That's exactly what it looked like two years ago to us, too. We had figured it to be some sort of town, too. I didn't think to take photos of it, though.
Donna
That's exactly what it looked like two years ago to us, too. We had figured it to be some sort of town, too. I didn't think to take photos of it, though.
Donna
Day 4 (May 14)
9:31 AM-- left hotel in Estes Park
10:57 AM-- Bear Lake (15 miles)
After stopping at the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center, watching the video, and collecting Junior Ranger workbooks, we headed up to Bear Lake for photos. The park photos we'd seen of Bear Lake showed a reflective pool that showed the mountains to the west. What we saw was a frozen lake completely covered in snow (and it was still snowing when we got there). The Morraine Park Visitor Center was still closed, and on the way back we hung a left on US-36 and took it to West Horseshoe Park and US-34 heading east. We stopped at the Fall River Visitor Center so our Junior Rangers could show their workbooks and collect their badges.
1:04 PM-- left Fall River
We took US-34 out of the park because we didn't want to run into the road construction delays we hit on US-36 on the way in.
1:59 PM-- stopped at a Carl's Jr. in Loveland for lunch (50 miles)
2:28 PM-- left Loveland for Denver
3:30 PM-- arrived at relatives' house in Denver (58 miles)
We thought we'd just be stopping by, but they planned to make us dinner. As they are in their 90s and the last time I was at their house was 35 years ago, I reckoned this could be the last time I see them.
6: 30 PM-- left for Colorado Springs
Gas in Denver and the surrounding area was $3.399 per gallon. Still a bargain by my accounting.
7:35 PM-- arrived at our friends' house in Colorado Springs (59 miles)
It was still snowing on Pike's Peak when we got to Colorado Springs. What a view! I can see why our friends moved there.
In the east it has been mostly round the 3.699, though I did pick up some in eastern PA for $3.269. Significantly higher than last year, from my records.Quote:
Originally Posted by shirohniichan
Enjoying the report. Have great memories of the Fall River Visitor centre and their restaurant.
Lifey
May 14
9:31-- Left hotel for Rocky Mountain National Park
We spent some time at the visitor center so we could watch the film and collect Junior Ranger workbooks.
10:57-- Arrived at Bear Lake (15 miles)
Photos we'd seen of Bear Lake showed it reflecting the mountains to the west. It was snowing when we got there, and we saw the lake frozen over and covered in snow. We couldn't even see the mountains in the background. The elevation was 9,250 feet, so we lowlanders felt the low oxygen level in the air. After a few photos near the lake shore we headed down toward US 34. We saw elk and deer by the side of the road, so the kids were happy.
12:30 PM or so-- Stopped by Fall River Visitor Center
The girls got their Junior Ranger badges after waiting patiently behind travelers with an unusually large repertoire of questions for the sole ranger on duty.
1:59-- Lunch at Carl's Jr. in Loveland (50 miles from Bear Lake)
Because US 36 was under construction we took US 34 back out of the park. We called my relatives in Denver after having our late lunch to discover they wanted us to come over for dinner.
3:45 or so-- Arrived at my relatives' place in Denver (60 miles)
It's sinking in to my thick-skulled noggin that my relatives aren't going to be around forever. My grandmother's youngest sister is already 92, and it had been about 35 years since I'd last visited her and my great uncle in Denver (we usually see them in California). Denver has changed quite a bit since 1979. We left their home around 6:30.
7:35-- Arrived at our friends' home in Colorado Springs (59 miles)
May 15
9:45-- Left our friends' house for Garden of the Gods (18 miles)
We spent over an hour walking around the famed gardens and taking photos. We probably should have budgeted more time. We got to a local micro-brewery about 20 minutes too early to buy souvenirs for my coworkers, but our tight schedule meant I couldn't wait around. It was off to southeast Colorado to meet up with my side of the family.
1:15 PM-- Lunch in La Junta (111 miles)
After spending time in the mountains of Utah and Colorado, it felt odd to be out on the plains. As we drove along US 50 I enjoyed looking at the older buildings in the towns we passed through. At one time they must have been bustling places, and now the smaller towns look like shells of their former selves. I wish I could have seen the main intersections of Rocky Ford and Fowler in the 1920s to 1940s so I could see what they looked like in their glory days.
2:24-- Arrived at Bent's Old Fort National Historic Park (21 miles)
The original "fort" was originally a trading post and not a military installation. The reconstructed fort used a period description to make it look like it did in the 1830s. Park personnel dress in period costumes, and rangers are available to give tours (there were bus loads of elementary school pupils there). We spent a little under two hours here but could have stayed another hour or so.
5:06-- Arrived at our motel in Lamar (48 miles)
Lamar is the biggest town around, but that isn't saying much. We mistakenly went to a nearby Mexican restaurant that was not the best one in town (as recommended by the desk clerk). The prices were reasonable, but the food was mediocre at best. I was hoping to find a diamond in the rough (I guess we got quartz). On the way to "downtown" Lamar we passed by a building that was the world's only gas station made of petrified wood (it's now the world's only used car dealer made from petrified wood).
May 16
9:44-- Left motel
We drove to the visitor center in Lamar to see if there were any places we should see that we hadn't planned on. We also took a photo in front of the Madonna of the Trail statue. There are twelve of them built along National Trails Highways stretching from Maryland to California between 1928 and 1929, and four of them were on our planned route.
11:45 (Central Time)-- Stopped in Coolidge, KS (37 miles)
We were so close to Kansas we figured we might as well cross the border and add another state to the kids' list and visit another time zone. After taking photos around the "Welcome to Kansas" sign and Santa Fe Trail markers I decided to mail a postcard, only to find out that the post office closed 10 minute early for a one-hour lunch break. There wasn't an hour's worth of activities in that small town, so we headed back to Colorado. In Granada (pronounced "gra-NAY-dah") we arrived at the post office at 11:35 AM Mountain Time and discovered that that particular post office closed for lunch from 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM . Foiled again!
We called the director of the Amache Preservation Society at Granada High School so he could open the Amache Museum for us. Amache was a Japanese American relocation center (prison camp) used from August 1942 until the end of the war. My dad spent the first months of the evacuation at the Santa Anita race track (a temporary holding camp) until being sent to Amache when it opened. A sad fact we learned at the museum is that when the camp closed, those with no place to go back to got sent to the slums of Chicago, Boston, and New York to fend for themselves. Fortunately for my dad, his family eventually made its way back to Los Angeles after spending some time in Denver. After the museum visit we went to the Amache site, and my dad pointed out his barracks location to us and told us stories of his time there.
5:09 (Mountain Time) Dinner at Shorty's (60 miles)
The locals recommended Shorty's as "the best Mexican restaurant in the area" (between Las Animas and Granada). Umm... sometimes the best isn't very good. The crispy chile relleno (or, on their menu, "chili reyeno") had a crust like panko and may have been stuffed with American cheese. I will take Mexican food from So' Cal' any day.
7:06-- Arrived back at our motel (18 miles)
May 17
9:00-- Left motel for Amache
We planned our family reunion to coincide with the annual pilgrimage to Amache (formally "Granada Relocation Center"). This year John Hopper, a Granada High School history teacher, received an award from the Japanese Consulate General for his work with the Amache Preservation Society to preserve and promote the site's history. Over the years he and his students have researched Amache and placed informative signs around the site to make it possible for visitors to understand what happened there.
9:30-- Arrived at Amache (9 miles)
We got there early for the commemoration at the cemetary. A couple of busloads of others came in from Denver, and a Buddhist priest officiated the ceremony. Afterward we went to the award ceremony for John Hopper at the high school and stayed for the lunch provided.
2:05 PM-- Left Granada
We put $20 of gas in the tank to "pay" for the use of the restroom and headed west on the first leg of our journey home.
3:01-- Stopped in Las Animas (53 miles)
With gas at only $3.369 I figured it was time to fill up. It was sunny and warm as we headed toward New Mexico, but after we left US 50 to follow the Santa Fe Trail along US 350 we saw clouds ahead. The area aroudn the Commanche Grasslands reminded me of Arizona west of Flagstaff (around Seligman). By the time we got to Model (now a virtual ghost town) it was raining hard and lightning flashed in the direction we were headed to the southwest. Dust devils whirled on both side of the highway, and the rain came down carrying beige dust in it. Antelopes ran away from near the highway as we approached.
5:02-- Stopped in Trinidad (102 miles)
Trinidad has some great 19th century buildings, and I wish we'd have had more time to see the sights. We only needed a restroom and coffee break, and we discovered the Starbucks in the supermarket was not a good place to stop. We found a McDonalds nearby and opted for a McCafe. We were well passed the rain, but it was still cloudy and windy.
7:20-- Arrived at our hotel in Las Vegas, NM
We flew past Raton and Fort Union National Historic Site, although I wish we could have stopped. We just didn't have enough time to satisfy my curiosity about the Santa Fe Trail. We got rained on again in Raton. The heavy drops made quite a splash, although they were fairly few in number.
We stayed at the historic Plaza Hotel in Las Vegas. It was used as the location for the "Eagle Pass Hotel" in the movie "No Country for Old Men". This was our nicest stay of the trip. Not only did the room have nice furnishings and high ceilings, but they served a cooked-to-order breakfast in the morning. It was situated on an old plaza where General Stephen Kearny declared New Mexico's independence from Mexico in 1848. There weren't too many places to eat in the immediate neighborhood that were rated well, and we ended up having pizza. It was quite good, and we were the only ones left around 9:00 PM when we finished our meal. The area looks like it has had some improvements made to it, but it still looks like it has a ways to go. As soon as we got out of the car to check into the hotel a panhandler approached to ask for money.
I didn't know there as Plaza Hotel in Las Vegas, NM. Thanks for the report -- I hope to check it out myself soon.Quote:
Originally Posted by shirohniichan
Mark
May 18
9:25-- Left Las Vegas
The Plaza Hotel serves a cooked-to-order breakfast as part of the room rate, so we had a nice breakfast before taking off. It was a welcome change from the usual motel Continental breakfasts we'd been used to.
10:08-- Stopped at Pecos National Monument (44 miles)
We didn't have nearly enough time to see the ancient pueblo site, the Civil War battlefield (Glorieta Pass) or anything else because of our time restrictions, but I picked up 5 new stamps for my mileage book at the visitor center (Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Area, Santa Fe National Historic Trail, Pecos National Historic Park, 150th Anniversary of the Civil War, and Route 66 pre-1937). As Glorieta Pass was the westernmost battlefield of the Civil War I'd have loved to have seen the area. Maybe I'll have the chance when I'm not so pressed for time.
11:28-- Arrived in Santa Fe (28 miles)
Parking in Santa Fe on a Sunday was difficult. We ended up in a pay lot and walked to the plaza. My quest for a decent silver and turquoise bolo tie ended in failure. None of the natives selling authentic American-made silver in the plaza nor the museum gift shops I visited had more than a few bolos, and none appealed to me. My 7-year old found a bracelet she liked and bought it.
12:36-- filled up in Santa Fe at $3.359 per gallon. Such a deal!
1:42-- Stopped in Albuquerque (59 miles)
We found the Madonna of the Trail statue behind the courthouse and stopped for a brief photo opp. There was a large Native American art and jewelry store a few blocks south that looks like it recently closed up. Too bad.
2:49-- Stopped at the Walmart in Grants (77 miles)
We snacked as we drove to put lunch off for a while, and as part of a ritual we developed on this trip we stopped at Walmart for a submarine sandwich we could split among ourselves at a modest price.
3:55-- El Morro National Monument (45 miles)
The sign marking the Continental Divide on NM-53 is on a hill rather than a mountain, so we didn't put much time into taking a photo (we'd planned on all getting out of the car near I-70 in Colorado, but the snow put an end to that idea). I wanted to see Inscription Rock at El Morro to see the names of the camel corps members carved back in the 1850s. Not only did we see them, but we also saw those of Spanish, Mexican and other explorers from the 1700s and native petroglyphs from who knows when. We almost didn't get to see any of them because the rangers close the trail at 4:00 PM. They let me in for some quick photos. We left at 4:40 (20 minutes before the monument visitor center closed).
6:07 (Arizona time)-- stopped in Holbrook (140 miles)
It became clear to me that my plan to stop for the night in Globe and taking I-10 home the next day was not practical. We went for plan B, which meant going back to I-40 after driving through Zuni Pueblo. I've read that the Zuni Pueblo has been around since the 14th century, so that would make it awfully old by American standards. Maybe it's the oldest continually inhabited village/town in the US.
We drove back up to I-40 and headed west as was practical. In Holbrook we dined at the Golden Arches dueto our time restrictions and the paucity of options at the exit we took. Gas at the Maverick Gas Station was only $3.499. We left there at 6:57.
8:20-- Arrived in Flagstaff (94 miles)
I used McDonald's wi-fi in Holbrook to look for a place to stay in Flagstaff, and the Ramada Flagstaff West came up with the lowest rate for a 3 1/2 star or better guest rating property. We were glad to finally rest.
Accidentally double-posted