Paul and Julie on the Road: COLORADO to NEW MEXICO October 10-15, 2017

With snow just two days before, we knew it was time to hit the road and find some warmer temps so we went south on I-25 from Boulder to Colorado Springs just a two hour drive. There's a convenient, though just blacktop, stay at the Elks Lodge in Colorado Springs and no problem getting a site for two nights. We set up and spent the afternoon seeing the beautiful Garden of the Gods Park, such amazing formations! A gorgeous blue sky made the rocks shoot into the sky with their sharp edges and colors. It's not a National Park but a National Natural Landmark...towering sandstone formations with Pikes Peak in the backdrop. We visited the Visitor Center but the beauty was outside not in the museum. Originally called Red Rock Corral by the Europeans until 1859 when two surveyors explored the site. One of them commented, "a capital place for a beer garden" when the other responded, "beer garden? This is a fit place for gods to assemble...we'll call it Garden of the Gods" The beauty is amazing and the name has stayed!!!

The following day we packed up picnic and found the route up to Pike's Peak- America's Mountain. It was another beautiful day to be out, especially with the top down on the car. I had originally planned to try the cog train to the top but with our new car we thought it would be just as much fun driving the 19 miles to the top, a gain of 7,500 feet elevation. We stopped along the way Glen Cove Inn and Summit House, a very unappealing place. The drive to the top was a bit scary with hairpin turns on a narrow windy road without railings! Those 19 miles took us almost an hour to reach the top. Quite the day, and so cold at the summit!

That evening we had such a fun experience at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center seeing Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, hysterical script and absolutely delightful!!! All 40 characters portrayed by just five actors, amazing!!!! We returned the following morning to visit the art museum at the center for other fabulous exhibitions of New Mexian artists.

Leaving at noon from the Elks we drove another two hours south to Trinidad, CO staying at Trinidad Lake State Park, a pretty windy evening but with a wonderful view of the lake. Not so pleasant to be outside so we spent the evening trying to plan our upcoming months.

My brother, Kurt, had told me that if we were staying at the lake we should be sure to spend some time in the little town of Trinidad. So, we decided to have breakfast in town the next morning, which was at wonderful small cafe on Main Street. As we were going back to the car we saw a sign for the A.R. Mitchell Museum of Western Art..which meant nothing to me. But we had an hour before we needed to get back to the park and wow, I'm so glad we stepped inside! The museum displays the work of Arthur Roy Mitchell, illustrator and artist, who created over 160 Western pulp magazine covers during the 1920s a through 1940s. There were more than 340 original paintings on display. He never sold his work and left it to his sister when he died and so his work is completely in tact. Pretty amazing, and I loved the paintings!!!! So, if you ever find yourself passing through southern Colorado be sure to stop in Trinidad and check out this museum.

Upstairs there was more of his work as well as other artists. These were landscapes and very different from the cowboy paintings for which he's best known.

Just one night in Trinidad and time to move on to Santa Fe Elks Lodge, arriving on the second weekend of the Albuquerque Balloon Festival, lucky us!!! It was about a four hour drive to reach Santa Fe and I figured with it being balloon weekend, we would have a hard time finding a place to camp at the Elks but that wasn't the case; only four other RVs there when we arrived and room for many more! It's just dry camping but with cooler days and nights we didn't need the electric anyways. So we found a site looking out over the valley and set up. Such a wonderful way to spend a few days in Santa Fe!!! For the next few days we visited Museum Hill, where there are four beautiful museums and a botanical garden all in natural desert landscape. Also spent two evenings at the Jean Cocteau Cinema in town, a wonderful independent movie theater.

Arriving that Friday afternoon and with the last two days of the balloon fest happening about an hour south of the city, I started researching how to get down there. The best of all options was to use the NM Rail Runner Train. Awesome connection but a really early departure...4:30 am to arrive in time for the sunrise Dawn Patrol. But, what an incredible experience! With the first light beginning to brighten the sky about 7:00 we spent the next two hours standing in a field watching as balloon after balloon ascended into the sky creating the most colorful experience. Getting up so early also meant we were back in Santa Fe by noon with time to scout out more of the museums near by.