Texas to Colorado

When we left Fort Worth, it was about forty degrees and sunny, so I wasn't prepared for the white road trip home. I get a little delusional sometimes and believe the sun will always be shining. I also believe West = Warm so coming into more and more snow the farther west we went, wasn't in my thinking. The best white stuff we came across though was somewhere between Fort Worth and The Panhandle (that's a lot of somewhere, but that just goes to show how bad my memory is, and why I feel compelled to preserve what I can actually remember)....It was cotton! Lots and lots of cotton. During my years in Mesa, AZ I saw small cotton fields, but it was nothing compared to the thousands of acres we drove through. At times I couldn't tell the difference between the cotton balls blowing across the road to rest in the tumbleweeds and the snow hiding out in the shade. Joey packed my car and my camera, so many times I was tempted to stop right in the middle of the highway just to pick some up...but when I heard "Mom, you're slowing us down!" I trudged on. Jonas was surprised to hear that cotton grows from a plant, so that led to a discussion of other wearable plants. Which led to man made fibers, and everyone wanting to know what they were wearing, and how it was made. Ummmm.....I know hemp and cotton grow in the dirt....How far did you say you got your battle droid, Jake?

The first night we stayed in a hotel in New Mexico, which must have been built in the Fifties. We entered our room from the outside, but had another door on the other side that entered into a HUGE indoor room, complete with pool tables, trees, picnic tables, sunroofs, and a pool. It'd be a great place for a gathering of friends or families, but odd to be so close to so much entertainment, like a big backyard, but inside.

We stayed with friends the next night in their cabin in the woods. Just a little cabin with four patios, two level garage, heated floors, five bathrooms, thirty ton rock fireplace with waterfall, and our private set of suites downstairs by the hot tub. Did I mention the million dollar views out the two story high windows? I couldn't talk them into goldfish for the moat around the fireplace, though.

Originally we were going to go back home the same way we went down, over Vail Summit via I-70, but all about new drives, we opted for scenic byways cutting right through the middle of the State. That was such a good decision, too. Not just because of it's beauty, but they ended up closing Vail Pass later on in the day.

I found my camera, only to find it's dead, but not to fear...I broke out the camera phone!

Heading towards the Sangre de Cristo mountain range, was a sight like no other.

Monarch Pass ~ Now this was a sight that was hard to see.


It was really frightening at times, but as long as I could see Joey's taillights I didn't panic...much.

Bi-cicle anyone?