Jill's Journal: How is it, you may ask, that we planned to spend the week in the Denver area but instead find ourselves in Raton, New Mexico? That is a good question, indeed. We got blown a little off course.
We arrived in Golden, Colorado, on Sunday, just like we intended. But the trouble we encountered in finding a campground (with no prospects for improvement over the next few days) meant we had to keep going after one night. We didn’t want to – the Golden area is beautiful, of course, and we were looking forward to a few days of enjoying it. Plus Rob has a busy week at work and had no desire to waste extra time driving. And, of course, the girls and I have school (and had already taken our Iowa week off as an early “Thanksgiving break” (gotta love the flexibility of homeschooling!)).
But, while our house is with us and we can stay in a parking lot for one night, we can’t expect to move into one for a few days. And so, early Monday morning, we set out to head over the Rockies and move just a little farther west. Luckily, we checked the weather first and quickly learned a massive winter storm was moving in at our crossing point with cautions of severe weather and road closures (and temperatures falling to -9)! We'd said all along we’d take the southern route if weather necessitated it and I think it did.
So, south we went. We’re now in a little campground in a sleepy town in New Mexico, just over the Colorado border and still at an elevation of 6,500 feet. We hit 8,000 feet crossing the border on the Raton Pass, which has been used for centuries by Indians and Spanish explorers to cut through the Rocky Mountains this far south. We’re right on the old Santa Fe Trail, a once-dangerous 1800s route that was 1,200 miles long and connected Independence, Missouri, with Santa Fe, New Mexico. This place has seen more covered wagon trains and trade with Indians than we can imagine. This southern route to California adds an extra day to our drive, but it’s well worth it for safety’s sake.
4 comments:
Will you be passing through Phoenix?
Unfortunately no; the closest we'll pass is Flagstaff.
Glad you're all safe and sound. The weather here has died down a bit, but yesterday was the first snow day in the Twin Falls school district for at least ten years. Of course, the kids wanted to go play in the snow all day yesterday, even when they couldn't see across the street because of all the snow blowing around. They're back in school today, and ready for the start of their 4 day weekend.
Gary - enjoy the snow, enjoy the holiday, enjoy the weekend. We'll be driving most of it, and hopefully will make good time across the 1/3 of the country we have left to go.
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