 |
| Camping in Las Vegas, NM (National Forest) |
 |
| Palo Duro Canyon, TX |
 |
| Pups Painting the Cadillac with Texas Mud |
 |
| Cadillac Ranch, TX |
 |
| Showing my Texas Pride at Palo Duro Canyon |
 |
| Leading the pack in Allenspark, CO |
 |
| Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, CO |
 |
| The water was calling my name... |
 |
| Front Sign at the entrance to New Belgium |
 |
| Cool Bus at New Belgium |
 |
| Hot Springs at Montezuma, NM |
 |
| Earthship house (Taos, NM) |
Returned to the canyon and hiked a little (I found a red muddy stream to cool down in along the trails) before heading to Las Vegas, New Mexico.
Toured the Cadillac ranch and made our mark.
Storm clouds were allows around us, but we never seemed to get hit too bad. We went up county road 3 instead of 84 (missed it) from I-40 to I-25.
Las Vegas, NM: We made it to FS 261 by 5pm, set up camp (nearly full campsites), cooked dinner, and hiked the National Forest where I met a few new dog pals, and I
got to eat campfire food, yum.
In Hot Water of NM:
Our family jumped in the Montezuma Hot Springs off of St Rd 65 on the campus of United World College. The open tubs (110F) had just been cleaned and the water was too hot for me.
The next morning we headed to Santa Fe, and walked around the Plaza and accompanied our family to lunch at the Shed (hidden one of the many courtyards of the plaza). Loved Santa Fe. We meet some great artists and stepped into the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum ($8 admission and takes 45 minutes to see all) maybe another day. Loaded up and headed to Ten Thousand Waves Spa off of Hyde Park Rd in Santa Fe (where dogs are allowed at the private outdoor rooms with soaking tubs).
For our final night in New Mexico, we stayed at the Ten Thousand Waves in Santa Fe and the hotel gave us dog biscuits and our own futon beds with a fireplace. Highly recommended and dog friendly (2 paws up-my highest rating). We stayed in the New Moon room. We loved our own futon dog beds and dog biscuits. Our family wore Kimonos and climbed into the hot tubs and sauna. The cold tub was crazy cold (polar bear club cold-50F), perfect for me though. Enjoyed lying out and soaking up the rays. The beds were super comfortable Great selection of music and had the fire place lit that cool morning.
Next morning headed up to the spa once more, and left for Taos, NM and Colorado. We drove over the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge and saw the Earthship houses (totally weird homes) on Hwy 64. We missed a hot springs north of the gorge bridge due to the high winds and headed up to the Great Sand Dunes National Monument but the radio news announced that it was closed due to a wild fire on 160 acres. Felt like National Lampoons Vacation: after so much research and planning, the park was closed. So we stopped by the beer castle met the builder (in his word the servant of God). You can see it from 285 in Antonito, Co. He liked the Mary Jane.
John Denver is a liar:
The southern portion of Colorado is flat farmland. Beautiful country, we drove through the valley between Sangre de Cristo and San Luis Ranges to the hot springs at Valley View. The winds were still blowing and we set up camp next to the edge of the mountains. We went to the hot springs and tied up our Bud and me next to the pool, and tried to warm up our bones. It is June, cold and windy.
I luckily brought my winter jacket (because of other VT reviews) which I wore in the tent both nights since it dropped down to 28F. Chilly nights and no campfires due to the high winds and fire risk. I woke up at 2:30am and the winds were still, so I went to the sauna and hot tubs to warm up and it worked. The next morning I was shaking (for the first time) and tried to get in the bag with my momma. She unzipped her bag and covered me up. I started to shake like Mr. Bud does at 40F. Matriarch brought our beds, jackets and blankets (shoes and socks
too), and we sure needed it. I have never felt cold like that before, and I had to sleep in it. That morning it was so cold and windy.
The hot springs was fun, and it finally warmed up the day that we left for Estes Park.
We headed up to the mountains and stopped in Fairplay (originally South Park), and saw the old town, pictures of Mr. Hankey, and the kids of South Park.
Breckenridge is one of my favorite cities in Colorado. The Mountains cradled the town and had lots of beautiful forests and brick buildings. Bud and I went to the Barkery for some biscuits and met many well behaved canines on our walk to the coffee/sandwich shop (unknown name on the main street but they had a delicious broccoli and cheese soup).
Bud and I had never touched snow and they still have not touched it since we wanted to get to Estes Park. We drove some back roads through Central City which is a neat casino town, and saw more breathtaking views.
We made it to Allenspark (three restaurants-one with internet) and checked out our (Hideout) small and rustic cabin with a small cold stream nearby and hiking trails. The next day we spent the afternoon at the Estes Park Brewery for their Beer Fest, good beer. The Town of Estes Park did remind me of Gatlinburg, TN (both entrances to a National Park) because of all the stores and crowds of people on the sidewalk. We ate at the Ed's Cantina on the riverwalk but had to tie us outside of the patio fence by our table in the hot sun-health department rules. Silly!
Stopped by the Stanley Hotel to see what inspired Steven King and bought some presents, REDRUM.
On the road to Lyons (1 mi) from Estes Park just before the lake on the right, there is the dog park separated in three different areas. I saw the water and wanted to run right for it, but wet dog smell back to Houston is not the best smell in the car. I ran the obstacle course and played frisbee. A good day at the park (thank you Lion's Club and the city of Estes Park for build the park).
Sorry Folks We're Closed:
On our last northerly trek we stopped in Fort Collins (home of the microbrewery)- tried calling the brewery. No answer. We make it to the holy ground where the beloved fat tire is born, but it is closed. The beer is being made but no fresh tastes for us. Now was the time to returned to our beloved hot and humid state of Texas. We drove through Denver and got a great view of Mile High stadium (right on the interstate).
We spent the night in Raton, NM at the best Holiday Inn Express Hotel (pet rooms) with an indoor pool and spa open 24 hours, and goody bags (Even though Bud got a cough from sniffing the rugs). We ate at one of a few restaurants open after 8pm, Denney's and headed back to watch the finale of the Sopranos.
We leaved late that morning and stopped in Clayton, NM at the Eklund Hotel and restaurant, and (now) dogfriendly and too hot for us in the car (lovely hotel and restaurant though- must stop by- see the pictures of the Black Jack's hanging).
We grabbed some Subway, and eat by the dinosaurs; Clayton Lake State Park has the most dinosaur footprints than anywhere- amazing. We finally made it back home and crashed for a day-recovering from vacation.
Colorado was fun, but I am happy to be home in Texas.
