Our last days in Taos were filled with so much. Apart from packing and planning we visited downtown one more time, having breakfast at a wonderful restaurant/bakery called Michaels Kitchen - highly recommended. The food was fantastic and the service even better and of course we couldn't leave without picking up something gooey at the bakery.
Breakfast at Michaels Kitchen
Mean looking cowhand… I buy a hat
We then visited the Hacienda de Los Martinez where a Trade Fair was going on. The Hacienda was a trading place back in the days of the old west when trappers and natives came together to trade goods. There were many re-enacters selling their wares and bread baking in the traditional earthen ovens.
At the hacienda
We sat and watched traditional dances by local native Americans as an eagle soared above. It was awesome. I chatted with the dancers after - it is always the people that make the adventure so special.
Native dancers
The following morning we did our final pass through the house to make sure we hadn't forgotten anything and headed out for Colorado. Things went awry. Apparently either I misspoke or Siri misunderstood but instead of GPS directions to Silverthorne we drove well over an hour toward Silverton which is in the opposite direction. However, the silver lining was that the drive was absolutely spectacular. Once we realized that we were way out of our way we made adjustments.
Beautiful scenery, not on the route but pretty
In all it added about three hours to our day but it was a drive we will remember for a long time as the scenery was just beautiful. When we stopped to take Harper for a walk we realizes that we missed her leash in that last pass through the house, so it was off to a Walmart for a new leash.
Free range cattle in the road.
Silverthorne, at last, did not disappoint. The mountains here are just amazing. The next day was spent exploring, hiking and shopping (another new leash for Harper, and a Poop Bag holder!). We hiked a nice trail high above Lake Dillon with an unusual looking bird which I found out was a Steller's Jay(thanks Chris).
Dillon Lake from the trail
Stellar’s Jay
On to Breckenridge in a light rain with more hiking and lots of shopping and great lunch at a restaurant where they welcomed old folks with a little dog. They asked if Harper was a service dog, I said yes, ‘She is a Marine!’ With a laugh they showed is to a table.
Lunch in the pub with Harper
We found a troll in the woods and a fantastic farm store where Carol got a great sweatshirt which was not a touristy thing like they were selling in the shops downtown, but one that just says 'out west' with style and dignity. Nice!
Tourists with the troll
The following day turned out to be just about as perfect a day as one can have. Overnight the misty rain turned to snow and coated the mountaintops to make the sunrise just about as beautiful as one can imagine. We got an early start heading to Boulder along route I-70 which I imagined would be just another interstate.
We woke up to snow on the mountains
Was I ever wrong. This was a beautiful drive. I had filled the car the night before and as we left Silverthorn we began to climb and as you can imagine the gas mileage dropped. At the 10 mile mark I was averaging about 15 mpg according to my info on the dash. A sign along the side of the road said something like 'lookout, lots of downhills ahead' too I reset the odometer. Apart from some of the most spectacular scenery one can imagine, the downhill was really amazing. It was DOWNHILL - for 28 miles! My average MPG went from the 15 MPG to 99.9 MPG and it said I had 780 miles left in the tank! We went through tunnels and switchbacks and past guardrails that kept us from flinging off into the abyss.
Spectacular scenery along the route
Another morning drive to remember. The reason we were heading to Boulder was to meet up with a guy named Ryan. I have been watching his bicycle adventures since about 2008 or thereabouts. He is a charming young man with a fantastic YouTube channel that is inspirational. Ben and I have been fans since Ben was about 8 years old. Link to Ryan’s channel
We meet Ryan Van Duzer in Boulder
I found his series of "Life at 15 MPH' where he rode his bike the length of the East Coast - Maine to Key West. It was an inspiration for both Ben and I. His message is Just Get Out There - get off the couch and have an adventure. When we were planning this trip, our original plan was to leave Taos and head east from there, but Carol said why not go visit the Colorado mountains - seemed like a good idea. As I studied the map I saw that we were going through the Denver/Boulder area and knowing that Ryan Van Duzer lives in Boulder I sent him an email on the premise of you don't know unless you ask. What an absolutely genuine and nice guy Ryan is. We met up with him for lunch at a fantastic restaurant for a burrito - his favorite and our favorite. It was odd at first (for me) as I feel like I have known him for so many years, and here he was meeting us for the first time. Odd. But it was like we had been friend all along, and now we are. We sat and swapped stories for a couple of hours. Thanks Ryan for being an inspiration, a part of my life for so long, and now part our story. We will stay in touch buddy.
Miles of wonderful dirt road
Ryan gave us a suggestion for a drive we could take, to view the Aspens. Up over the mountains to Gold Hill and then to the town of Nederland, on the Peak to Peak highway. This did not disappoint. The road to Gold Hill was actually paved in places. The 'town' of Gold Hill was an old mining town and was like stepping back into another time. It was wonderful. We stopped at the General Store, had a chat, used the outhouse and bought cookies. Perfect.
General Store in Gold Hill, obviously.
The road continued toward the Peak to Peak highway. The road was all dirt now with switchbacks and no guardrails - it was awesome. This was likely the very best drive of the entire trip - thanks Ryan, it was spectacular.
Starting back down toward the Peak to Peak road.
The drive on the Peak to Peak was great, and Nederland did not disappoint either, but the canon road back to Boulder was another surprise. Amazing scenery continued through high rock canyon walls and a beautiful stream along side of the roadway.
The canyon from Nederland to Boulder
Thought out the day we were in contact with all of our kids who all seemed to have good news - turned out to be a perfect day. Today we headed east, starting the long drive home. As you leave the Boulder area heading east, suddenly you are driving across the prairie, flat plains start almost immediately. The roadway is filled with morning traffic and trucks, lots of trucks. Soon we entered Nebraska which is even flatter and has more trucks as we merged with I-80, a main trucking corridor. Home in five days. Destination is Lincoln, Nebraska. The International Quilt Museum is tomorrow.
Below is a gallery of images from the past few days
