Sunday, September 27, 2015

Road Trip Through the Rocky Mountains

I got an email on Tuesday cancelling my Thursday work shift.  I already was off on Friday.  My husband and I were planning to drive to Bloomfield, NM (in the Four Corners area) for the weekend to celebrate my daughter's birthday and wish her and her husband well as they depart for a new home and new jobs in Colorado next week.  My girlfriend, Cathy, called from Breckenridge, Colorado. She was there for a week amid the gorgeous fall foliage all alone in a 2 bedroom condo.  I asked her if we could come up Thursday and we were off on a ROAD TRIP!

Golden Aspen among the pines


Ron and I drove to Espanola, NM, then north on US 285 to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.  The aspen were already golden in the mountains north of the San Luis Valley.  We oooh-ed and aaaw-ed our way through Poncha Pass and past Salida in the Arkansas River Valley.  We headed up Colorado Hwy 9 to Fairplay, CO, over the Hoosier Pass and down into the valley where the town of Breckenridge is at the base of the Tenmile Range.


The autumn foliage was astounding.  The skies were deep blue and the temperatures were in the 70's...a perfect fall day!


We enjoyed a nice dinner out at the Ember Restaurant.  They feature an artistic menu.



I was enjoying the Softshell Crab Slider appetizer with chapoline guacamole with crunchy little garnishes on top when Cathy told me they were crickets.  They were good!  We spent the night at her vacation condo and caught breakfast at Daylight Donuts.

French Ridge Condominiums
We headed for Mary and Matt's house in Bloomfiled, NM via Leadville, Colorado.
Heading west from Frisco, Colorado to Leadville via I-70.

Mary and Matt have bought a home in Grand Junction, Colorado and are moving there next week.

Matt and Mary's new home 
He will be working for the same company (Auto-Chlor), different franchise.  She is now District Manager for Starbucks covering the Western Slope of Colorado, including Durango, CO and Farmngton, NM.  We drove up to Hesperus, Colorado to the Kennebec Cafe & Bakery for dinner. Mary's Dad, Mark, joined the celebration of Mary's 31st birthday.  Delicious dining.

Mary and Matt
Ron and Matt

Mary and her father, Mark.

The next day, Ron and I headed home to Albuquerque.  The road trip was 3 days long and approximately 950 miles of driving.  A great little fall getaway!






1 comment:

  1. Fall getaways with all the color are just great. We miss Colorado now that our son and family moved to Arizona...

    ReplyDelete