A Winery, a Brewery and SCENERY!

When we left Cheyenne, WY we had a couple of Harvest Host stops scheduled on way to our next campground in Cody, WY. Our first stop was Table Mountain Vineyards in Huntley, WY. We enjoyed learning the inside scoop and challenges about another small business. This winery was run by a mother and son team. Luckily, they do not grow ALL of their grapes for their wines on their vineyard because they experienced a poorly timed and consequently devastating frost this past October which decimated this year's crop of grapes. So not only did they have a beyond slow year due to COVID-19 last year, but Mother Nature had her say as well; as everything looked fine until late Spring (I think that's what they said), when they learned that their grapes were shot for the year... Some of the various types of grapes they use for their wines they purchase from a nearby vineyard which luckily didn't meet the same fate. They also grow and sell hay on their land which (thankfully) gives them another income source. And to add an exclamation point to some of the craziness of this time in our world, while we were there they were trying to bottle some of their casked wine from last year and they were pulling their hair out because they were having difficulty getting their mitts on bottles because there's a damn BOTTLE SHORTAGE...UGH!!!!! But they offered us a scenic place to park our trailer, and let us use their shady deck area to eat during the hot weather. I bought a couple of bottles to support their efforts (despite my lack of storage).

The next day we were off to Casper, WY. On our way we reconnected with Rte 20 in Lusk, WY - a stretch which we had previously driven on on our way TO Cheyenne. On this drive I noticed that there are a LOT of "Springs" towns here in the great state of Wyoming. We saw signs for Rock Springs, Hawk Springs, Hot Springs, Cold Springs, Lost Springs (with a population of a whopping 4 people!) ... Anyway, I'm guessing there are a lot more but that was pretty significant in our brief little ride - so much so that I felt like I was in a scene from Forrest Gump rattling off all the "Springs"names!!!!

Our entry into Casper was noted by an eye-catching statue of four men drilling for oil. I later learned that Casper is called "The Oil City" - hence, the statue and a lot of the themes around the city. We had reservations at Gruner Brothers Brewing Company in Casper. This was a cool brewery with a bunch of harvest host parking spots and TONS of beer! They had big vats of grain stored on the premises and big vats of beer being made inside - not to mention the Gruner Bros Brewing trucks that were being loaded in the parking lot for delivery to Wyoming stores. The ambiance inside was beautiful (and clever) with fans in the shape of their beer caps and beautiful wood beams etc.. Aside from supporting them by ordering a flight of beer and snacks in the afternoon, we returned for dinner and although disappointed they were out of their amazing sounding steak, we enjoyed lasagna and pizza. We chose to eat inside due to the heat and the nice ambiance, but the view overlooking our trailer was pretty cool too (included in pics). The beer was yummy and I bought myself a 6 pack of their Salt Creek Citra IPA for my cooler (two thumbs up for my beer drinking friends out there!!)

On 7/21/21 we were off to Cody, WY. While driving out of Casper we passed by "Poison Spider Rd" - I was pretty confident that if I were in search of a place to live I would TOTALLY pass by THAT listing!!! (Am I right? Who the heck would want to live on Poison Spider Rd??!!!) We drove through Wind River Canyon that had big high massive rocks with trees scattered throughout and an impressive trail close to the highway. In Thermopolis, WY we ended up taking Rte/Hwy 120 instead of Rte 20 because I messed up my co-pilot duties being focused on interpreting my stupid GPS instead of being the Rte 20 Champion! It didn't help that I didn't realize that our destination of Cody, WY was actually ON ROUTE 20!! However, the drive there provided some exquisite views. My brilliant hubby pulled over as we were oohing and ahhing so that we could take in the scenery while having a quick lunch break. It was a beautiful drive and it took us safely to our next destination of Cody, WY.

Editor's Note: Quick lunch break is me going in the trailer and getting a couple of whole wheat wraps, squirting on some Gulden's mustard and adding some turkey meet from the deli that is in our fridge ...VOILA - there's lunch!