We had reservations on the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad which runs a route from Alamosa to La Veta, CO. The 62-mile trip takes 3 hours up and 3 hours back, and they give you about an hour and a-half to wander around the little mountain town of La Veta and check out the local "wildlife". It's a cute, quaint little mountain town about 8 square blocks as best we could tell. We did manage to find the ice cream shoppe, so life was good! :)
Jenny, our car manager, made the trip interesting with information on points of interest and other bits of trivia and information on the local area. She is a 5th grade teacher working the railroad for the summer and has a delightful personality, making the trip a pleasure.Among other points of interest, we passed by a "medicinal marijuana" shack. You may know they recently legalized marijuana in Colorado. The shack had a big marijuana leaf sign out front along with what I would think of as a Red Cross sign except it was green. Jenny said they often come out to wave at the train as it passes by. When they don't, she said she feels like they are probably all taking naps. Or having a snack. LOL
The trip took us through areas of the San Luis Valley not accessible by car. As expected, the scenery was beautiful.
The open-air car was a nice added touch, too. La Veta is at 7024 elevation, the air was cool and fresh, and watching the aspen and evergreen trees going by at 30 mph made for a pleasant and memorable day.
Sunday, August 25, 2013
We thought the mountains around Alamosa were beautiful, but the drive north to Salida and Howard took us through what we considered an even prettier part of the state. Max just kept saying "Wow!" I came to the Salida area back in April when I was still working for Tyler, and I knew I wanted to bring Max here. Hearing his comments, I was so glad we came.
The headwaters of the Arkansas River are here, and the sights and sounds of that cold, clear water help to clear your head, no matter what is rattling around in there. We had made reservations at Bandera's Bunkhouse in Howard, and the river runs about 50 feet outside the steps of our Turtle. What a nice place to call home for a few days.
We had made plans to meet up with our friends George and Lisa from Colorado Springs while we were here. We met them at an RV-Dreams Rally in Elephant Butte, NM back in March and have kept in touch. They recently became full-timers, as well, and stopped over for a day and a night on their way to Gunnison. It was so nice to see familiar faces and to share our start-up experiences over the last few months. We went for an exciting and beautiful drive over Monarch Pass (and experienced the really thin air up there!), told lots of stories, and laughed and laughed. Among other important things, they were able to better explain the whole "medicinal marijuana" concept to us. They said it's by prescription--but you can get that prescription there at the shack! Who knew?! What can I say...I just had to know how it works. :)
Before we knew it, we had driven almost all the way to Gunnison. Max had an uncle who used to have a ranch in the area, and he was able to find the old place and ranch house. Which of course brought back lots of memories from when he was a teenager and came up for visits.
Before we knew it, we were back at the Turtle and it was dinnertime. Max fried up some fish we had left in the freezer from our trip down to the coast (Gulf of Mexico) last month, and we ate outside to the sounds of the river...and the feel of a whole bunch of mosquitoes and other newly-hatched river bugs making their dinner from our bare legs. LOL! Oh well...it's all part of this new, outdoor life. Lovin' it!
As always...until next time...take care!
Paula
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