North Platte, Nebraska – Kohler Trailer Sales, Holiday Inn Express, Good Life on the Bricks, Scout’s Rest Ranch, Canteen Grille

So… From Ogallala, Nebraska, we headed toward North Platte. Hubby spent the morning in Ogallala trying to get the trailer fixed, but it just wasn’t going to happen. We used a chain to tie up the back axel and off to North Platte we went. We turned off I-80 onto some back roads. About that time the little asked where we were. I jokingly said I don’t know… On a road somewhere in the middle of Nebraska!?!? About all I knew. I wasn’t even sure where we were headed other than North Platte which was 50 miles East on I-80.

Now if you don’t know why it matters that we lost the wheel bearing… here’s why… Do you see that gap in the wheel? That’s where the bearing sits. Now, I’m no expert! Trust me. But basically, that’s metal on metal plus the axel can be bent if you don’t take care of it properly. I won’t go into the details because I’m no expert. From Ogallala, they sent us to North Platte to Kohler Trailer Sales.

Kohler Trailer Sales
3821 W Rodeo Rd Ave
North Platte, NE

We pulled into their parking lot before lunchtime on Tuesday. They were full that day but told us they would get us on the books the next morning and try to get us back on the road. So we dropped the trailer and our truck off and headed to the Holiday Inn Express.

Holiday Inn Express
300 Holiday Frontage Rd
North Platte, NE

This time we had a double queen room. Now, I have to say, I think I liked the bathroom set up better in Ogallala, but this was a very nice room. This hotel had a pool as well. Due to Covid-19, they had some rules in place for using the pool. You were signed up for pool time and were allowed 45 minutes. They limited it to 18 people in the room (I think it was. I do remember it was a few more than Ogallala).

We love to ask the locals for places to eat. They know where the good ones are! We also prefer to avoid chain restaurants if possible. If you’re going to be traveling, eat what the locals eat!! Now this was kind of an unavoided trip but still… why not enjoy and make the best out of a bad situation. Now, we had the added advantage of my husband has a cousin that lives in North Platte. More on that in a bit!!

Good Life on the Bricks
402 N Dewey St
North Platte, NE

One of the places suggested was Good Life on the Bricks. We plugged the directions into the GPS and off we went. We had to park a block away because… if you notice… they’re doing a bit of road construction. I asked at the restaurant and they are going to put the bricks back down. 

There was both indoor and outdoor seating. We chose indoor.

These are truck beds… made into tables… I’m sold! We sat on the red truck bed :).

And these cups. Look at these cups.

Oh gosh, their appetizer list was to die for. I really wanted one of everything. But, we chose one…

So with the pizza choice. At the hotel, we got a menu for this restaurant. The first 2 pizzas on the menu caught our attention. Our waitress told us the most ordered pizzas were the Cream Cheese Pepperoni, the Crab Rangoon, and the Pulled Pork Mac & Cheese. So since we had bison sausage on the appetizer and Pulled Pork Mac & Cheese was one of the most ordered as well as one that caught our attention…

We went with Pulled Pork Mac and Cheese. Who didn’t see that coming? Totally worth it. I was a little sad they wouldn’t do a half and half type of pizza so we could try more than one… but. Yum!

And the little went with a Bagel cheese pizza. It was good too!!

Hubby works from home. Or in this instance, from the hotel. We drove him back to the hotel so he could work and I took the little out to explore North Platte. Our first stop was: 

Fort Cody Trading Post
221 Halligan Dr
North Platte, NE

It was right there just diagonal from the hotel. I really wasn’t sure what it would be. Turns out to be a little gift shop type place that also had a mini-museum in it devoted to Buffalo Bill.

Buffalo Bill was an American soldier, bison hunter, and showman. In 1883 he founded Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, a circus-like attraction that toured. 

From Fort Cody Trading Post, we decided to head to his ranch that lied just outside of town. I wasn’t really sure how far or where, so I plugged it into the GPS and off we went.

Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park Museum
2921 Scouts Rest Ranch Rd
North Platte, NE

So it is a state park so you have to pay for parking. If you are a Nebraska resident, it was $2 cheaper to park. We paid the fee to park and enter but due to Covid-19, you couldn’t tour the house or the barn. Just the outside.

I would be lying if I said I didn’t want to go inside this house!!

I really wanted to go inside the barn. I couldn’t though, thanks COVID.

After we left Buffalo Bill’s ranch, we headed back to the hotel. It was time to swim. And by the way, while Nebraska was hot, it was nothing like Missouri. Missouri is Hot and HUMID. This was a nice dry heat that only messed with my contacts.

We made plans to meet up with hubby’s cousin Shelly, her husband, her dad, and his wife. Shelly chose Canteen Grille. We were like, absolutely. 

Canteen Bar & Grille
2102 S Jeffers St
North Platte, NE

The really cool thing about the day we met up with Shelly happened to be the 3 year anniversary of my husband’s (and Shelly’s) grandmother’s passing. So while she lives 8 1/2ish hours from home, she got to be with family. Cool, right? Devine intervention.

Currently, their menu is smaller, as are most restaurants. But the food was definitely good!!

I went with Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo. (The little had that minus the chicken.) I also had a salad with ranch dressing.

Hubby got a Ribeye, rare, side of fries and Brussels sprouts.

And I made Shelly take a selfie with us :). She asked what we had done during the day. The little and I told her. She said normally they bring in a lot more entertainment during the summer, but because of Covid-19, all bets were off. I’m pretty sure that seems to be the theme of 2020.

Scooter’s Coffee
1400 S Dewey St
North Platte, NE

The next morning we hunted out a Scooter’s Coffee. After we raved the day before about how good the coffee and muffin were, hubby wanted the chance to try it.

Mocha Frappuccino and a Double Chocolate Muffin. I’m here to tell you, that double chocolate muffin was AMAZING!

The little wanted her picture taken with daddy.

Hubby and I had to get a picture of us together in Nebraska for our state travel map. The little took a bunch of pictures of us. 

Kohler Trailer Sales

They were able to get our trailer fixed. We then loaded up our trailer.

Some people ask why we didn’t drive the truck home. Well… because it needs new tires. The truck runs great. I mean we did drive it 50 miles. But new tires. Look at that.

We were on the road by about 1:15 pm homebound. Around 5 pm when hubby was off work (he worked from the front seat) he took over for a few hours. I took back over in St. Joseph, MO, and drove the rest of the way home. We pulled into home at midnight. Our truck has one heck of an air conditioner. It was hilarious because hubby was the first out of the truck. He “complained” about the sudden hit of heat. I thought it was because of our a/c but when I jumped out of the truck, it definitely was the Missouri Humidity.