Aspen Vista with Cheyenne

"Cheyenne, do you want to go for a hike?"

What are you still doing here?

"I told you, I'm off today — my last vacation day."

That's why you were extra grumpy when I jumped on the bed before the alarm went off this morning …

"Well …"

and why it took you even longer to get up than usual.

"I'll get some stuff together and we'll head out."

Just wake me when you're finally ready.

…

Why are we stopping here?

"I've got to get a breakfast burrito and we'll be on our way. I thought we'd go out like last time, maybe to Counter Culture, but that gets complicated with the patio and you and the ordering and the laptop. So I'm just going to California Pastrami and I'll eat it up at the trailhead"

whine, whine, whimper, whimper

"Yeah, they take a while, but they make 'em fresh. We'll be going soon … go be cute for that guy who's telling you how pretty you are."

…

What's that awful grinding sound?

"That's. My. Teeth. There's these two oversized eighteen wheelers ahead of me on the road up the mountain. They seemed to be moving fine at first, but they're going so slow … I've barely gotten out of first gear. I was hoping they were stopping somewhere, but they gotta be going all the way to the basin."

Hey — we just drove by that trail where we went before! Let's stop there!

"No, I want to go up to Aspen Vista. It'll be higher and hopefully cooler … and it's just out and back, so we can turn around when we need to. It's been so hot recently, I don't want to make it to rough for you."

I can take it.

"I know, you're a tough girl. But sometimes you don't — grrr …"

What?

Ah I should've pulled over there and eaten. It's been, like, a half-hour and I keep thinking it's around the corner …"

…

Are we there?



"No, I just finally pulled over. I gotta eat, my blood sugar's dropping. Look, there's a pretty view, and we've got Jazz a la Carta on KSFR."

It's all just monkey sounds to me.

"Aw, c'mon …"

Oh, alright. I like Ricardo and Helga, they have a good show."

"Good girl. Have some tortilla."

…


"Alright, here we are. Sheesh, that took almost an hour, should've been, like 25 minutes …"

Hike now?

"Yes, let's go! Let me get all the water and I'll put the big leash on you."

Yayhooray! Hike! On the trail … why are you turning around?

"Left the camera back in the car …"

…

Yikes! What are those things?

"Flies. Must be cool enough and wet enough for them. Keep moving I'll brush them off …"

Hey — why's that dog not on a leash?

"He's a big ol' Lab. He probably knows enough not to go chasing after small furry things and —"

But that's what small furry things are for!

…

"Don't you want some water? Are you still afraid of the Gulpy?"

I was never afraid. It's just weird … anyway, I'm not thirsty.

"You know the rules, whatever you don't drink gets dumped on you."

Oh, the humiliation. The sweet, cooling humiliation.

…

"I thought there's be more shade — you doing OK? I know you're a tough girl. I'm worried that you're going to push yourself too hard."

I'm fine.

"Well, you may be out at the end of the leash, but I'm gonna be slowing you down."

That's pretty much what you do all the time.



…



"Look at all these aspens. They're pretty now, but we'll come back up here in the fall. The leaves turn the most beautiful yellow …"

And exactly what shade of gray is yellow?

"At least it'll be cooler. And probably more people to compliment you."

Let's come back here in the fall!

…

"Wow, this is further than I've made it with anyone else, I think. We're going to stop by this rock, under the shade for a bit."

Keep. Going.

"No, Cheyenne, have some more water. You've just about emptied your Gulpy and I'll refill it. And — can't you just rest for a moment?"

No. Gotta keep going.

"Let me check the time … no, we've been out about an hour. That's enough for you, we're going to turn around. It'll probably take us about half the time to get down. But wait, before I do … I'm gonna try and get a timer picture of the two of us. Just have to balance camera on this rock …"

Where's that cool Gorillapod that M and D got you?

"Safely back at home with the camera bag. Just … OK, run over here with me … now!"



…

"What is so interesting at the edge of the trail? No — we're not going down the side of the mountain."

I don't know how I missed these sniffs before.



…

"OK, we're back to the lot. And, let me see … hey, it took almost an hour to get down. You were pretty distracted."

Yeah, so were you.

"I know, my mind was just elsewhere today. Here, finish off your water. Have some more treats."

I like that part of the hike best.

Another Fourth, Pretty Much Thwarted

It's been rainy these past couple days, monsoon season has come early. We were both off on Friday for the holiday, a good thing since a pretty big thunderstorm or two came through in the early hours of the morning. Cheyenne's not a big fan of the loud sounds outside; but she was particularly agitated, it was stuffy once we closed off all the windows … suffice it to say, none of got sleep for a couple hours there, so it was welcome when she let us sleep in late. That did mean a more whirlwind, shorter chore day to be ready for Jon and Suzanne's visit for dinner. The sky had cleared by late afternoon … and actually was bright and sunny and humid, so we couldn't sit outside. But it was an awful lot of fun.

Saturday, again, began kind of rainy. The clouds were welcome, though, because our plan was to bypass the usual Fourth of July hike for a walk downtown to Pancakes on the Plaza. We went by Tarts' Treats, just reviewed in the New Mexican, which sounded promising and has a patio that it's not known if dogs are specifically prohibited from … but they were closed for the holiday. We grabbed some bagels for the walk and continued on.

We quickly found Stacy (as Rula) at the KSFR booth they were broadcasting live from for the morning. We got to say our hellos … and then were kicked out, because dogs aren't allowed on the Plaza for the event. Sure, in retrospect, it kinda makes sense … but this is Santa Fe. And I still haven't seen anything stating that … but, anyway, grumpy, we walked off home (I mean, we all walked off home, I was grumpy).

Helped clarify the plans for the afternoon, though. The Greyhound group was due to be at El Rancho de las Golondrinas for the Santa Fe Wine Festival. It was kind of a last-minute thing, so it wasn't clear how much participation there would be. We headed over, noting the stormclouds over the mountains, found our way in through the confused security guard telling us we couldn't bring our dog, to the group's area. Turns out, plenty of the usual suspects made it.



We all sorted it out, hung out for a while, got some lunch from Whole Hog and got to see Dave and Shelby at their now-ubiquitous gelato operation. Those clouds rolled in, providing some much-needed relief from the sun. Around the time that we confirmed we could walk Cheyenne around the place and started to take her down to the acequia, the thunder started. So she just wanted to go … unclear where, but just not here. Eh, the downpour started soon after anyway.



The group decided that was the time to pack up, for those of us who weren't as prepared as Pearl, that meant waiting out the storm. Which we tired of, and during a moment when it seemed it was lessening (but soon [but too late] became clear it wasn't) had me dashing through the rain and into the mud parking lot to retrieve the car to bring it around front among the crowd who also had the same idea and lifting the dog into the backseat because she was having none of this going out in the rain (thanks guy with the umbrella who gave us some added protection) and on our sodden way home.

Where there was some time to recover.



Rain cleared enough to fire up the grill for dinner. Cheyenne was really awfully good with all the fireworks pounding in the distance and the firecrackers in the neighborhood; when we tried to take a break from the evening's Doctor Who viewing to walk up the hill and see if we could catch any fireworks, Cheyenne made it clear that the fireworks were OK only as long as she was inside and they were outside.

This morning, she pretty much slept through the thunderstorm, while I was awake, watching her.

More sleeping in, a longish walk that took us to the (new to us) Torreon Park. Sunday kinda devolved into other things that needed to be done, but that also included some late-day garlic harvesting.

And the Rest …

Ah, like when we moving out here, writing in the car to post later …

Breakfast Wednesday at, per our server at the Brewery's recommendation, Campus Cafe. Then about a 40-minute drive north and east to Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve.



Visitor center and then the "trailhead" — the parking that at the base of the dunes. A little creek to cross, and then you just go out and up. There were a fair number of people there, and a decent amount of families set up along and in the creek, kind of like at a beach. No trails in the dunes, you're free to find your own path.



Plenty of people out, a few kids attempting to sled down the dunes. Luckily, it was pretty cloudy when we headed out; after about an hour, we just sat to watch all the activity, and then jumped down the dunes ourselves and headed back in.



On the road again north, a stop at the UFO Watchtower and then a side trip to get lunch in the little town of Crestone.

Heading through the pass out of the San Luis Valley early evening, rainstorms rolled in. We made it into Salida and at the recommendation of one of Monica's co-workers, into the Woodland Motel (very dog-friendly, noted for future reference). The cool, rainy evening was actually kind of welcome; we were, again, in walking distance of the town, so strolled in and scored a table on the covered patio overlooking the Arkansas River at Boathouse Cantina and watched the kayakers playing in the fast-moving current.



Wandered the town some and, hey, well, there was ice cream being sold (which is, for the record, where we first heard The Michael Jackson News) …

Next morning, Bongo Billy's for breakfast and WiFi and planning the day. Left us some time to walk the main street more, when everything was open. As might be expected, the shops are pretty heavy on the outdoors/outfitters. I noted one of them selling some pretty cool-looking, casual shoes the night before; a talk with the shop's owner in the morning had me coming away with a pair of Sanuks. I think it's pretty clear I'm not much of a clothes and/or shoes guy, but so far I'm likin' them a whole lot.

Then north and west to, at the innkeeper's recommendation, the ghost town of St. Elmo.



The drive along the little road in is beautiful, going further into the mountains. The town is at the end of a dirt road; it's so well preserved because it's on private land; so, while it is an attraction, it's also like a town, with most of the property privately owned. The rain caught up with us again before I could buy seeds to join in on the feeding of the "herd" of chipmunks — and apparently squirrels — there. We drove back out and stopped at the trailhead for Agnes Vaille Falls and watched ill-equipped hikers coming down out of the rain. But a short wait, and it cleared enough for us to head on on up.



Mount Antero behind us, the trail's a half-mile out and a few hundred feet up through the woods. A little clambering over rocks at the end to get to the base of the falls.



Just shy of an hour out, and then we were on the road again.

Stopped in Buena Vista for lunch at Mother's Bistro— with, apparently, hundreds of bikers who'd finished some sort of ride. And then up to 10,000' through Kenosha Pass back down to 5280' (yeah, that's right, your capital is lower than ours) into Denver.

Our hotel, selected for its proximity to the comics event, is in LoDo, lower downtown. Our walk to find dinner took us along 16th street, which, other than horse-drawn carriages, pedicabs, and the regular shuttle buses that run the length, is for pedestrians only. Restaurants and shops line the way, and it was bustling with all kinds of activity Friday evening.

The next morning, we lingered in (forgot to check the hotel's alarm clock, so we were up at 5:00, then back to sleep after some recovery) and then drove out to I Want More Comics. Sean, one of the owners, had bought some of our books to sell when we met him at ComicFest, and then sold out and needed to be restocked. It's a pretty great store, a real hangout. And then back downtown for the Cowtown Comix Fest.

John, who we also met at ComicFest, had invited us up for the event a couple months back. It was brand-new, untested, and only ran 1:00-5:00, so at first didn't seem feasible; but then the way vacation time was shaping up, it turned into our reason to finally head north.

The store hosting it, Tattered Cover, is a pretty amazing, two-story, independent book dealer in a great space. We were in an event room with about a dozen other comics creators and artists and a space for some presentations, which went on throughout the day.



Nobody knew quite what to expect from the event, but around 1:15, people started showing up — and it didn't really stop until 4:00. We've had less successful full days at larger events; again, both the Denver crowds and creators were an interested, friendly bunch. Headed out for dinner and more visiting with some of the other exhibitors, a great evening of meeting and catching up. Rounded out the night hanging out with Stan, talking cons and Greyhounds.

Yes, one more Sonic stop on the road. Now just about out of Colorado at around 2:00, crossing Raton Pass soon.

-=-=-=-

Update upon arrival. Figure just a bit more than six hours driving time from Denver to Santa Fe. Around 910 miles on this whole Colorado trip. Song of the drive (and possibly the summer) was undeniably "Boom Boom Pow."

This past week, seems that my Connecticut hometown was hit by a tornado. M's got some photos at her blog.

Our dog is totally sacked out now after a full weekend of, among other things, lizard hunting with her buddy Fifi.

Also worth noting that, until now, I've been really, really good about keeping a travel journal of our vacations over the past decade. Anything I write now will be days and days after the fact, so it seems I'm officially ceding that role to this blog now.

Albuquerque, Alamosa

Out of Mountainair yesterday morning, took the scenic route (55 &337) — which turned out not to be appreciably longer than the non-scenic — to Albuquerque.

Mett up with Jeff for a walk over to the Chocolate Cafe & Bakery by his house for breakfast. Chocolate chip pancakes with chocolate syrup, please.



Ahhhh. Then a short drive to Cibola National Forest to hike it off at the Piedra Lisa Trail. Where, as we were about to deposit the money in the pay station, that gray cloud above us opened up.



We retreated to the car for a few minutes, it cleared, we headed out. Well, up. And up and up and up.

Steady climbing through the woods and the flowering cacti, with occasional views of the gray clouds and rainstorms off in the distance.





We were grateful for the cloud cover, but when, about two hours in we reached the ridge, thought we were pushing our luck, so had snacks and headed back down. Just over a half-hour. Our drive to Sonic took us by local Page One Bookstore for a brief stop. Back home by dinner time.

This morning, took Cheyenne over to Santa Fe Baking Company for a burrito breakfast (us, not the dog), where, a real Santa Fe kind of thing, wound up sharing a table with Rich and his dog, who had some suggestions for things to do on our drive (Rich, not the dog). Then a flurry of errands and preparations, dropping the dog off with her sitter, a false start, and on the road to Colorado. By way of the inevitable Sonic stop.

A nice quick trip up through the more-forested, greener north and Into Alamosa by 5:00.



A walk through nice old neighborhoods with some great houses to the San Luis Brewing Company for dinner. North to Salida — which allows us plenty of time for sightseeing — tomorrow.

Getting Some Mountain Air

I'm off this week and in a few days, we're both off to Denver via the scenic San Luis Valley to staff the 7000 BC table at the first Cowtown Comix Fest. But I had a few on my own and just wanted to get out of town. At James' suggestion, headed to the town of Mountainair, south of Albuquerque (and actually at a lower elevation than Santa Fe).



Been staying at the historic Shaffer Hotel where (while sitting outside writing this) I just had a bit of a scare about being locked out. But otherwise, it's been good.

Hardly anyone else around, a nice covered patio out back that's within WiFi range. And plenty of barn swallows. Their dining room has been/will be closed for my time here, but there's Ancient Cities Cafe.

Arrived into town last night, spent most of it outside here. A leisurely start to the morning (including, again, some time sitting outside), and then to the Quarai ruins of Salinas Pueblo Mission.



The remains of a church from the Spanish missionaries; the history is the usual tragedy of "civilizing" the natives, compounded by the Church's conflict with the government, with a bit of the Inquisition thrown in, all done in by war and famine. There's the trail through the ruins, then one that runs a mile or so off up into the hills.

It was getting hot. The real onset of summer was pushed back by some rain, but today's my first experience with the summer sun. Hiking book had a route up Manzano Mountain that sounded doable (especially, since it's just out and back, offering the option of just turning around), but I wasn't feeling it. Luckily, my (mis?)reading of the directions dropped me at the campgrounds at Manzano State Park. Trails back around there had me going through the woods for a few miles, pretty much all I was looking for.



Turns out Orioles migrate there.



Afternoon, some lazing about and then strolling around town, "the longest Main Street in America." But — watch out, giant eagles may make off with your car.



And it all left me with the thought that, y'know, Hobo just isn't used enough in municipal signage.



Some takeout chocolate pie now, heading to Abq to hike with Jeff tomorrow.