As I walked to the van this morning, I could smell teriyaki and see the stain on the asphalt! I even washed it off with water yesterday. I heard something like a blow torch and was confused because it sounded above me. When I looked up, a hot air balloon was not more than 100 feet above! Then I heard another, which was farther away with one by his side. Amanda said after the gondola, it’s a hard pass for her!
The friends we met with for lunch told us that the locals hate Texans. So naturally, I wore a cap with an outline of Texas proud today. It was a gift from friends who would be proud I was sporting it up here! There are a lot of Texas license plates around here. Many of the trucks parked with empty trailers today were Texans on the trails in their off-road buggies. All of the Texas-plated trucks were nicer than any with Colorado plates. Maybe that’s why they dislike us, or perhaps they are more fiscally responsible!
It’s been so lovely there hasn’t even been a TV turned on since we arrived. Amanda kills me at home with the TV in the bedroom. I like to get in bed and sleep, not watch anything. Mainly because she’ll start something, fall asleep in the first 20 minutes, and I’ll end up watching the whole movie! I’ve enjoyed the break.
As we were east of Pagosa, the scenery changed to more mountains quickly. I asked Amanda why are we staying out in the ghetto! It’s beautiful where we’re at, just not right in the mountains.
Our first stop was an overlook on a hard switchback south of Wood Creek pass. We had a selfie we wanted to recreate from 5 years ago. Amanda held her phone to match it, and I snapped a few. Then, once we looked, it was flipped. We tried a different spot, but that wasn’t it either. Then, I finally found the right angle to get. We wanted one at the Wolf Creek pass, but it needed to be taken by someone; no one was around despite the many cars there. I guess they were hiking.
The start of the Silver Thread scenic byway starts at South Fork. This was a nice small town; all the towns on the route were small except for Gunnison. From South Fork, it was on to Creede, Lake City, and then Gunnison.
Leaving South Fork, I noticed railroad tracks on the old D&RGW railroad. The Southern Pacific acquired this railroad. Then SP was acquired by Union Pacific, the largest railroad in the states and my employer. These tracks ran right next to the Rio Grande. I bet that was a pretty run to make back in the day!
Next stop was Creede, heavily influenced by mining as all of these towns seemed to be. But Creede had a mining museum. We didn’t make it there but stopped by the visitor’s center. The most unfriendly lady worked there, not saying a word to us while we were there! The town just seemed rough. Not a stone’s throw from the visitor’s center were some rundown and nasty looking single-wide trailers. The landscape wasn’t as pretty here, either. Changing to almost no trees on the mountains.
I guess I never realized that the Rio Grande came up this far. Hence the name of the rail line, Denver and Rio Grande Western. We stopped by an old bridge going over the river with a road closed on it. I wanted to walk down to the river and get a few pics. I told Amanda to go out on the bridge so I could get a shot down the bottom. She questioned the sign; she’s a good girl and a rules follower, not a rebel like me. It told her it was just for vehicle traffic, and she bought it, but I secretly wanted her to get busted by the law for walking out there!
We got a couple of really good pictures of each other but Amanda snapped an aman zing one of me on the bridge.
The next stop was North Clear Creek Falls. It was on a dirt road, not a few miles off the main drag. Being the rebel, I followed the well-worn trail that hopped the fence and took me to the top of the falls. Amanda hung back for this one.
We passed over the continental divide once again. It’s incredible how guardrails are pretty much nonexistent up here. Colorado is just like, may the odds be ever in your favor. Maybe they are just hoping all the Texans will just drive off the cliffs!
There was a summit we could see that was over 13k. The heightist we made it was Slumgullion Pass at 11,530. The north side, the side we went down, has the steepest grade of any continuously paved road in Colorado at 9%. The terrain drastically changed at this point, too, getting more rocky and red.
We made it about 30 minutes before the Nepali place we wanted to eat at closed. We had a big spread; I ordered an array of dishes! Papadums, thin crispy chips, vegetable samosas filled with potatoes and peas, garlic and plain naan, and Dahl, a lentil soup, were the appetizers. We then got vegetable momos, Tibetan steamed dumplings, and veggie Thukpa, thick noodles in broth, and loaded with vegetables. It was all good, and we left stuffed. The best thing about being plant-based is we’re weren’t miserable, though.
We hit a few thrift stores but no good finds. I only came away with a Polo button-up for $5. The guy checking me out was a bit off. I told Amanda this when we left, saying he might not have been there mentally. She said he was probably high. Yep, that was it! We hit the main drag, and there were a few more thrift consignment shops and a turquoise shop.
We needed a coffee pick me up and squeeze in right before they closed. They had local honey, we don’t eat refined sugar regularly, and a house-made lavender syrup, which made for a delicious latte. It turns out they roast their beans there, too. There was a lady when we came into the coffee shop that was eyeing Amanda. She looked her up and down and said Nice then walked off. This wasn’t for Amanda to hear she was just talking to herself. I’m very observant of things like this. I people-watch just like my father did!
We had to take a detour down an almost 20-mile dirt road. Amanda disapproved of my speed on the dirt road. I told her I grew up on ranch road, none of which was this well maintained. She barely noticed anyway she was out before we turned onto the dirt road and only up for a second in it. I was going to take advantage! It was cattle country we were going through. It made me a little sad when I got a picture, and my first reaction was to send it to dad.
After the dirt road, it opened up with good roads and higher speed limits. This country reminded me of the drive north of Rawlins, Wyoming. Flat with far-off hills and no trees. There was a little construction, and we were stopped behind a logging truck. If you’re a product of the 80s or 90s, you should have a fear of this after watching Final Destination!
We were up and over the continental divide again. Coming down was a bit less scary than the other spots. It was long and straight with a couple of big sweeping curves. The cruise controls would get about 6-7 mph over downshifting, trying to keep the speed at bay. Once at the bottom, there were many alfalfa fields. I loathe bailing alfalfa hay. I always had to do it between 11 pm and 2 am where we are because the excessive heat makes the leaves brittle and fall off if the moisture content isn’t just right. Amanda missed most of this sleeping for about an hour till we stopped for a bathroom break and gas in Saguache, which I should have asked the attendant how to say!
We were both full and decided not to cook dinner; instead, we ate tortillas, some salsa, and nondairy avocado crema we got in Albuquerque at the farmers market. It was a good snack. We finished off the somos as we had leftover, too. For dessert, I toasted and brûléed some peach bread and peaches we picked up at a local farmers market.
