Thanksgiving this year was spent in the great state of Nebraska. It had been far too long since Ethan and his dad shared a Thanksgiving meal so Ethan and I loaded up Xterra and we left on Tuesday to drive to Denver. Wednesday we drove from Denver to Craig, NE. (Think rural South-East NE.) Trust me when I say, we were happy to finally make it to Nebraska.
I saw a sign for a Petrified Wood Gallery in Ogallala and thought it might be nice to stretch our legs.)
We stopped in Grand Island and ate dinner at The Chicken Coop. Talk about really good burgers... but not the best. You will find out shortly.
We made it to Craig late Wednesday. Thursday was spent touring Craig, playing monopoly, and of course eating. I realized right before we went to bed that we didn't have a single "Happy Thanksgiving" picture...
Friday we decided to do a bit of Black Friday shopping in Sioux City. (As an added bonus, we got to add 2 more states to our lists.)
Saturday morning involved the most delicious pumpkin pie french toasts, many goodbyes and a group picture or two. It also involved Ethan putting a cat sticker on my window.
Ethan liked the old train tracks on the way out of town so we took a picture or two.... we also liked the Ga Den Center.
We also stopped in Central City for a bit of thrift shopping. I don't have a picture of our lovely finds, but they included 3 plastic Christmas trays and 2 hats for $1.33.
Back in Grand Island for lunch, we stopped at the Cooney Island Lunch Room. Pretty tasty... and delicious Sioux City Cream Soda.
When we saw the sign for "Hastings, The Birthplace of Kool-Aid" you know we weren't going to pass that up. I was hoping for the chance to purchase all sorts of strange exotic flavors of Kool-Aid. Instead they wanted $2.25 for a bookmark. Yeah right Kool-Aid, sucker someone else.
We also detoured to see Buffalo Bills Ranch....
In Denver we went to dinner at "Duffy's Cherry Crickett." Talk about the best. burgers. EVER. This place was packed. We had to wait 35 minutes for a table for 2. We started our meals with Macaroni and Cheese wedges. (heaven.) and then we customized our burgers. Ethan swears it is the best burger he has ever had. I opted for the Turkey Burger. Sorry Maddox, you have been replaced as my favorite turkey burger.
After a fresh nights sleep on a real bed, we woke up in beautiful Denver. Ready for the Jack-N-Grill 7 lb breakfast burrito challenge.
We are talking about a burrito the size of a baby. Literally. 3 lbs of potatoes, 1/2 lb ham, 1/2 lb cheese, a dozen eggs, onions and smothered in green chili. We didn't come close to eating it... In fact, it fed us for another 6 or 7 meals. (Boy was I happy Wednesday morning when Ethan FINALLY finished it off. It was sort of a heaven when I didn't feel obligated to eat it for lunch or dinner Wednesday) I digress.
Please notice the size of the "to-go" box...
While we were there, a lady in her 40's ate the entire burrito. For her 7th time. The answer to the question in your head is, No, she was not obese or even heavy set. She was really skinny. A bit more about the challenge. If a guy finishes the full burrito himself, he gets it for free and his picture on the Wall of Fame. If a lady finishes the full burrito herself, she gets the burrito for free, her picture on the wall, and she gets to eat at Jack-N-Grills for the rest of her life for free. Ethan desperately wanted me to finish it on my own.
On the way out of Denver we stopped at Buffalo Bill's grave site. Didn't you know we were such Buffalo Bill fans? Neither did we. It also helped that the gift shop had homemade fudge....
At the gift shop, we also found what determines a good women.
We loved driving through Vail, Colorado and seeing the all the people hitting the slopes. Ethan was praying for the interstate to close so we would be stuck there and have to rent equipment and take a run or two.
What did Ethan eat for lunch you ask?
It was dark when we got to the border on our way to Denver, so we settled for a Leaving Colorado picture.
The drive ended with a couple of snow storms. I drove through the first storm and I do believe it was more stressful for me than for Ethan.
We had an amazing break with lots of fun. A big thank you to the Nebraska Zanders for such a great Thanksgiving. And for the most delicious cranberry sauce. ever.
Let me start by saying that i hate nebraska, but somehow you two made that trip look really fun.
ReplyDeleteI can't stand how big that burrito is/was. And i am with efan cause i wish you would have finished the whole thing. I love all the photos. and you.
and we arrive in utah on the 18th and fly out on the 31st. i desperately hope to see you sometime in those 13 days. Lo needs some fairy godparent time (did efan know he automatically gets the job by marrying you?), and i some best friend time.
xoxo