Trip Reflections

In looking back at our trip, it's clear we enjoyed ourselves. We really like traveling, and we miss the days of dragging a trailer around the Southwest. But we learned some things this trip about traveling.

It was the high tourist season in Colorado, and I don't think we want to go back there again this time of year -- at least, not to the really popular areas. I-25 from the New Mexico line up to Pueblo and over to Canon City was fine, but once into the real mountains, the roads seemed to be jam packed and people were everywhere. The great thing about retirement is you can pick the time when you go places, and we'll be more selective in the future. I love it when kids are in school.

We also learned we really don't like traveling in hot, hot weather. And it was really hot during our trip, especially in Texas and New Mexico. We're getting soft, I suppose, but that happens with a little bit of age. So once again, we'll be a bit more selective of when we travel.

One of several pronghorns we saw along NM 247 east of Corona. Notice how sun parched the landscape is. It was over 100 degrees in this part of New Mexico during our trip.

Both of us were bothered by the high altitude this time. In the past, it bothered me more than Donna, but this time we were both affected. Our sinuses bled almost the whole time we were in Cripple Creek, and I just seemed to be a bit more tired. I guess that happens when you go from just under 2,000 feet elevation to almost 10,000 feet elevation in 2 days.

Looking west from Wilkerson Pass in Colorado. We spent 4 days at 9,600 feet.

We passed quite a few state parks in Colorado and New Mexico. They called to us. We wished we were full-timing in an RV so we could just pull in for a few days or even a week at each one and explore. Those were good times. Wonder if we could still do it?

We had some good food. The first part of our trip was somewhat lackluster. We don't find the food in Cripple Creek to be what we crave. Oh, the food is fine, but we always want something a bit more exotic or more along the lines of our regular diets. Cripple Creek is largely meat and Mexican. Both are fine in moderation, but it's nice to have some other choices. We ate a couple of meals at Baja Billy's in Bronco Billy's, and they were fine. Our best meal in Cripple Creek was at Dynamite Dick's across the street in the Midnight Rose Casino. We both enjoyed the Fettuccine Alfredo there.

Once we left Cripple Creek, we enjoyed the food more, starting in Santa Fe. We discovered a place there last year called The Shed. I wrote about our meal there last September in an item entitled, "Ah, Santa Fe." You can refer to it as we enjoyed the very same meal this time around. We find the enchiladas there to be wonderful, and the hordes of people waiting in line with us feel the same way. It's worth a stop if you are adventurous and like to try new food.

In Roswell, we were craving something a bit different. On our way to the UFO Museum, we noticed a nice looking Italian restaurant, Pasta Cafe Italian Bistro. We decided to give it a try on our way back to the hotel. Donna enjoyed spaghetti and meatballs, which is her standard at Italian restaurants. I experimented with manicotti bolognese. Both entrees were quite good in our very humble opinions, and the salads and bread were also excellent. We'd be happy to stop there again when in Roswell.

On our last day, we stopped at K-Bob's in Lamesa. We've eaten at this particular restaurant off and on over the years since 1984 when we first moved to tiny Wellman, about 40 miles north and west of Lamesa. We've enjoyed other K-Bob's over the years, but this has been one of our favorites. Now, this isn't a fancy big city steak house chain; K-Bob's just serves a good steak at a decent price in a very comfortable setting with usually good service. Just the kind of place the old woman and I like. Donna had a nice little steak while I tried a rib-eye steak sandwich. Good food.

So, that catches me up on the trip. Now in a couple or so days I'll get around to some other things that have been going on.

Santa Fe, Roswell, and Home

Note: The activities below occurred on Monday, July 15, Tuesday, July 16, and Wednesday, July 17.

After 4 nights in Cripple Creek, we left early Monday morning and made our way to Santa Fe. We had decided to take 2 nights on our return trip home. This would give us the chance to see some new country.

We followed our customary route from Cripple Creek to Pueblo. Most people would probably go to Colorado Springs from Cripple Creek, then down I-25, but we prefer going through Canon City. The map below shows the 2 routes. Our route is a mere 1.4 miles longer, but it involves far fewer headaches. And we think the scenery is much prettier.

2 routes from Cripple Creek to Pueblo.

We stopped for breakfast in Canon City at the local McDonalds, then stopped at a Walmart Neighborhood market on the southwest side of Pueblo for gas. Now we were ready to hop on I-25 for the nearly 300 mile trek to Santa Fe.

We made a brief restroom break at a rest area just north of Trinidad, a coffee break at the McDonalds in Raton, and another restroom break at an interstate rest area closer to Santa Fe. It was more or less an uneventful trip.

Fisher's Peak, just south of Trinidad, CO. The peak is 9,633 feet high. Photo taken from Interestate rest area just north of Trinidad. Raton Pass is to the right of the peak.

Once through Raton Pass, the scenery changed noticeably. Sure, mountains were always in the background, especially towards the west. But now there were broad stretches of flat plains with few trees. The driving was easy, and there wasn't that much traffic as you can see in the pictures posted below. We enjoyed it after all those days of the up and down driving in the mountains. It was nice to put the cruise control on 70 mph and just move along at a steady pace.

I-25 in New Mexico south of Raton.

Wagon Mound Butte in center of picture. It was a noted landmark on the Cimarron Cutoff of the Santa Fe Trail. The mesa stands 6,930 feet.

Near the end of the trip, we cut through Glorietta Pass at an elevation of 7500 feet. It paled in comparison to the passes we had been through earlier on our trip. For history buffs, this was the site of an important Civil War battle between Confederate troops out of Texas and Union volunteers from Colorado and California. This battle more or less ended all attempts by the Confederacy to take New Mexico as well as other objectives in the west.

Once in Santa Fe, we headed to the Plaza, found a parking place, and enjoyed a late lunch at The Shed. I'll talk more about that in another post. After lunch, we found our hotel and enjoyed a comfortable room. After 4 nights at Bronco Billy's, it was nice to be in a modern room again, with modern conveniences. Guess we're getting spoiled in our old age.

The next morning (Tuesday, July 16), we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at the hotel. We were in no hurry, as our destination today was Roswell. Now, had we gone directly to Roswell, we could have been there in just over 3 hours, but I had a more circuitous route in mind; after all, we were playing tourist now.

From Santa Fe, we traveled almost due south along NM 14, otherwise known as the Turquoise Trail, which is a National Scenic Byway. The road snakes south through the foothills between Santa Fe and Albuquerque, dipping into a few old and interesting towns along the way, such as Madrid and Los Cerrillos. Much of the movie Wild Hogs was filmed in Madrid. The movie starred John Travolta, Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence, and William Macy.

Church in historic Los Cerrillos.

Highway through Madrid

It was a Tuesday, so not much was happening much in the little towns. Besides, we were a bit early. I'm sure those places don't come alive until at least noon or so. But the countryside was interesting.

Highway south of Madrid

From the Turquoise Trail, we worked our way south to Edgewood on I-40. We were now out of the mountains, though we would dip into some hilly areas from time to time. After a brief stop in Edgewood, we began working our way through remote areas. There are some long stretches in this area where there are few houses. There was one 80 mile stretch where we passed through only one small town. If you omit that town, I bet we didn't see 20 other cars along that stretch, and probably not that many houses. And the land was so dry. Those folks could really use some rain. But I like these open spaces.

Desolate stretch of Highway 42 between Willard and Corona. 

Wind turbines on mesa along highway

Pronghorn along Highway 247 east of Corona. This is close to the "alien" crash site of Roswell fame. Those are the Capitan Mountains in the background. They reach over 10,000 feet.

When we reached Roswell, we went straight to the International UFO Museum and Research Center, located downtown. It was a busy place. In fact, all of Roswell was bustling. I can't say much about the museum. I wasn't that impressed. The museum attempts to make a case for an alien crash there in 1947. However, there is no hard evidence to support their claims of an alien visitation, though there are plenty of accounts making such claims. Still, if you like this sort of stuff, you need to make a stop. We have passed through Roswell numerous times over the years, and we have always said that we need to stop and go through the museum. Well, we finally did. One more item off our list of things to see and do!

Part of the timeline in the museum, explaining the events over a period of a week or so.

No matter where she goes, Donna seems to to find folks she has much in common with.

One of my favorite sci-fi movies is The Day the Earth Stood Still. Here is a reproduction of the robot from that movie.

We then had a great lunch and checked into our hotel. Our last night on the road.

We timed our leaving from Roswell on Wednesday so that we could have lunch at K-Bobs in Lamesa. We took US 380 east for just over 100 miles to Plains, Texas, then turned south on Texas 214 for 15 or so miles to Denver City. Again, we were just traveling through areas we had never traveled before, or had not been through in a long time.

After a brief break at the McDonald's in Denver City, we headed east on Texas 83 for 42 miles to Welch. This took us through places like Seagraves, Loop, and Welch that we were familiar with from our days in tiny Wellman. It was good to see the country again.

After a relaxing lunch at K-Bobs (more about that in a separate post), we headed south on familiar US 87 through Big Spring and then finally San Angelo. It was good to be home again after a long week of traveling.

To Cripple Creek and Beyond

We spent 4 nights at Bronco Billy's in Cripple Creek, from Thursday, July 11 until Monday, July 15. Donna had a good time, but then, Donna has a good time anywhere the booze flows and there are slot machines. And the old girl did well this time. She came home with more money than she went with. I didn't have much luck, so I didn't play much. If the cards aren't falling right, then I know to find something else to do. I had 2 good Tony Hillerman books with me, so I was able to do quite a bit of reading.

The weather in Cripple Creek during our stay was delightful. Nightly lows were in the 50s, and I think they dipped into the 40s a couple of nights. Daily highs were in the 70s. It rained almost everyday while we were there, usually in the late afternoon. The rains were brief, but they cooled off any chance of rising temps. It was quite nice.

Bronco Billy's recently acquired an old shop at the end of the block, so they now own almost that entire block. There are still 2 stores, I believe, that they don't own. The new property has been turned into what they called the Christmas Casino. We enjoyed our time there, and Donna did most of her playing there. It is decorated in a Christmas theme 365 days a year. They play a mix of Christmas music and other music, and the scent of cinnamon fills the air. Rooms are located upstairs, and we think if we go back, we will try to stay there. If you want to experience Christmas in July, then Bronco Billy's Christmas Casino is the place to be.

We usually play a bit at the Double Eagle while in Cripple Creek. We strolled down there the second day we were in town, but we were disappointed to see that they had removed all the good video poker games. Well, they won't be getting any more of my money.

I won't show any pictures of the place; I've done that in previous posts. For those who are interested, you can look back at these entries:

• "Cripple Creek, Colorado" (May 2017)
• "Cripple Creek, Second Time Around" (September 2017)
• "Cripple Creek and Victor Narrow Gauge Railroad" (October 2017)
• "Cripple Creek, September 2018"

We don't know at this time if we will go back. It is a long trip to Cripple Creek, and the altitude really bothered both of us this time. We miss our trips to Nevada, so we might plan a trip out there soon. We'll see.

Great Sand Dunes National Park

Note: We visited the Great Sand Dunes National Park on Thursday, July 11, 2019.

Great Sand Dunes National Park is not one of the better known parks in the national parks system. It certainly doesn't get the attention of Yosemite, Arches, or some of the other better known parks scattered around the country. And there doesn't seem to be as much to do at this park as at other parks in the national park system. For example, there are only 20 miles or so of hiking trails in the park.

But most people come to the park because of the sand, and there is a great deal of that. The sand is the real claim to fame for this park. It contains the tallest sand dunes in North America, reaching about 750 feet in height. When you look at pictures of the sand dunes nestled in front of the mountains, they may not appear that tall, but keep in mind that the mountains in the background reach about 12,000 feet or so.

Dunes don't look high, but those are some tall mountains behind them.

Good picture of end of dunes with mountains in background. Note the trees in right side of picture.

Sand related activities are extremely popular in the park, including sand boarding and sand sledding. Other activities are available, though, including hiking, backpacking, 4 wheel drive adventures, bike riding, and horseback riding, among others. Surprisingly, water activities are also available in Medano Creek.

Donna out back of the visitor center.

Donna and I did not spend too much time at the park. For one thing, we had other places we wanted to be later in the day. But we also follow a blog by an RVer who had recently visited the park, and he mentioned how bad the mosquitoes were in the park. As we drove through a couple of campgrounds, we saw just how bad they were. Even driving by, we could see the huge skeeters buzzing around people. In some places, people were constantly waving their hands and arms and shaking their legs to deter the bothersome pests. At one stop, one got in our car, and it was huge, the size of a small hummingbird, it seemed. Okay, I might be exaggerating a bit, but the little rascal was larger than what we are used to.

We did stop for a brief visit at the visitor center. When visiting parks, that is always the best place to start. From there, we drove all the paved roads of the park, including the Pinon Flats campgrounds. Sites are pretty close together, and there is not enough room for large rigs. There is quite a bit of shade in the area, though, and that is always nice. I was amazed at a few of the trailers I saw. How they wedged those rigs into some of those tight sites is beyond me; they are certainly better drivers than I am.

We wanted to explore the area around the creek, but as we drove through the parking lot, we saw the mosquitoes carrying off a few small children, so we decided against that. So, with a long trek still ahead of us, we decided to exit the park and continue our trek to Cripple Creek.

This picture shows the creek running at the base of the dunes. 

If you click on this picture to enlarge it, you should be able to make out the people just above the green area on the far side of the creek in center of picture. This will give you an idea of just how tall the dunes are. 

4 Mountain Passes and a Big Sand Box

Note: The activities described below occurred on Thursday, July 11, 2019.

A busy day awaited us today, so we woke early and headed north through Raton Pass. At 7,834 feet, it is the lowest of the 4 mountain passes we would visit this day. It is a nice, easy drive through Raton Pass, and once you climb down on the north slope, you are in Trinidad, Colorado. We stopped for coffee and a snack, then hopped back on I-25. Normally when going to Crippled Creek, we stay on I-25 to Pueblo, but we had other plans today, so we exited onto US 160 at Walsenberg and headed west into the mountains.

US 160 is a good highway, with frequent passing lanes. I would not hesitate to pull a travel trailer on this route. As we left Walsenberg, we made note of Lathrop State Park on the north side of the highway. Should we ever come this way in an RV, that would be a good place to spend a few days. 

Before long, the Spanish Peaks appeared on our left (south). We've seen them from I-25 as we head north and south, but never this close. There are 2 peaks. The west peak rises to 13,626 feet while the east peak rises to 12,683 feet. As a point of trivia, West Spanish Peaks is the second highest easternmost peak in the US, second only to nearby Pikes Peak. The Spanish Peaks were important landmarks on the Santa Fe Trail, and would lead travelers through this rugged country and mark the way to Raton Pass.

The Spanish Peaks rise high above the surrounding countryside. It is easy to see how they could be such a prominent landmark to early travelers. Photo taken from north/northeast

Spanish Peaks from north/northwest

Shortly after passing the Spanish Peaks, we began climbing towards LaVeta Pass in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The pass reaches 9,413 feet. There really wasn't anywhere to safely stop at the top of the pass to take pictures, so I have none of this area. As I understand, there are really 2 or 3 passes in this area, depending on how you count: Old LaVeta Pass (9,380 feet) is sometimes called simply LaVeta Pass, and is the original route of early settlers and a railroad; New LaVeta Pass (9,413 feet) is officially called LaVeta Pass, and is the route our highway followed; and Veta Pass (9,220 feet). Officially, Veta Pass is the highest active railroad pass in North America, with active being the operative word here.

The climb to LaVeta Pass from the east is long and gradual, while the descent from the west side is much less dramatic. Certainly for me, the east side is much more interesting. But all of the countryside is impressive. "Awesome" is an overused term today in my opinion, but it is an appropriate word for this country. 

We continued on down the west side of the pass. The good road continued, and we passed through the interesting small village of Fort Garland, then Blanco, before turning north on Highway 150 to the Great Sand Dunes National Park. I'll cover the park in my next entry, so I'll just skip along at this time.

After visiting the park, we headed west on Lane 6 to its intersection with Highway 17. This north/south road runs the length of the San Luis Valley. The headwaters of the Rio Grande can be found in this general area. We passed through here last September on our way from Cripple Creek to Santa Fe, so I'll not discuss it at this time.

Heading north in the San Luis Valley towards Poncha Pass on Highway 17.

At the north end of the valley, we merge with US 285, then head north through Poncha Pass, our third mountain pass of the day. Again, we passed through this 9,010 foot mountain pass last September where I snapped a couple of pictures. 

File photo from Poncha Pass from September 2018 trip through area. This view looks north from the pass.

At Poncha Springs, we turned east for a few miles to stop in Salida for a break. We then drove through the historic downtown section and followed the Arkansas River back to US 285. At Johnson Village, US 285 veers northeast, away from the Arkansas River. 

At Antero Junction, we turned due east on US 24. Traffic was extremely heavy this day, as all traffic on surrounding roads had been detoured onto our highway. We began climbing toward our next -- and final -- mountain pass of the day, Wilkerson Pass. At 9,504 feet, this was the highest pass we traversed for the day. The location is wonderful. There is a Forest Service visitor center, so it is a great place to stop, stretch your legs, enjoy the sights, and take a break. To the west, there are views of over half a dozen 14,000 foot peaks, while Pikes Peak (14,115 feet) dominates the view to the east. 

View of some fourteeners west of Wilkerson pass.

More distant mountains southwest of Wilkerson Pass.

Looking west from Wilkerson pass

Pikes Peak, many miles east of Wilkerson Pass

After a short break, we resumed our trek. We were almost to our final destination. We continued east on US 24 to Florissant, where we turned south on Teller County Road 1 for the final 20 or so miles to Cripple Creek. On our right (west), we noticed the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. Ah, another destination for another trip. And that is sort of how we operate. As we travel, we make note of possible future destinations, then work them in to future trips. That is precisely how our visit to the Great Sand Dunes National Park came about.

But I'm getting ahead of myself . . . .

As we pulled in to Cripple Creek, I was tired. Driving up and down and around in the mountains is a bit stressful at times, and it had been a long day. We were looking forward to settling into our room and relaxing for a few days and doing a bit of gaming at one of our favorite casinos, Bronco Billy's.

For those of you who like to follow along on a map, here is the route we took for this day of travel.

Raton, NM, to Cripple Creek, CO, via 4 mountain passes.

Capulin Volcano National Monument

On our latest trip, Donna and I returned to one of our favorite gaming destinations -- Cripple Creek, Colorado. Now, Donna and I have different interests. She likes gambling, while I like seeing new places, especially if they deal with history in some way. So usually on these trips, we spend a few days in Cripple Creek and then a few days exploring new places along the way.

We left our home last Wednesday morning (July 10). We usually make our way up to Raton, NM, where we spend our first night. On previous trips, we had noted an unusual "mountain" along the way, so this time, we decided to stop and do a bit of exploring.

Capulin Volcano National Monument is located in the northeast corner of New Mexico, just north of the village of Capulin. The volcano is an extinct cinder cone volcano, and it is clearly visible from US 87 for several miles. The monument is part of the national parks system, and we were able to get in using our National Parks Pass. Please note that there is no camping available within the park, and there are restrictions in place regarding length and size of vehicles that wish to drive the road to the top. Please take these restrictions seriously, as the road to the top of the volcano is challenging. For me, it was downright terrifying.

Capulin Volcano as seen from US 87, about 4 miles away. The horizontal line across the middle of the volcano is the road that spirals to the top. The visitor center/headquarters is on the left side.

After a brief stop at the visitor center to check in, we began the spiral drive up the volcano. There is no guard rail on the down side of the road, and the view is spectacular. At the top, you can view into the crater of the volcano and explore the area. There are great views from the top looking out from the southwest to the north.

Visitor Center/Headquarters near base of volcano.

Donna standing at edge of parking lot at the top of the volcano. This view looks west.

Donna used smelling salts to revive me after the terrifying drive to the top, then propped me up for this picture. The view looks southwest. After an hour or so, I was able to loosen my limbs enough to walk around.

This photo is from the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. This aerial view clearly shows the crater at center of volcano, as well as spiral road leading from visitor center at bottom. The parking lot at top is located almost exactly at the center of the bottom lip of the crater. You can barely discern the end of the road leading there. 

Crater of the volcano

The maximum elevation of the volcano is 8,182 feet. The elevation of the nearby town of Capulin is 6,844 feet. That means that the volcano rises somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,338 feet above the surrounding ground.

This photo was snapped as soon as we started our descent. Notice there is no guard rail on the down side of the slope. I don't like that!

Nothing to our left except space, and lots of it.

I believe this is Sierra Grande Mountain, which reaches 8,720 feet. It is to the southeast of Capulin.

Almost at the bottom. You can see the approach road lower left. I do not know the name of the mountain in the distance.

Close up of Capulin Volcano, taken from the approach road. You can barely make out the spiral road starting at lower right of volcano.

Following our ride up and down the volcano, we continued on to Raton, where we checked in to our hotel, enjoyed some sandwiches from the Arby's next door, and settled in for the night so that we would be rested for the next day.

Back Home in SA

Donna and I returned home yesterday from a one week trip. I'm quite busy catching up on mail and other things, so it will probably be a few days before I catch up enough to post about our trip. But I will publish several entries.

For now, I'll just tease you with a few pictures and let you try to figure out where we went.