This trip has definitely been one of the best ones I've been on. It had the perfect blend of exploring new places, trying new things, and a dash of adventure off to the side.
It brought us through eight states, nine if you include Indiana. Two of them were ones I had never been too, Arizona and Utah.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Finally catching up! Back in Evansville.
The family, cocoa and coffee in hand, is enjoying a New Year's movie marathon. We all had missed the last Star Trek movie when it was released in 2009, and since Muriel pointed out that a new movie in the series will be released next June, it seemed like something to see. I can't believe we missed it! It's a pretty darn good movie.
On Friday the 28th, Muriel and Torrey and I drove up to the Nordic center at Purgatory. It was a gorgeous day, with abundant sunshine and temperatures at about 28. Muriel and I got trail passes, and strapped on the old XC skis. We had an enjoyable couple hours or so on the superbly groomed trails. I would totally recommend the facility! The trails are very well-groomed and the equipment is we-maintained. A very active cross-country club vends the trail passes and ski rentals.
After skiing and a stop for refreshment at Dairy Queen in Durango, we headed for the Four Corners. It was a great afternoon for a drive.
I know Torrey mentioned books by Tiny Hillerman. I can only say that if you've ever read any, he describes the landscape with real clarity and accuracy, and being there seems to bring Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee to life.
I'm not sure what I was expecting at the four corners monument, but it wasn't anything like I expected! I guess I was kind of expecting, well, something less like a real monument, and more just like a post or pole sticking out of the ground.
Since the monument itself is on Tribal land, the native Americans have constructed it to serve as both monument to geography, and open-air market. Vehicles are charged admission, and Native American artisans sell craftwork and whatnot from stalls that surround the monument area.
The return trip provided lots of scenery...we thought we might have time to check out Hovenweep, but daylight grew short. Human habitation started there about 10,000 years ago, and lasted until about 1300 AD, I think.
Dinner that night was at Cosmo's. I had a 12oz bone-in steak with all the fixings, Muriel ordered a pork chop that was more like dessert than dinner, and Torrey had a marvelous grilled salmon. A terrific end to a great day.
Saturday December 29th dawned cold and sunny- about 9 degrees! The pups were snug in their new jackets when as we headed up to the Nordic center for some snowshoeing! Bolstered by breakfast at Durango Doughworks, we strapped on snowshoes, and took to the trail. It was very enjoyable, and strenuous!
Snowshoes don't glide! We saw lots of elk tracks, coyote and wolf tracks, and saw where a group of elk had bedded down for the night.
Dinner that night was at Steamworks Brewing Co. Muriel had a HUGE burge- she practically made it disappear! Torrey had a burger as well. I could have too, but but I decided to go large and ordered the "Cajun Boil": corn on the cob, half a lobster, a bunch of crawdads, and andouille. Oink. Washed it down with one "Conductor" IPA, and one "Elephant Rider" IPA. Good food, great beer. Always a wait to get in, but worth it!
Zzzzzzzzzz.
Sunday, we began our journey home. Since there was another storm poised to move across the continent, we felt like we were trying to time our flight either before or after the storm. We headed out over Wolf Creek Pass, and down into Pagosa Springs. We took US 160 for literally hundreds of miles out of CO before veering north to I-70 in Kansas. The two-lane roads out there are great! No towns, no traffic. Near-interstate speeds are possible. We made it to Topeka for the night, had bolted east before 6:30 the next morning. We hit snow about at Kansas City, and it got pretty furry going across MO, but State plows were out, and we saw only a couple wrecks. Heading out of St. Louis, we thought we'd be coming into a freezing rain situation by the time we reached Evansville, but were met with dry pavement not far west of New Harmony. The storm never did seem to reach Evansville.
There about as much snow on the ground in Evansville as anywhere else we had been over vacation.
On Friday the 28th, Muriel and Torrey and I drove up to the Nordic center at Purgatory. It was a gorgeous day, with abundant sunshine and temperatures at about 28. Muriel and I got trail passes, and strapped on the old XC skis. We had an enjoyable couple hours or so on the superbly groomed trails. I would totally recommend the facility! The trails are very well-groomed and the equipment is we-maintained. A very active cross-country club vends the trail passes and ski rentals.
After skiing and a stop for refreshment at Dairy Queen in Durango, we headed for the Four Corners. It was a great afternoon for a drive.
I know Torrey mentioned books by Tiny Hillerman. I can only say that if you've ever read any, he describes the landscape with real clarity and accuracy, and being there seems to bring Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee to life.
I'm not sure what I was expecting at the four corners monument, but it wasn't anything like I expected! I guess I was kind of expecting, well, something less like a real monument, and more just like a post or pole sticking out of the ground.
Since the monument itself is on Tribal land, the native Americans have constructed it to serve as both monument to geography, and open-air market. Vehicles are charged admission, and Native American artisans sell craftwork and whatnot from stalls that surround the monument area.
The return trip provided lots of scenery...we thought we might have time to check out Hovenweep, but daylight grew short. Human habitation started there about 10,000 years ago, and lasted until about 1300 AD, I think.
Dinner that night was at Cosmo's. I had a 12oz bone-in steak with all the fixings, Muriel ordered a pork chop that was more like dessert than dinner, and Torrey had a marvelous grilled salmon. A terrific end to a great day.
Saturday December 29th dawned cold and sunny- about 9 degrees! The pups were snug in their new jackets when as we headed up to the Nordic center for some snowshoeing! Bolstered by breakfast at Durango Doughworks, we strapped on snowshoes, and took to the trail. It was very enjoyable, and strenuous!
Snowshoes don't glide! We saw lots of elk tracks, coyote and wolf tracks, and saw where a group of elk had bedded down for the night.
Dinner that night was at Steamworks Brewing Co. Muriel had a HUGE burge- she practically made it disappear! Torrey had a burger as well. I could have too, but but I decided to go large and ordered the "Cajun Boil": corn on the cob, half a lobster, a bunch of crawdads, and andouille. Oink. Washed it down with one "Conductor" IPA, and one "Elephant Rider" IPA. Good food, great beer. Always a wait to get in, but worth it!
Zzzzzzzzzz.
Sunday, we began our journey home. Since there was another storm poised to move across the continent, we felt like we were trying to time our flight either before or after the storm. We headed out over Wolf Creek Pass, and down into Pagosa Springs. We took US 160 for literally hundreds of miles out of CO before veering north to I-70 in Kansas. The two-lane roads out there are great! No towns, no traffic. Near-interstate speeds are possible. We made it to Topeka for the night, had bolted east before 6:30 the next morning. We hit snow about at Kansas City, and it got pretty furry going across MO, but State plows were out, and we saw only a couple wrecks. Heading out of St. Louis, we thought we'd be coming into a freezing rain situation by the time we reached Evansville, but were met with dry pavement not far west of New Harmony. The storm never did seem to reach Evansville.
There about as much snow on the ground in Evansville as anywhere else we had been over vacation.
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