I was up early this morning; so much for sleeping in! We didn’t sleep well, and it didn’t get cold enough for either of us. We like icicles to form on any body parts outside of the covers! We were up, but neither of us was stirring when Amanda got a text and started laughing. It was from a friend saying Have fun in Colorado with your Sancho. Referring to a post I made the other day about how Amanda didn’t have a sancho, it was just me without hair! Once she read it to me, we were both cracking up!
I noticed the email updates for the blog are only getting some of the pictures I load on the journal posts. So for the whole experience, go to the website to see all the pictures of our travels.
Since we weren’t in a hurry to get on the road, it was a leisurely get-up. We set out to a farmers market as our first stop. When we pulled up, it was obvious that it wasn’t happening today but Saturday. Uptown wasn’t far away, a nice square with tons of shops. We both found jewelry we liked within the first couple of shops. I bought a bracelet, and Amanda had her eye on a turquoise necklace. After that, we stopped in a hiking shop; we only came out with a chili cashew mix but had a nice talk with the owner. He had family with stores and shops all over where we’ll be going in the coming days.
It didn’t take long, only a few shops, for me to get tired of window shopping. I like buying, not looking at things we aren’t going to buy. This trip wasn’t a big spending trip; it was about the scenery, not the purchases. So, after looking at the tenth $3,800 squash blossom, I was done! The buy of the day was a pair of boxer socks half off! Boxer dog socks are our favorite breed, and two impatiently wait for our return home.
From there, it was to a the rail yard, and in a rail car repair facility turned into a farmers market. It was much less window shopping and buying veggies much more my speed. We came away with tons of fresh local veggies for the coming meals. Also, some delicious salsa and a dairy-free avocado crema, which was great.
There were a few food trucks around, so we looked for lunch. We passed on some roasted corn, which sounded good, but the $7 price tag for a tiny ear was too steep for us! We settled on some crispy fries smothered in red and green chili sauce, queso pico, and crema. They are great and still super crisp despite being drowned in sauces.
After we left the rail yard, it was cheap gas and a pick-me-up for the next stop. Costco for the gas and Starbucks for a refresher for Amanda. It was a first for me to use a door code to gain access to an inside restroom; quite odd!
Once we were through Española, it started getting pretty. We drove to a lake a friend had told me about. After that, we planned to stop by an amphitheater to get a picture. In 2017, on a mission trip, we had a picture of our fat selfs, so we wanted an updated photo, but it was closed.
So I thought Texas drivers were fast; I was driving consistently about ten over the slow New Mexico speeds and was getting lapped by New Mexico and Colorado plates! Maybe locals or not, but I wasn’t willing to chance a ticket; I did get one on our last vacation!
It was beautiful getting into Colorado and Pagosa. Our room was a newly built duplex nearly as old as the townhome we were in on our 1st holiday. I’ll try and get a tour video later in our stay. Amanda still doesn’t have all of her stuff put up anyway!
Once we found our room and unloaded, we headed to the grocery store. First, a bougie grocery store equivalent to a small-town Whole Foods. We’d been to one in Montrose back in November. It was health food overload for us! After that, we had to stop to grab a fewmore groceries.
As soon as we got back to the townhome, I started to cook, and Amanda began to put away groceries, a pretty stocked fridge and pantry for a vacation home I’d say! Dinner was a vegetable ragout over a bed of polenta. It was good and left plenty of leftovers to roll over into lunches over the next few days.
Tomorrow is the west side of the mountains road trip. We met some friends we hadn’t seen since they moved to Montrose years ago in Ridgeway. For the whole itinerary, you’ll have to check back tomorrow because I am seriously too tired to add much else tonight!
Response
Sancho🤭