Saturday, July 30, 2011

The Vacation Saga begins...again!

We left Austin at 5 AM on Friday morning...it was 80 degrees - destination Santa Fe.
735 feet above sea level.
We started to climb almost immediately into the Texas Hill Country.
We hit US Highway 84 at Goldthwaite Texas - as we angled our way northwest across the state.  We would stay on this highway (off and on) all the way to Pagosa Springs, CO.
We drove into and through the Texas Oil Country (stinky stuff).
Just a unique truck we saw in Santa Fe...
Hit Abilene and tried to find dry ice for the freezer stuff in the cooler (finally successful after 3 tries).
It was 90 degrees and climbing.
Hit Lubbock and drove into the Texas Wind Country (more wind generators than you could shake a stick at).
It was over 100 degrees.
We saw a Krispy Kreme donut shop and just HAD to stop and use their rest room...hah hah.  Matt and Isaac indulged in the 400 calorie donuts...
We drove through the town of Muleshoe Texas.  Always wondered what Muleshoe was like and now we know (um...not THAT much different from every other town...)
And on to New Mexico...stopped in Clovis to get a NM map.
Over 100 degrees still...and still...hot hot hot.
Major railroad line through there we saw 4 big freight trains in a row (stacked up like a traffic jam).
One train was transporting military vehicles - it was quite a sight.
At Fort Sumner we turned right.
Last year on the way home from Pagosa we listened to a book on tape about Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.  Fort Sumner was a pivotal location in the story - so it was neat just to drive through.
We headed north across the desert to Santa Clara and saw something that was a first for us this summer.
A thunderstorm and RAIN.  It was a fabulous thing to feel and see.

We hit Santa Fe about 6 PM and opened the doors of the car to...80 degrees!!!
Refreshing with a capital R!

Next morning we continued on US Highway 84 from Santa Fe to Pagosa Springs.


They say it's monsoon season here...which means beautiful mornings and a chance of thunderstorms every afternoon.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Pagosa Springs in 22 days

Matt, Isaac and I are heading to one of our favorite vacation spots: Pagosa Springs, CO.  The count down at home has begun.

PS - here we come!