe if they were the paper kind it would be better. Anyway we arrived around 10 AM, and were actually kind of shocked to see that they were open. Maybe even more shocking was that we weren’t the first or only ones here.It was far from as busy as I remember it being years ago when we took a family vacation up here, but we weren’t the only screwballs to visit on new years day!
We spent what I feel is an appropriate amount of time here. As amazing of an undertaking as this monument was to accomplish, there is only so much time you can spend checking it out and taking photos.
From Mt Rushmore the start of the Crazy Horse Memorial is only about 15 miles away, so its a natural second stop. This monument seems to be taking an absurd amount of time to finish, but I’ve never tried to carve something with dynamite either, so what do I know?
The gift shop and museum seem to be the more recent focus of attention. Quite a few cool artifacts as well as ways to spend some money if you are so inclined. All and all a cool experience although I might recommend stopping by on a warmer day.
Speaking of visiting South Dakota in the winter…. While Mt Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Monument were open for business, that seemed to be about it. The rest of the area was on lock down. Some of this could have been simply because it was new years day. Most had “closed for the season” type signs hung however. I guess the tourist trade isn’t as happening in the chilly months.
Hot Springs South Dakota Our final town before leaving the state.
If South Dakota wanted to be closed, then that was fine, we’ll try our luck in Nebraska. We headed south on hwy 71 cutting through Crawford Nebraska.
In Crawford we found a bar and “The Other Bar”. As well as a restaurant that I don’t really remember the name of. Sorry guys, the burger was good though!
Just after turning on to Hwy 2 we stumbled across this School House. The clouds and snow really helped to give this an amazing look. Exactly the kind of find that make these trips worthwhile.
Hwy 2 eventually merges into 385 and takes you into Alliance Nebraska. The sun was starting to set as we got near Alliance, and then I noticed it. The tiny little sign for “Carhenge”. Somehow I had absolutely forgotten that this was out here. We did our best to make it through town while there was still a bit of light left to shoot this place.
I can’t quite explain what it is about this place, but it is an absolute must stop place if you are in the area.
With the sun set we left Alliance back on hwy 2 and continued into the dark until we arrived at our final destination of Omaha, NE.
January 2nd – 9th 2014 DAY 7 -14:
With a week of time to kill in the Big O (yes they really do call Omaha that) we wanted to get in a bit of exploring time. Jamie hadn’t done much in the area and there was quite a bit that has either changed since I lived here, or that I hadn’t bothered to look at when I was here.
Day 11:
Day 12:
A few more shots from downtown Omaha:
Joslyn Castle
Day 13:
Morrill Hall aka The University of Nebraska State Museum, also known as Elephant Hall.
January 10th – 11th 2014 DAY 15 – 16
The return trip. For the most part we did a straight drive back, but we did mange to capture a few good images on the way:
