Heading North

We were sitting in our retro motel room in Tucumcari when we decided to leave RT66 and head north towards the mountains. We got out apple maps and selected a rural route to Taos, New Mexico. It is absolutely amazing how flat it is out there….until its not! You literally can see for miles. It’s no wonder why some people who visit the northeast from this region can feel claustrophobic because we are lucky if we can see a few hundred feet down the road. At one point, we were headed toward a plateau, and we started driving up and up and up. The views behind us were stunning. We reach the top of the plateau and go to look behind and you cannot tell that we ever climbed a thing. Everything was now on this new level.

Neither Randy nor I have ever been to Taos. As we approached the region, the homes changed to adobe. The color of the adobe sometimes varied between sunset and honey. We got the last room at the Taos Inn – one of the oldest inns in town and in the center of everything. They had great margaritas and that evening, they had an incredibly talented musician playing. It was great to hear live music again. The town was really cute and very walkable. Lots of galleries, eateries and unique shopping all housed in adobe buildings. Before leaving the area, we took a ride out to the Rio Grande gorge. It was closed to pedestrian crossing but you could drive a car over it, park and walk to the edge. According to our breakfast waitress, too many peole have jumped over the three foot high railing to their deaths. She also added that it’s always the tourists. Because they don’t want to change the nature of the bridge, they are planning on hanging a giant net underneath to collect any would be jumpers……my first thought was ….would you rather jump to a quick death or land in a net where you might never be found and starve to death? LOL

After Taos, we continued to head north and entered Colorado. Another state to check off. Both Randy and I each have nephews who have made Colorado their home. Randy texted his nephew and said we were traveling xcountry and would they be able to have dinner with us. Justin was like sure, when? Next week? Nope….how about tonight. He and Penn were happy to oblige us. We arrived at their very cool house, met their furry kids and luckily, their son Turner was home from college. We had a great time catching up on their family. Everyone is busy chasing and making their dreams come true. It is obvious that they have made a great life for their family in Colorado Springs.

The next day, we drove up to Boulder Colorado where we met up with our nephew Ron, his wife Jenn and their furry kids Wyatt – old golden lab and Jake the pointer. We spent a night with them at their Boulder home and went on a short walk which had beautiful views of the valley. That was my first real hike! We did approx 3miles at 6,000ft. My new hip was awesome! Thank you Dr. Canfield! Jenn had me use her walking poles and they really helped. We ended up purchasing some for both Randy and I for our journeys in the National Parks! Fun fact about Jenn….she has competed in 7 Donkey races! I mean, she competes in all kinds of things but we had never heard of Burro racing. Its a Colorado tradition from the days of the miners trying to race back to town to put in their claim. Sometimes the burros want to run with you, sometimes they don’t. Randy and I both want to come back to cheer her on one day! On Sunday, we followed Ron and the pups up to their log home in Fraser Colorado. Right before covid, they found the mountain house of their dreams and made it theirs. It’s a beautiful log home with unbelievable views from each window. Here’s the best part….She had a she shed built which she uses as an office and they have a big pole barn which looks like a bike, ski, boating, fourwheeling, woodworkshop storage center. I could tell how envious Randy was not just to have all that space for toys but all the toys too! I was really hoping to see a moose or some exotic creature, no such luck…..so Wyatt went and found a leg bone and brought it to the house to share! Once again, another nephew and his wife have made an incredible life for themselves in Colorado! I just wish that Colorado was closer to New York so we could have more time with both families!

Our last stop before hitting the National Parks was a small town called Ouray Colorado. Ron recommended us spending a night at the Wiesbaden Hot Springs Lodge. The lodge has a vapor cave as well as a hot springs pool. The water temperature ranges 102-108 degrees. They were first discovered by the UTE people who thought they were miracle waters. The original house was called Mother Buchanan’s Bath house and was built in 1879. She encouraged the miners to soak away their aches! We took advantage of the caves and pool several times soaking our travel aches away! Its got the cutest little cowboy town too! We had been eating a lot of Mexican and barbecue so when we asked the reception for a dinner suggestion and her first mention was a Thai restaurant, we hoofed right there and had a great meal!

Closing thoughts about Colorado…..it’s quite beautiful, it’s filled with young healthy and active people who put a lot of value on quality of life, It has great Mexican food, over 400 craft breweries, is home to two very special families which we wish lived closer to home, build roads over, under and through mountains and lastly….doesnt always believe in guardrails! YIKES!