Escaping Denver

Enjoying my cup of French press coffee from a hand made French pottery mug and listening to French Café music CD complements of our host. And no, we're not in France, we are in Santa Fe.

We left Denver very early Thursday—unusually early for us. The sun had just come up as the first shift rushed to work. We headed south on the I-25 corridor listening to tunes, NPR’s All Things Considered, and then tunes again. We passed through Colorado springs then Pueblo. The Sangre de Cristo mountains to our west were beautifully covered with snow. I snapped a quick picture at a rest stop. Along the roadside were drifts of color – purple and yellow early spring wildflowers. Further south above the picturesque and sleepy town of Trinidad, Colorado, is a mesa. Carl says every time he passes that mesa he wants to climb it. So we made a note to some day return to camp, hike and explore the area. We crossed Raton Pass into New Mexico and everything looked suddenly different. I am always shocked how quickly the terrain shifts. Here are wind blown yellow grasses and small clumps of Cholla cactus speckled throughout the wide open pastures. Far away in the background are snow capped mountains. In all the muted tones of nature, a sudden speck of orange. An engine of a very long train – almost lost to our view. And wildlife – There were hundreds of antelope, a herd of goats, a group of buffalo and cows with long horns and cows without horns.

We stopped in Las Vegas, New Mexico for lunch at Charlie’s Bakery for the best Mexican food ever! Well, at least in Las Vegas.

After arriving in Santa Fe, we met our new animal friends and moved into the house where we’ll stay for a week taking care of things. I’ll have more about that later with pictures so stay tuned.