"Custer County"

 Despite its name, this area is very appealing.

Today we went out and about, driving through to Lake Isabel which was about an hour from the Westcliffe home. Lake Isabel is a camping and fishing attraction.  

We also stopped at the Isabel Lake Lodge there, as we had read on the internet that they are open Thursdays - check their hours as they vary. We bought a cold Dr Pepper, and then after hearing from a helpful server, traveled on to Pueblo (another 45 minutes) to look at the Pueblo River Walk which is in the centre of town and incorporates part of the Arkansas River, which the town considers its lifeblood.

The riverwalk is very pretty and I can imagine may be a community hub at times but today was just too hot for us Taupo people - at 36 degrees and rising at 12pm. However, we walked the walk as we had to prove ourselves against some Aussies we met who were taking shade under a bridge. There are sculptures and fountains and waterfalls here but not a lot of energy from us for lingering in the sun. 

We then drove back to the lodge (about 50 minutes) and had a late lunch. There is quite a nice shop attached if you want to buy tee shirts and sweatshirts or mementos. The Lodge provided a very respectable menu - hot spinach and artichoke dip with celery, carrots, and corn chips kept us from getting too hungry and the mains had a lot of variety and were tasty as well!

Well fed, we meandered our way home, stopping at Rosita which is a mining ghost town but didn't look too “ghost” as there were plenty of modern houses around. I did take this picture of the only dilapidated building I saw, so I think this is where the ghost lives.

Westcliffe

We were up early the next day to have a practice run at a walk in the Sangre de Cristo mountains.  The height above sea level of my brother's mountain house is 9990 feet - or to us metric folk  - 3045 meters, and so oxygen is a little thinner. We had ambitiously thought that we could manage a 10km hike here,  to some waterfall in the mountains and my brother decided to put me to the test.  We set out without having breakfast first and did a 3.5 km loop up the Venable Trail.  After climbing for a while I began to feel nauseous and realised I would need to become acclimatised first and also have some breakfast before I thought of going places.  Needless to say, we did not go further afield.

 My brother on the trail ahead.

If there is peace on earth I am sure it is here. A beautiful house in the mountains with trails emanating outward along the base of the Sangre de Cristo mountains and views eastward to the Wet Mountains, it is unrivaled in any locale that gives me a sense of peace and contentment with my place on the earth. There is a certain reminiscence of my upbringing at National Park here - a sense of the untouchable isolation and beauty of nature.

Alpacas at Willow Wind Farm

We had a very educational visit to a local Alpaca farm just down the road from my brother’s house. Annie was our host and she knows her stuff. She breeds alpacas, llamas, merino sheep and goats and her passion is for the alpacas. We learnt heaps about alpaca fibre, how it is shorn, and how it has full medullation so is extremely warm. The fibre can then be blended with a variety of other fibres depending on the needs of the end product. I bought some yarns for knitting (different blended varieties) and socks, plus a little soap that she makes from goat's milk. The products from the farm may be purchased at willowwindgoods.com. They are carefully labelled with the blend-mix as well as the alpaca name that the product was derived from. Very soft and warm products.

The llamas and alpacas all have their own personalities shining through, and Annie knows the names and the temperaments of all her 150+ animals well. Here are some of my favourite shots of them.  

And we can't forget the rooster who rules the flock!

The Royal Gorge Train Ride

Back in 2008, at the end of a road trip through New Mexico, Dan and I stood at the top of the Royal Gorge looking down.  It is the highest bridge in the USA standing 955 feet or 291m above the bottom of the gorge and crosses the Arkansas River which flows through Colorado.  Today we joined Terry and Nita on the train ride at the bottom of that gorge and looked up at the bridge.  

Looking up at the bridge from the train.

Viewing from the open air carriage

We went first class in the dome carriage and had a 3-course meal (photos below) with a little (of course) prosecco.

This is a beautiful trip, about 2 hours of gobsmacking Colorado rock and river.  A real luxury that we were lucky to share with Terry and Nita who had wanted to do the ride and thought we might enjoy as well. 

I felt like a very lucky person, the gentle breezes in the perfect temperatures outside, wafting my skirt to Marilyn Munroe heights, without the beautiful view of Marilyn's buttocks. You know that state of euphoria you get into when everything is perfect?

The food was good, the service was right.  Try this ride if you'd like a little luxury for a couple of hours.  For mains, I had the salmon, with pesto and quinoa, while Dan had buffalo short ribs.  

We drove home to some evening rain in the mountains.  It is pretty usual in summer here for the hot days to produce thunderstormy evenings.  After our big meals and drinking we dived into quesadillas and guacamole with a little more liquid lubrication.

A perfect day.

Travelling to Westcliffe

Sunday was a day of travel to Westcliffe mainly.  I had to pick up our rental car but had picked the wrong Enterprise car depot.  Luckily it still wasn't too far from my brother's Denver house and he dropped us there.  Time to test my driving on the wrong (right) side of the road skills!  I didn't do too badly although the roadworks always created extra challenges as I tried to sort out where the cones were trying to direct us.  We packed up the car and were off, driving south from Denver on the interstate.  I have driven this road several times before and it wasn't too challenging.  My brother and Nita followed behind us by about an hour or so and when we reached Westcliffe, we decided to let them go ahead to their mountain house to open up while we went to a summer concert at the park on the outskirts of town.  

This was a country music band - the Rifters from New Mexico - and they played easy-listening country music but a lot of references to God and that wasn't to my taste.  However, we listened to a few tunes and enjoyed the shade that the few trees provided, in the warm Colorado summer.  We then set out for the mountain house - "Te Mamo" which is 10 minutes upwards to the base of the mountains.  

Saw the Amish wagon moving along the country roads as we approached - what a place!

Time for dinner and early to bed.

A Lazy Day in Boulder

A lie-in in Denver was needed to catch up on the jet lag and help battle a cold that had developed as I left NZ.  We were then driven to Boulder for lunch with extended family in the Dushanbe teahouse, which not only has an interesting history, but is also a beautiful setting. The whole building has rich and beautiful tiles throughout.

The building was a gift from the sister city of Dushanbe in Tajikistan. You can read about its history here. A huge variety of teas and delicious food are available. I had the Indian Dosa while Dan enjoyed a very different American Breakfast. 

We followed this up with a sightseeing drive into the Flatirons. Stunning country and lookouts over the Colorado plains. 

From there, it was home to Denver and enjoying Margaritas, cathartic reminiscences and dinner before planning a car pickup for tomorrow. 

Wild Animal Sanctuary

 My brother, Terry,  and his partner, Nita, have been long-time supporters of the Wild Animal Sanctuary and had urged us to look at what they do worldwide.  They have retrieved animals from Puerto Rico when finances forced closures of zoos, and also animals from Ukraine, when personnel went through the fighting lines to get zoo- and other animals to a safe harbour.  

Their website tells you all you need to know to start with but it is also important to be aware that the whole concept was started by a 19-year-old entrepreneur.  It is the largest non-profit organisation in the world dedicated to rescuing large animals and carnivores living in difficult circumstances.  The facility which we visited today in Keenesberg, Colorado, has long elevated walkways from where you can view some of the animals as they go through their rehabilitation. Truly worth a view if you are inspired by animals and the people who voluntarily look after them. Here are some of my favourite shots from the day.

This tiger was out for a stroll along the banks of a pond, giving us a wonderful view of his form.

    

From above we were able to look at the wolves and/or wolf crosses that the sanctuary had rescued.  Not being an expert, I am uncertain whether this was a full blood wolf or not but it looked to me like he had a bit of alsation-type dog in his genes.

The grizzly bears are also a sight to behold - roaming freely through the open areas.

This lynx gave me a knowing look as I walked above him - you will see the large pads of his feet which make it easy for him to walk in the snow.

There were so many more wonderful opportunities to see the wild animals, but I urge you to visit this place yourself and donate if you possibly can.  They have three sanctuaries now, one just for wild horses.

During the day we also connected with Dan's prom date, Priscilla, from over 50 years ago.  Her and her husband met us at the sanctuary and we enjoyed the time together.  They have a small farm and rescue horses and donkeys.

That evening, we met up with my niece and nephew, Zoe and Max and Max's girl, Rosie and amid much hilarity, I shared some gifts from NZ with them.  Robert, Zoe's husband, had a cold so we missed him on this occasion.  Terry made an excellent eggplant dish.

First Day in Denver

A long 24+ hours traveling to get to Denver, through Houston, but it is good to get here, even after the special treatment we received at Houston Airport due to the drug dog reacting to Dan.  One hour of pat-downs and swabs of all of our luggage later, they decided to let us into the country!

My brother met us at Denver Airport and it is a relief to get into bed at 12am and get some sort of sleep.

This mural we encountered on a morning walk with Izzy, my brother's dog.

Day One Highlights:

After a walk around some historical areas of the Denver neighbourhood with Izzy the dog, we ventured out into the heat to visit Lucille's for some brunch.  This is a Creole cafe line which opened in 1980 and I have been to all three of the Denver, Boulder and Longmont establishments, so it is a favourite haunt. 

My brother has always taken me to Denver Botanical Gardens whenever I visit and it is always just lovely -  one of our favourite places to unwind and enjoy the plants. 

 

It was hot today (35 degrees C ) and we didn't linger too long out in the sun but enjoyed the coolness of the inside exhibitions.

Highlights of the gardens are always the Nymphaea (water lilies) but the bonus today was an exhibition of Ansel Adam’s work.  We had escaped the midday heat into his exhibition at the gardens. 

Ansel Adams 1902-1984

What a magic photographer!   Yosemite and other mountainous or wild landscapes  (some examples of his work at this link) captured beautifully in black and white.  Google him!  You'll be amazed by the crisp lines in the photographs of the American wilderness.

Truly remarkable, especially using the cameras of the day.

The day came to an end with some of my brother's infamous drink-making skills and food prepared by lovely Nita.

Climate Change Guilts

 It seems every man and his dog are leaving NZ right now, heading for overseas holidays in the wake of Covid restrictions.  New Zealand is a nation of air travelers mainly because of our distance from so many other nations.  

So how does everyone reconcile their travels with climate change imperatives?  The guilt I feel is obviously not enough to stop me flying off in search of family and warmer climes because here I go again.  But I do feel guilty.  A friend told me recently we really need to stop doing this because there will be no quality future for our grandchildren and I see her point.  

It is difficult in this age when many of our family live overseas but even if I had no family overseas I would be still sorely tempted to travel to warmth mid-winter.  At least I am not producing methane (well maybe minimally) and nitrous oxide during the flight, and carbon dioxide production can be mitigated by the plants I grow.  

I'm putting my head in the sand.  What do you all think?

Timed entry to Mesa Verde

 I've always thought that USA National Parks are much better looked after and serviced compared to NZ and I'm guessing it is because they charge to enter.  The charges are small but help keep the services supported and are well worth paying if you are visiting.  There will be people who disagree with this policy but I really think it would be worth doing here in NZ.  Your thoughts are welcome!  I think we should support the upkeep of our national parks beyond the paltry sums that the DOC are given to run these irreplaceable treasures.

Today I purchased a timed entry to Mesa Verde National Park which is available to book two weeks before we arrive.  I will also need a Southern Utah National Parks Entrance ticket - but the $55 annual fee is well worth it in my opinion. What happens elsewhere in the world?  I am not really a seasoned worldwide traveler and would be interested to know if this happens worldwide.  I have visited a few USA parks and reserves now and they are so well supported, making the visits very enjoyable.  Yosemite, Yellowstone, Teton, Mount Rushmore and so on - so well resourced!

One week to go!

 The final week of countdown has begun.  It is just 7 days until we leave Auckland, heading for Houston with the (meantime) end destination of Denver in our sights.  We have about 2 weeks on the mainland of USA and will finish off with a celebratory week in Hawaii before heading home again.  Far too short of course but needs must!

Firstly our planned trip in Colorado, USA, is easy to see in this map. We plan a stay in Denver followed by a round trip through Colorado and Utah, back to Denver.  It is the first time that I have visited Utah.  In previous trips we have traveled south to New Mexico and North to Wyoming and beyond, so Westward it is, this time!

 

The expected temperatures make my heart sing although my niece tells me that there have been thunderstorms in the evenings which is easy to understand as heat forces the water into the atmosphere. Next Wednesday's high of 35 degrees in Denver will have dropped by the time we arrive late evening but 20 will still be a welcome change from our frosty mornings and snowstorms passing through the central North Island here in New Zealand. When summer moves into fall, the temperatures may drop a little but as a lover of hot weather, I am not bothered as I anticipate the warmth.  Maybe I will be in a week or two!

I have been using a Vacation Countdown app developed by Kulana Media to remind me of the days to go until we leave on an AirNZ flight to Houston.  Last time I went to Houston was on a flight that I won from AirNZ (thank you again to them!) and we traveled on to Louisiana and New Orleans.  It was a real treat!  

I won the return flights for two by using Twitter to highlight Air New Zealand's two new destinations - Houston and Buenos Aires.  Flights to Buenos Aires have not resumed since Covid but luckily, the Houston destination has resumed, and from Houston, Air New Zealand was able to provide the final part of our journey through their Star Alliance partnership with United Airlines.  UA run a direct flight to Denver which will make the trip straightforward for us.

The first leg to Houston is scheduled to take 13 hours and 45 minutes, so I have put in a bid for a skycouch upgrade.  My husband has also put in a bid using our airpoints.  We haven't ever been upgraded before so it would be very exciting to be successful.  I will let you know how we go!

Onwards and upwards!