When Amanda got up, she said do we have to go home? Let’s just get the puppies and stay she exclaimed. This has been a lovely week to unwind and see some beautiful country. There hasn’t been much time just to sit and take it in, though. We have been blowing and going. When I said that to Amanda, she said well, we don’t just sit around at home either.
The balloons were out again this morning. I thought one might land in our backyard. They were very close and low. I noticed them by the blow torch sound again as I took the trash out. The dumpsters have a chain over them, I’m assuming for bears, since we had a message about bears and not leaving garbage out. I guess someone didn’t get that message. They left their trash on top of the dumpster door, which was scattered everywhere.
Our first stop was to pick up the purse and gift from the consignment shop. The owner was opening up early for us. Then, we stopped by and had a cup of coffee at the downtown shop we liked. Amanda grabbed our coffee while I sat outside to finish a post. I made friends this time. Denali, a golden retriever, was a very needy good boy, pawing at me when I would stop petting him!
Amanda mentioned the cinnamon rolls looked good. It didn’t take much convincing for me. She went and grabbed the maple espresso flavor. It was likely the best cinnamon roll we’d ever had. It was big plenty for sharing. Usually, I’m not too fond of the outsides of the rolls, but I enjoyed every bite of this one, especially the gooey inside.
We stopped at Wolf Creek Pass to get a picture, but no one around looked friendly enough to snap a pic for us. Especially the asinine bikers who came flying in with their music blaring. They abruptly pulled up, parking just feet from the sign and where we stood. We couldn’t even hear each other talk; the music was so loud. One parked sideways right behind the van. I purposely swung the front in by within inches to prove a point. I think it came across because by the look in his eyes!
We stopped at South Fork. There was a farmer’s market going on. I had it on the itinerary but forgot about it. So we made a U-turn to grab some veggies for when we got home. We never have groceries when we get home from trips. We also grabbed a couple of cheap hat pins and a ring from a vagabond who moved around with the weather, living out of his van.
We were backtracking a little from the silver thread byway day, but not for long. I took us to Hooper, a couple of miles out of the way, to see a different road that paralleled the far-off mountains. When I say far off, I thought they were within a few miles away, but the GPS showed 20 miles before we would even get on that parallel road! We made the turn and another far-off view of the Moo Italian we’d go through to get to Salida. This view was over 40 miles away, with no turn on the road either!
This was farming country with more alfalfa hay and beans of some type, I assumed. It was also desert country, just sage and not a blade of grass, so no cattle were around. The farming was only done via pivot irrigation. When looking to take this route, I checked a satellite to ensure the road wasn’t dirt. I noticed many pivots dotting the landscape. The speeds were Colorado slow, but I drove them Texas fast! Come on, it was straight for 40 miles, I said, trying to justify! Turns out, they only like to go fast on the curvy mountain roads, not the straight country ones!
It was pretty here in its own right, just different from being in the mountains. At least they had a view of them. We stopped in a little gift and coffee shop hole in the wall. The town Moffat, a population of 10 people probably! As we walked in, a guy said best coffee in Colorado. There was a sign on the restroom door about how expensive the plumbing was to upkeep. Another said if it’s yellow, let it mellow! I’m not sure about that, but it was delicious. It took us a minute to like it. It was a little stronger and hotter than we usually take it, but it leveled out nicely. We joked the hippy owner probably spiked it with cannabis from the nearby shop.
There was a rec shop not far from the coffee shop. I wondered what they were doing. As the sage turned to grass and the mountains got closer, it was apparent. Plenty of trails were around, and then we were in the mountains. Looking down to see the sky, I smiled, my kind of country now!
Salida was a bigger town than I expected and the largest in Colorado we’d been to on this trip. It’s didn’t seem huge, but a good size. It would be an excellent base for adventures. We hit a couple of thrift stores. I got a picture with Darth at one! The prices were expensive, so we had no great finds to take home.
As we left town, we stopped at a rec area to eat lunch. It was a very new park with a covered pavilion, picnic tables, and charcoal grills that hadn’t even been used. We had the hand pies made from the ragoût leftovers. They were good and eat well at room temperature.
As we left, I realized we were on a river, the Arkansas. We didn’t even know we sat not far from the river.
As we got closer to the gorge, the river canyon began to get deeper and deeper. Then, the river went under us, and we began to climb.
Amanda began to feel off; she’d thought the cinnamon roll was the culprit and eating would help, but it didn’t. She ended up taking a nap before we got to the Royal Gorge. That didn’t help either. I was rustling in the snack bag and needed something myself. She followed suit as we turned to head to the gorge. It began to feel like it was a theme park. The landscape was littered with billboards as we turned in. This is a privately owned bridge to nowhere.
The suspension bridge is the tallest in America and was the tallest in the world till 2001. The height is just under 1000 feet.
There is a lot of Texas history linked to the bridge. It is on old Texas land and was built by a San Antonina.
It was too touristy for us, the crowd looking like they were at Disney. We’d missed the touristy feel this trip until now. You could tell it was the beginning of a holiday weekend. It was a bit expensive in my opinion, again, a theme park. The ticket came with a gondola ride, though. We got in line and then realized how far of a walk it would be for Amanda, so we just walked out on the bridge and back.
As we neared the visitors center, Amanda began to feel worse. The trudge up the hill and steps to the car didn’t help. We sat in the car and had a grape snack, debating the layover. I’d planned for Amarillo, but it was 5 hours away, and it was almost 5 p.m. We decided to head for Amarillo and see what happened.
We stopped for gas in Raton, the turn-off I25 to head southeast. I was pretty sure we’d stopped for gas here on our way to Wyoming before laying over in Colorado Springs. I looked at the old pic, and sure enough, it was almost precisely the same time, too! Amanda was even dressed similarly, minus the jacket!
Being the same time and darkness a little later in the summertime. We got to see everything we missed in the dark from Pueblo down. It was nice to see Raton Pass on the day and much nicer to drive in the day.
After that, we ate on the road. Beef and Broccoli was on the menu, well, tofu and broccoli. It was good, and ate well at room temp also. I had to make a makeshift table in my lap from binoculars and a grocery bag to eat while I drove.
Amanda was done and ready to be out of the car. She still wasn’t feeling well. There were no decent hotels, the nearest being about an hour from Amarillo, so we decided to stick with the plan. I booked it last minute through the app, selecting late checkout.