Mary2C

Thanks in advance for your help.

I think we are planning to do too much driving, but I'm not sure.

Arriving Cheyenne, WY late Friday afternoon, plan to walk around the town on our own or visit the old west museum if it is still open.

The next day we plan to drive to Nebraska. Will take the interstate to Sidney, then get on the scenic road that was once part of the Oregon Trail. Take the road to Allianc, NE to visit the Carhenge site (tacky, yes, that's why we want to visit there). Might spend 30 minutes at Carhenge.

Then backtrack to the Scottsbluff National Historic site. Not really sure how long to plan there.

If possible, would like to visit Fort Laramie and then head back to Cheyenne.

Looking at maps, this seem to be around 500 miles of driving, plus touring in one day. Is this nuts or is it possible? Any suggestions of what to cut -- Carhenge? Oregon Trail route? Ft. Laramie? We don't have any other days because we are leaving Sunday.

Thanks again for your help and suggestions.

Mary C.

sinehat

500 miles would really make a day of it, at least for me. Getting an early start, say 5 or 6 am would help. It's been a few years since I was out there, but as I recall, there really isn't much to see between Cheyenne and Sydney, so that could be done very early in the morning. At Sydney, there is the Cabella's store right off the interstate that even if you don't do any hunting or fishing, is still pretty interesting for all the stuffed/mounted animals inside. Their website would give you an idea whether it would interest you.
Carhenge I've been to, and yeah, pretty tacky. 30 minutes would be more than enough time. Would make for a few goofy pix, but it wouldn't be the end of the world if you didn't see it.
The trip would make for a full day. Good scenery, especially for history buffs with the N.Platte and all. Enjoy.

Mary2C

Thanks for your reply sinehat. I appreciate your imput.

With a starting time of 5-6 a.m. I think we're going to rethink the trip. Maybe cut out the Oregon Trail part? Drive Cheyenne to Kimball, NE then take the road Alliance to Carhenge (don't want to cut that if we don't have to) then back to Scottsbluff? I'm thinking we can visit the covered wagon trails either in Scottsbluff or Ft. Laramie.

Or I could build a time machine and/or transporter and not worry about our time and travel distance issues.

Tess

Mary,
Greetings from Scottsbluff. I think your last post is probably more realistic in terms of time. You can see the wagon ruts at the Scottsbluff National Monument. You'll want to cut over to Hwy. 92 on the way to Alliance and see Chimney Rock--get back on Hwy. 26 by Bayard and it will only be a detour of 10 miles or so. Carhenge is fun--so campy and just a kill sitting by itself on the prairie. When you're in Scottsbluff, take time to drive up the monument and walk around. From the top you can actually see Ft. Laramie and of course, the entire valley. Let me know if you have any other questions--have a great trip.

Mary2C

Thank you Tess for replying. It's always great to get the info of a local resident.

Ok, I think we chopped the driving down to around 300 miles. While it still seems like a lot of miles for one day, I think we can manage it.

The updated plan
Drive from Cheyenne, WY to Scottsbluff, NE via Kimball, NE and tour the Scottsbluff National Monument. If we feel like it, we'll detour to Carhenge. Afterwards we'll drive to Fort Laramie and tour the site. Then back to Cheyenne.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a place to have lunch in Scottsbluff? Nothing fancy, just quick and simple (but better than fast food) near the monument. Or is there a restaurant at the site?

Also, could someone recommend books and/or movies of the area. All I can think of is "O Pioneers" by Willa Cather. Any others?

Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions!

Tess

Mary,
Do you like Mexican food? Scottsbluff has a sizable Hispanic population and we're lucky enough to have some great authentic Mexican restaurants. Rositas and Mi Ranchito are two I'd recommend. If you're interested I will be happy to give you directions there from the Monument--there is no food on site at the Bluff.

The fictional book 'Goodnight Nebraska' takes place in this area--it's a good read. I'd recommend books by Mari Sandoz. They're set in the sandhills around Alliance where Mari lived all her life. They capture the early 20th century history of the area as well as any author I've ever read.

When are you leaving? Hopefully not this week--I'm just walking out the door for San Diego and will be computer-less for a few days. I'll think more about books and places to eat--I hope you enjoy our neck of the woods

Mary2C

Thanks Tess for the recommendations.

The trip is planned for June and I would love any and all help I can get on this.

Thanks again.

Mary C.

Mary2C

Going soon and getting excited! Woo-hoo. Any more rec. from anyone?

Thanks.

Mary2C

We're back from our trip and have a short report. I'm not sure if it's better to reply to the post or start a new one. I was thinking since I asked questions here I should respond here.

First, thanks to Sinehat and Tess.

We arrived in Cheyenne in the early afternoon on Friday. We took the trolley tour ($8, $7 for AAA members) and it was well worth the money. About an hour but the driver/guide knew alot about the town and even had photos to show. Because we arrived late in the day, we didn't have time to tour the Old West museum (I forget the name of it), the state musuem and the botanical gardens. Frontier Park and Holiday Park (both on the trolley tour) were amazing. Residents there are lucky to have two wonderful parks intown.

Saturday we left early and went to Scotts Bluff National Monument in Nebraska. I think it took about 90 minutes to drive there. There was about no traffic (it was early) and the roads are flat and straight and you can see for miles. The speed limit was 75 mph which helps cover the distance.

Scotts Bluff National Monument is a gem. The rangers were very helpful and wanted us to enjoy our time in the park. After watching on the news last night (I think) about all the budget short falls for the national parks, I'm tempted to write my congressman and senators to see if I have any influence to increase funding (long shot, since I don't donate to any candidates). You can drive or hike to the top of the bluff and look to almost Omaha. The views are wonderful and the scenery amazing. It is amazing what the pioneers went through heading west to start a better life. Also on site is a wagon the pioneer emigrants used. The size is 4 feet by 12 feet: Smaller than a Chevy Surburban. We saw Chimney Rock in the distance which is amazing in itself since it's about 25 miles away.

After looking all around the site we next heading to Ft. Laramie. My guess is it's about an hour away. We stopped for gas and lunch along the way and I wasn't really timing the distance. Ft. Laramie was established in the 1800's as a fur trading site then sold to the US Goverment in the 1850's (I think). There was a lot of history there I didn't get in school. I'm not sure if it was mentioned in class or if I wasn't paying attention. Since we were there on a Satureday there were some demonstrations of life in the fort in olden times. REenactors in period garb and demonstrations that made it earier for us to understand what the emigrants lived through. We didn't think we would spend much time there, but that was wrong. As with Scotts Bluff, we ended up spending several hours and could have spent more.

The rangers at Ft. Laramie pointed us to an area where we could see ruts from the Oregon Trail and REgister Cliff. After 150 years the ground is still worn in areas where the wagon trains had to go single file to go over the bluffs. One pamphlet said the ruts are 5 feet deep in places. we didn't see that, but they were maybe 3-4 feet deep. AFter visiting the ruts we headed over to REgister Cliff. Emigrants wrote notes to followers here in a sandstone mesa. I was enjoying looking at the historic writing and was amazed they survived as long as they have with newer additions every year. Seeing grafiti from 1850's is exciting, seeing grafiti from 1999 isn't. After this we heading back to Cheyenne.

We stayed at the LaQuinta off of I-25 and Lincolnway highway. Room was fine but if you are a light sleeper you might want to pick another place because you can hear road and train noise all night long. You won't hear any noise from the hallway or ajoining rooms though. The LaQuinta offers a breakfast with bagels, muffins, cereal, juice and make your own waffles in the morning. It also has a pool. The hotel was very safety aware because you had to use you room key to enter the building from the parking lot. We picked the LaQuinta because it was the cheapest I found through a web search.

Restaurants we ate in weren't many. Friday night we ate a steakhouse the Cheyenne tour guide recommended. I don't remember the name of the place but the 2 of us had steak dinners with potatoes and salads for $25 before tip. The smallest steak was 12 ounces I believe. 16 and 18 ounce steaks were common on the menu. Satureday morning breakfast at the hotel. Saturday lunch onthe road. Satureday dinner at teh San Pedro Mexcian restaurant on Lincolnway. It was recommed by the hotel. Very good and full of locals. We arrived arround 7:15 Saturday night and the place was hopping but able to seat us right away. By the time we finished dinner the place was near empty. They had combo platters in the $6-7 range. As with most all Mexican restaurants you are greeted with a basket of chips and salsa. The meal was enormous or maybe I ate way too many chips.

Sunday morning up early to hit the road. Had hoped to see Vandevoo state park but it was about 70 miles away from Cheyenne and in the wrong directions. And wished we had arrived earlier so we could have visited the museums in town. And we didn't even try to visit the military base since neither one of use has military id.

All in all, Cheyenne was a good weekend destination. I don't think I would want to vacation there during Frontier Days or in the winter, but it's a nice little town clinging to its roots.

plymouth

Mary2c This sounds familiar. Was 30 minutes too long at Carhenge?