Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Day Twenty

The alarm went off early this morning. We had to get through work freeway traffic to reach our destination. We took a ride on the Cog Wheel Railway to the top of Pike's Peak! It was so much fun! The entire trip took a little over three hours. It was about 75 degrees when we left the bottom and by the time we reached the top, the weather had changed. It was 28 degrees at the top, with wind gusts up to 78 (yes I said 78) miles an hour. This made the windchill 6 degrees. Needless to say, we did not take many pictures at the top. We had to load back on the train 10 minutes early because the wind was blowing the rocks and we couldn't risk the rocks blowing up and breaking the train windows.

We then went to the Manitou Cliff Dwellings. This was interesting, but totally commericalized. This was the one time in the entire trip that we regreted spending the money to go in afterwards. The history was really fascinating, but the place is privatly owned and totally commericalized.

We the drove to Estes Park for the next two nights. The cabin that we are staying is so cute! It's hard because we have so much to see in so little time, but we just want to sit in our cabin and enjoy some down time. What to do, what to do.
The train ride up on the Cog Wheel Railway.
The bighorn sheep that we saw on the train ride. I didn't notice that the one is wearing a necklace tag. Kinda takes away from the "wild" animals.

Standing at the top next to the train. Notice that nobody else is outside! They are all in the warm gift shop.


They put this sign at the top so that you can prove you were there.

The Manitou Cliff Dwellings.

Tomorrows destination. Weather says high of 44 degrees.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Day Nineteen

We got to sleep in this morning because we wanted to visit the UFO Museum in Roswell and it didn't open until 9:00. Scott wasn't so sure about this. I think he figured that it was a tourist trap. Low and behold when we got there at 9:02, there was already a line. It was very interesting and there was so much stuff to look at. It's hard to leave this place not believing in some form of aliens.

We then continued north through New Mexico, making one short hop off the interstate to see the "official" grave of Billy the Kid in Fort Sumner, New Mexico. The rest of the trip was all driving. We rolled into Colorado Springs around 8:00 tonight. Tomorrow is a setting the alarm day, as we have somewhere to be at 9:00!
Scott, before we went into the UFO Museum. (You can see the doubt on his face!)
The offical mascot of the museum. This was hand carved from a guy in Silverton, Oregon.

Scott at the end of the tour. He was more excited at this point.
The grave of Billy the Kid and two of his pals.

I have lost count how many headstones and graves we have taken pictures of. These are in an iron cage because people kept stealing them.

Eastern New Mexico is very very very flat. It was not what we imagined. We thought it would be rocky and the red and orange colors you normally associate with Santa Fe.

As soon as we crossed into Colorado the hill started. The trees are starting to change to their fall colors.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Day Eighteen (Out of this World)

Today started early. We set the alarm and woke way before the sunrise. We packed up and loaded the car, then headed down the hill to watch the sunrise. (It's like watching the grass grow!) An hour later was connected with Laura and headed to Castolon section of Big Bend National Park. We drove out to the Santa Elena Canyon. It was so beautiful and totally worth the drive out there. Thank you Laura for such a wonderful visit. We know that we only scratched the surface of the park and we are looking forward to our next visit.

After we left the park, we headed north six and a half hours to Roswell, New Mexico. We haven't seen anything strange yet, but we have our eyes peeled for any aliens. Tomorrow is another seven hours on the road, but we are going to do some exploring on the way.
Thank goodness you can't bring home anything from the National Park or Scott might have put this little guy in his pocket as a souvenier.
The sunrise was very beautiful and meet all of our expectations.

There were so many different kinds of cactus in the park.

The three of us standing in front of Santa Elena Canyon. It really puts things in perspective.

Santa Elena Canyon, Mexico on the left and the US on the right.


I think I had half of the beach in my shoes after the short hike to Santa Elena.

The amazing mountains in Big Bend.

Yeah, we left the mountains behind because there is nothing but flatness in the rest of West Texas!!!!

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Day Seventeen (Sunburned in a Good Way)

Today was a hot day! We explored part of Big Bend National Park with Laura. We plan to see more tomorrow before we leave. We hiked up and down several trails to reach the Rio Grande River. It's amazing the old buildings that are out here.

It is finally starting to cool down for the day and we are sitting on the patio at the lodge (where there is wireless internet). Our room is really nice and the view is amazing. There is much to see here and we plan on coming back when we have more time. Hopefully during the mild season!
This building was used from 1942 to 1952 as a store on the way to the natural hotsprings feed by the Rio Grande River. People believe the hot springs had healing powers and would come from all over to get well. There are remains of a few other buildings including a motel in this area.
Standing at the hot springs with the Rio Grande behind us. The hotsprings and the river are not very clean and we didn't really want to risk getting in the water.

Standing above the Rio Grande River. The Mexican town of Boquillas is behind us on the other side of the river.
The cemetery at Terlingua, Texas. This cemetery dates back over 100 years and the locals celebrate the Day of the Dead every November 2nd.

This is an example of what a lot of the trails looked like where we were. Not a lot trees or shade.

Day Sixteen

This is a day late, but I had to go a ways to get internet service. We traveled from San Antonio to Big Bend National Park in West Texas. The people in Texas are just the nicest you will ever meet! Especially the Deputy Sheriff in Brewster County. He was so kind to remind Scott that you don't go 82 miles an hour in a 75. I think he saw the firefighter plates and let him off with warning.

Laura is doing great and getting ready to show us the park. We have had breakfast and have our sack lunches for the day. We can't wait so see all this beauty up close.
The Historic Menger Hotel in San Antonio
Arriving at Big Bend NP

Cactus, cactus, cactus. You have to watch where you step!
The pictures don't really do this place justice.
The area is surrounded by beautiful mountains.

More cactus.

Sunset view from our room.

We spotted this "little" turantula on our way to our room.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Day Fifteen

Today was a busy day. San Antonio is a big place and we had a lot of ground to cover. We headed across this morning to Alamo. It's very strange; if you have never seen it, the Alamo is literally right in the middle of the busy city. After taking the tour, and learning a lot about Texas, we headed to the Tower of the Americas. This was built for the 1968 World's Fair. It is technically 70 feet taller then the Space Needle. For a minimal fee we were able to ride to the top (this was not my idea, but I sucked it up because I knew that shopping would be next.) The view was amazing.

We then rode the trolley to the Market Square. Everyone said we needed to see this. It was ok. I wouldn't spend the $1.10 to go back. It was the a lot of cheap stuff shop after shop. We took a ride on a Riverwalk tour boat. We ended the night having a fancy dinner in the dining room at the Menger Hotel (where we are staying). This dinner was courtesy of my parents for our anniversary. Tomorrow is a day in the car, but we will end up at Scott's sister Laura's place in Big Bend National Park.
This was the busiest tourist spot we have seen so far.
We opted for the audio tour. It was very educational and we both agreed that we got more out of the tour because of the audio.

Getting ready to ride to the top of the Tower of the Americas.

Waiting for the "Red" trolley.

This painting is in the lobby of our hotel. Everyone should recognize it. (hint: it was in the movie "Giant" with James Dean)

This photo shows President Clinton enjoying the famous mango ice cream handmade at the Menger Hotel.

Scott just had to try the mango ice cream after seeing how much President Cinton enjoyed it!

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Day Fourteen

Today started with the "have to do's". We had a ton of laundry to do so we spent the first two hours at the laundry mat. Then we headed to Jiffy Lube to get the oil changed. Scott was crabby all morning because he didn't sleep very well last night. I don't know why. There were bars on our motel window and extra locks on the door; not to mention the 24 hour security guard that patroled the parking lot. I slept like a baby!

We had about five hours of driving today. Heading west, we crossed into Texas and make the drive to San Antonio. It rained off and on throughout the day. I am not complaining though. For the first time since we left home I was able to put on long pants and a long sleeve shirt. It's actually a reasonable 65 degrees. The weather forecast calls for rain tomorrow but that's not going to stop us. We only have one day to do San Antonio and we are going to make the most of it.
Scott is happy that the laundry is done and we didn't get mugged waiting for it.
We visited a swamp when we stopped at the Texas Visitors Center/Rest Area.

We are staying at the historic Menger Hotel in San Antonio. Our room is really neat. This is a picture of the ladies sitting area in our room.

Dinner at the San Antonio Riverwalk.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Day Thirteen (in our room at last!)

What a long day. We were in the car for 13 hours, that includes the hour that we gained when we cross back over to the Central Time Zone. We started in Eastern Florida and drove west through the Florida panhandle, across Alabama and Mississippi, eventually ending in western Louisiana at Lake Charles. This will make our drive tomorrow much easier. Not too many pictures today but here are a few for the collection.
This is the bridge crossing into Mobile, Alabama. These types of bridges are all along the Gulf Coast. The are very long and run right above the water.
Scott and I agree that we have never seen rest areas like the ones we have visited. We love stopping at the rest areas. Most have greeters and sitting rooms where you can have a cup of coffee are look at thousands of brochures. The people there will also help with suggestions of things to see. This was one of the rest areas in Mississippi.

Driving across Mississippi. The bridges go right over the swamps. I took this picture when we were about 3/4 of the way over the bridge.

We cut down off the highway and drove to Biloxi Mississippi to catch a glimpse of the Gulf Coast. The water was really brown and murky. We didn't stay long.
There are still reminders of Hurricane Katrina along the Gulf Coast. This is the fire station in Gulfport Mississippi. What you can't see is the single wide trailer off to the left where the crews live. I guess I can't complain because at least I have four walls on the building I am in.

Here we are at the Louisiana rest area. You can kinda see the building in the back. These places are amazing!
Yeah, welcome to Louisiana! It poured on us the entire way across the state. It rained so hard that at times it raised up sunroof glass and drained in on us. There are no signs of flooding in the area and no one else seemed concerned. It just made the drive that much longer. From what I could see of the landscape, it looked swampy and interesting. I would definitly like to come back here and spend some time touring the plantations and the swamps.