Colorado 9/21/07

Well, last years trip to Colorado just wasn't enough.  So this year I talked the wife into taking a trip out there. 

Instead of staying with my daughter, like last year, we were going high class... staying at a bed and breakfast in Salida. My wife had done her internet research, and found a very reasonably priced place. I found a place to stay the night in Nebraska and the rest is history. 

We had considered taking the motorcycle on a trailer so that we could ride some of the roads while we were out there, but my car was acting up, my wife didn't have a trailer hitch, and it was going to be pretty chilly... and I had enough chilly riding for one month (see the story about riding through three states just the previous weekend).  So, this was a car trip only.

Is there anything more boring than driving on I-80 through Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska? I think not.  The designers of the interstate must understand that because for the most part the speed limits are 75 mph.  So, we were keeping a good clip (80-90 mph, and the occasional 100 to blow out the carbon). My wife took the first 300 miles and I started driving after that. 

Before we knew it we had arrived at our stop for the night... a hotel in Lexington. What really struck us about the place was... the smell!  Holy Cow!  Or probably multiple cows accounted for that smell.  Not the Motel it's self, but the air around it. We must have been right next to a barn or something.  Good thing the motel was sealed shut so we couldn't smell it in our room once we got in.  

Next day we got up early, I took my shower, got dressed and then went down stairs to check out the breakfast selection.  Not bad.  There was cereal, coffee, juice, whole wheat bread for toast, and some sweet rolls. I went back up stairs to tell Sandy and... couldn't get in my room cause I forgot the room key... and Sandy was in the shower so she couldn't hear me knock.  So, there I was, stuck in the hallway.  Once I heard the shower stop I started knocking lightly (didn't want to wake the neighbors) and talking quietly at the door.  Saaaaaandy... she did hear me eventually.

So, we went down for breakfast.  I had a couple bowls of cereal... hey, they were small... and Sandy had some coffee and toast.  Then I had a couple sweet rolls... hey, they were small. It was still dark out while we were eating and the sun had just come up over the horizon by the time we were back on the road again.  More 90 mph.

We took I-80 to I-76 into Denver and then down I-25.  It was nice to be in the Mountains.  It was a beautiful clear day in the Mid 70's.  It was right around lunch when we hit Colorado Springs and started seeing the signs for the Garden of the Gods.  So, we followed the signs of 25.  On our way there we noted a Sonic Drive-thru and decided we'd come back and eat lunch there.  You know how it is... you always see the commercials for Sonic but there isn't one anywhere near Illinois... 

Up at the top of that cliff... you see the little hole... That's suppose to be two camels kissing or something like that.

Yeah, that's a couple climbers near the top of one of those rocks.  Looks like fun. I think there's a few birds at the top of that rock wondering how these guys flew up here.

After walking among the rocks we stopped in the souvenir shop to look at trinkets, bags of rocks, etc..  and then checked out the Restaurant on the premises... they had a beautiful view on the deck but not much menu selection, so we opted to stick to the plan and eat lunch at Sonic.  Eh... the food was good... but it looks better on the commercials than it really is.

We then continued down 25 until we got to 115.  The road is more scenic than 25 and it goes Southwest rather than straight South.  Not sure if we cut any time off, but it was a nice drive.  Actually Fort Carson takes up most of the land East of that road.

That brought us onto 50 West which was my favorite road.  It goes into the mountains, hugs the Arkansas river and it's just one curve after another.  But before we got that far we took a detour to Royal Gorge.  It was on our way, we still had plenty of time to get to Salida, so why not.  As we drove there we saw that you can rent a helicopter to take you into the gorge.  Sandy wanted to do that, but as we were going up the mountain she saw the helicopter come over a rise and then dive into the gorge.  That was the end of that idea. Well, when we got there we found the place was packed.  Being that it was Saturday It seems everyone was there.  There was literally no place to park.  Well, we just figured we'd come back on Monday... when there was no one there.  

We continued going West on 50...

Then there's me who decided to limb down the side and get out on one of the rocks on the river.  Ah yeah, that river bank was a lot steeper than it looked at first.

And the little blue spec on this photo is Sandy at the top of the bank.

We stopped a couple more times to take pictures along the way and by about 6:00 we made it to our bed and breakfast... well, we did take a few unexpected detours like when we should have turned on 285 instead of going straight on 50..  We got directions from a guy at a local gas station, but I guess we just were not listening. Once I knew for sure we had gone too far I turned around and stopped to ask a guy who was in his yard, right along route 50.  He gave us directions and we found our way there. 

We pulled into the long driveway leading to the house.  It is a beautiful place... pictures coming later... We ran into the caretaker who was working in the yard.  He welcomed us and we talked a bit.  We also ran into the dog, Buster, and several of the cats.  There was also horse stables in back and several horses in the pens and roaming the  range... 17 acres worth of it... Oh yeah, then there was the cows... Cuff and Link.... frankly I probably would have named them T-bone and Brisket... but to each his own.  We then went in and met the lady of the house.  There were also a couple people sitting in the outdoor hot tub sipping wine... alright then... that's living.  

They showed us to our room where we dumped our stuff and promptly went back out to ask where we could go to dinner.  They gave us a map of the area and showed us how to get to the historic downtown Salida area, where there were various eating and drinking establishments. 

We took off down the road which lead us through a wildlife sanctuary, which greeted us with this view:

I thought it was kind of curious that there was this big chimney in the middle of this natural wonder.  A blending of man and nature...

Then there was this cloud formation...

When we got to down town, we found that our first choice to eat was a bit crowded, so we drove around until we found one of the other places the caretakers recommended.  We were not disappointed.  Good hardy food, good atmosphere, and good service.

Later that night I took this beautiful shot of the moon hanging over the place we were staying at.  The blurriness from moving the camera actually make it look like a painting.  Could an artist imagine a better scene?

Well, I don't know... maybe this one from the next morning...

And on the other side was this.  There really was not enough light to take the picture, so it came out kind of grainy, but it was a beautiful sight... the orange sunrise just hitting the tops of the mountains and the clouds just hovering above... I could learn to wake up to scenes like that.

Well, that morning we had a great breakfast talking to some of the other guests.  There was a newlywed couple from Arkansas.  Apparently the guys father owns 160 acres of land down there. Nice.

Here's a shot of some of the horses at the bed and breakfast... nice view huh?

This cat looks cute right... one of the kittens running around the property... yeah it was cute until we picked it up and it stunk like crap... It must have been playing in the horse dodo.. !

So, Sunday we went to the dunes, on the way back we found this lake... actually at one time the entire San Louis Valley was a lake... which explains all the sand... 

The funny thing was that the wind is constantly from West to East across this valley.. That's why all the sand piles up in the dunes (look in the distance there)... So, if you want to go to the lake and hang out.. picnic or barbecue... you'd really have to fight the wind... so, all the picnic tables have shelters on the West side...

Monday we went to Royal Gorge... but we didn't go on the bridge because it's $26.00 per person to get into the theme part that's built around the new metal bridge.  And you can't just go see the bridge without paying.  So, we took this little train ride that took us near the Gorge.  Can you say TOURIST TRAP...

Next day we went to a town called Westcliff on the other side of the mountains from the San Louis Valley... The drive there was really nice...

So, here's a shot pieced together from three different photos:

As you keep getting closer to Westcliff you get further away from the mountains and more out in the grassy fields... Yes.. this side of the mountains has more grassy fields as opposed to the desert like landscape on the other side...  But trust me... as you go further south approaching New Mexico it gets pretty deserted looking...

I think this was on the way back from Westcliff... me wading in the Arkansas river... The water was cold and the current was strong even in the shallower sections.

Here's some more shots of the bed and breakfast...  This one actually shows the front 10 acres of the property.  I'm standing at the far corner from the house..

This day we went to St. Elmo's... an old mining town high up in the mountains... here's some shots along the way and when we got there...

This beautiful lake and meadow is way up on the mountain... totally secluded... only one road leading there..

Yeah, it was 21 degrees... don't let the sun fool you... if you stayed in the sun and out of the wind you were fine... but soon as you got in the shade... brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr....

This stream runs along the road that goes into St. Elmo's..

Nice life for a horse... nice life for non-horses too...

After we came back we had some time, so we went up to Monarch pass near the Monarch ski area... The continental divide...

Where I found this being towed behind one of those big campers...

I didn't get any shots.. but the Aspen trees along the road were absolutely bright yellow... When you drove within them it actually got brighter...

Here's an interesting shot in the morning... The neighbor was spraying his field.. and the water was changing to ice...

There's a whole day missing in here that we spend driving back down through Westcliff toward the New Mexico border... There's a lot of wasteland out there... We went as far south as Cuchara on route 12, then we too 160 across to Alamosa.  Had really good Mexican food in Alamosa.  Then we went to Del Norte and back up north to Salida.

Bunch of other things we did... including a trip to a winery... where we bought a whole case of assorted wines... and the Japanees temple we visited in Crestone...

All the green Chile I ate at every place I could find it... Went exploring some dirt roads to get near the tops of some of the mountains.. At one point I actually had to just back the car up cause there was no place to turn around...  I could write a book...

Goodbye Colorado