Summer Intern: Bubble Bash, La Hacienda, and the Sandhills

Hello again! This past week has been filled with so many fun things to and to talk about. I went north of Sutherland up into the sandhills and got some awesome pictures of cows, the Bubble Bash was a blast to photograph (what a mouthful!), and I got to enjoy some awesome local Mexican food!

First off, the trip up into the sandhills was amazing. It is a 22 thousand square mile land of stabilized sand dunes. There is just so much open land, and even more cows! There were copious amounts of cows, prairie dogs, antelope, turkeys, birds, and even some cowboys walking the roads on their horses. But the neat thing about the sandhills is that the land is basically one big sandbox. But you would never know it. It is covered in grass that actually grows on the sand. Like what? To me this is just crazy. Who knew that grass, trees and other plants could grow in sand? We stopped and I got some pictures of the cows, and of course Murphy, the golden retriever

that I am staying with for the summer. I would highly recommend a trip up into the sandhills. Take some lunch, a camera, and a buddy because you are going to want to see this.

Sunday after church I splurged and went out to eat. I wanted to try something local. And I picked the right place. La Hacienda is rated the number two place to eat in North Platte on TripAdvisor, I thought it would be worth the try. La Hacienda is a cute little Mexican eatery in the downtown area. It was a little hard to see; the only signs they have are the ones that are on the building, but the restaurant is perpendicular and in the suite furthest away, so you would have to look very hard to find it. This wasn’t a problem for me because I was hungry!

I was there probably right at open, which is 11am. I was kind of disappointed with the chips because they were pretty cold rather

than being warm. My family always gets a bowl of queso dip beforehand, so of course I had to try theirs out. The salsa and queso were pretty darn okay. They were not bad by any means, but I’ve had

better.  But for it being in western Nebraska it is probably going to be the best you can buy.

When I go out to Mexican restaurants I always get the same dish. Flauntas. Which is basically a bigger version than taquitos. Now I might be biased, but seriously I have tried flauntas everywhere I go and the best place I have had them are at Villa’s Patio in Marion, Iowa. La Hacienda is a great contender though. They had juicy chicken and were fried perfectly. The ends were the crispiest part, as always, but the middle parts had a flaky outside and a fluffy interior. This is pretty bold to me (not that I am a Mexican food expert or anything) but all of the other flauntas I have eaten were crispy throughout. So it was nice to try it differently than other ones. The best part about flauntas is that they can be dipped in almost anything. I usually just eat them with lettuce and sour cream, but the fluffiness of the interior led me to dip it into both the queso and the salsa. Holy yummy. This was probably the best decision I made all day. No joke. The queso gave the essence of melted cheese, which is always a good thing, and the salsa gave them the lime taste. It was basically a Mexican fiesta in my mouth.

Now besides my food, the atmosphere was just okay. The music sounded like it came from an old western/Mexican themed cartoon that Disneyland would play to their guest while waiting in line for Splash Mountain. So yeah.

Later on Sunday was the Bubble Bash. I was deemed official photographer for the event, so of course I had fun! I got to watch so many little kids dance around and play in bubbles and see people run through giant bubble walls. I took 1,300 pictures during the event. That alone just tells you how many people were there and things

were going on. My favorite part was watching parents push their kids in strollers through the bubble wall at the end of the run. The event was a success as $5,000 was raised!

I have to add another funny thing about this place.

I was driving to the visitor’s bureau today for work and I pass an alfalfa field on my way there. All the sudden a turkey pops up out of nowhere. Full feathers out and everything. So I kind of slow down to see it, and then about ten more turkeys pop up. But just their heads, like they were peeking over the wall of plants to see what was going on. It was so funny I almost had to completely stop my car just to keep from going in the river.

This Thursday evening is the North Platte Children’s Museum’s fundraiser, the Twisted Fork. And boy am I excited. There are going to be local chefs there who are bringing their twisted version of their favorite childhood snack/meal. It is $35 to get in, and for all of the 21 and overs out there, there will be a cash bar. It’s at 6pm and a live auction will take place at 7:30pm. So bring your cash, checkbook, and ticket, because this is something that you will not want to miss.

Tickets are available at the museum or at Nebraskaland Bank locations.

And one last thing, are you following us on social media?? I’ve been posting so many neat things that are worth checking out. So keep up with us! The links are at the top of the page!

Link to Post: http://visitnorthplatte.com/bubble-bash-la-hacienda-and-the-sandhills/