Golden, Colorado

Approaching Golden

I think Golden, Colorado deserves its own post.  This is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.  Nestled in the mountains it has a quaint, charming historic downtown area full of outdoor eateries, shops, parks and a river runs through it!

Golden, Colorado

There are numerous walking, hiking and biking trails and it is dog and people friendly.  We went downtown on Sunday and the scene was one that could have been right out of movie with everyone acting on cue.  People were eating outside, there were walkers and bikers.  A group of motorcyclists were in town, people in the park were playing barefoot on the grass with children; another park had people barbequing.  There were water bowls for the dogs throughout the downtown area and everywhere one went people were greeting each other.  If you have seen the Truman Show, it kind of reminded me of it - almost too good to be true.

Not far from the downtown area is a big beautiful mall with all the shopping one could ever dream of.  We did not make it into Denver, but Denver is probably only 10 -15 minutes away.  Previously I had mentioned Dawn moving to the Boulder area, but she is closer to Denver than Boulder.  I love this place and look forward to other trips here.

Tomorrow I leave for Canada, Belinda returns to Florida and Dawn and Gio (and Fox) will settle into their new life in Golden, Colorado.  May the force be with them.

BLou (a.k.a. Luba)

Rocky Mountain High, Colorado

I'm back.......!!!  Dawn and Gio got cable and internet connected today so I am able to make my final entry on the "Two North's Wandering" road trip.

I failed to mention something at the beginning of the blog.  Our two vehicle plus U-Haul convoy kept in touch during the trip with two way radios that Dawn and Gio had.  Dawn was "blonde bomber" and Gio was "Haitian Sensation".  On Mother's Day when Gio wanted to wish me a happy day via the two way radio, he referred to me as "Canadian Bacon".  I would have preferred something more flattering but I found that Americans, when thinking about Canada often think of Canadian Bacon.  In Texas, when speaking to a well fed Texan and telling him I was Canadian, replied "I love Canadian bacon".  That was quite obvious.

When we left Taos, New Mexico on Saturday we drove over the Rio Grande Gorge.  I believe it is 650 feet deep and quite beautiful to behold (you could google this and see for yourself).  We then passed an "Earthship Community" where all the homes had a self sustaining energy system.  We then entered Colorado.  The drive was beautiful, had winding roads and we were surrounded by mountains:  Sangre De Cristo Mts. on the right and the Rocky Mts. on the left.  We passed the Great Sand Dunes, which I wanted to drive in and see but we had to make it to Golden in time for Dawn to sign her lease and get the key for the apartment.  On our drive we climbed to an elevation of 10001 feet at which point there was snow but then descended 5000 feet to the Golden area. 

Colorado Mountains

The trip was great:  8 states in 7 days and I got to spend a lot of time with Dawn.  I think I will do one more entry on Golden.............so keep reading. 

Two Norths Wandering .....over and out. 

Taos

Okay, I must admit that doing this blog daily is not as much fun as I thought it would be.  I certainly am not Dale - but I will do my best for today and that leaves one more day on the blog as our trip ends tomorrow when we arrive in Colorado.

I love New Mexico - after leaving the Roswell area the drive was beautiful.  The landscape went from flat land to rolling hills to mountains.  It frequently looked like the Merritt/Kamloops area.  We drove through charming historical towns, one of which was Lincoln where Billy the Kid met his maker.  There were a lot of gift shops and the local people were chatty and eager to tell us about the historical events that happened in their town.

Newton Train Stn.

The weather was variable; we had some rain, hail, wind, fog and temperatures ranged from 43 to 73.  Due to the length of time we spent on the road we got into Taos too late to see much and the rain was coming down in sheets.  We saw enough to realize that this is a place worth spending some time in.  We were unable to go to Taos Pueblo and that is disappointing but I will just have to return.

Taos Plaza

We had some delicious Mexican food in a local sports pub and are now ready to retire for the eveniing.  I am looking forward to arriving in Colorado tomorrow.

Blou

New Mexico

We are In New Mexico but I must say that it is not as interesting as I had expected.  The landscape driving from the state line to Roswell was quite flat and dry with a bit of scrub brush - not pretty.  

The Road to Roswell

Roswell is large enough to have all the amenities and by this I mainly mean it has a Starbucks!  The UFO part of the town is really quite cheap and cheezy.  We enjoyed walking around the town looking at all the gift shops selling alien and UFO souveniers and went into a shop that had recreated their version of Area 51 and we had our photos taken with a lot of "aliens". 

This morning when we awoke in Sweetwater, Texas we were supplied with the best free breakfat to date - it was big like the rest of Texas.  I had some grits and biscuits with gravy and Alamo sauce.  The drive through the rest of Texas was full of oil wells (you could smell the oil), cattle and miles of beautiful red earth.  In one town they were trying to grow grapes for the first time and if successful were going to start a winery.  I really liked everything I saw in Texas.

We checked into our room early and are having a relaxing evening.  Dawn and I went to Red Lobster for dinner.  Gio is allergic to seafood so he and Belinda went out to eat on their own.

Tomorrow it is getting back to the northerly route to Taos Pueblo.

Blou

New Mexico vista

Deep in the Heart of Texas

We entered the Lone Star State today and after a long day on the road we are still in it.  We have noted that Texas is more prosperous than the last three states we drove through. There are big cattle ranches and big homes and oil wells.

JR Ewing

We drove on the outskirts of Dallas/Fort Worth, past Abilene and are currently in Sweetwater,chosen for its "sweet" name.  Tomorrow we will be in New Mexico and are very excited about that state.

The only thing of interest today is that Gio ran out of gas 14 miles out of Breckenridge.  Dawn and I drove to buy a gerry can of gas and returned to rescue him from the side of the road.

That is all for tonight.  Tomorrow I will have more interesting things to say. Thanks for following along.

Luba

On The Road Again

We awoke in Alabama...

...drove through Mississippi...

...and are now in Louisiana - Shreveport.

The weather is beautiful - no sign of the tornado that touched down in Oaklahoma.  It was just a long day of driving (or riding for me).  We want to make good time now as we want to spend more time in New Mexico.  We had a "tailgate picnic" In Newton, Mississippi and walked around the historic train station.

The scenery is lush and green.  We drove through Short, Louisiana that proudly displays the sign that it is the birthplace of Tim McGraw and Gibsland, Louisiana that has the claim to fame that Bonnie and Clyde were killed there.

Tomorrow we will begin our drive across the state of Texas.

Good night from all of us to all of you.

BLou

Georgia to Alabama

Hi y'all.  Here we are in Montgomery, Alabama.  Is this part of the bible belt?  It sure looked like it as soon as we crossed the state line - there seemed to be a church every few yards - most of them Baptist.  One church sign had the flames of hell burning brightly on a neon sign.

To go back to the beginning of the day...............we drove into Savannah where we spent a couple of hours wandering (of course) around the historic part of the city, taking in the majestic oaks,numerous parks and squares, the favorite of which was City Square.  Ron, I am hoping the pralines I bought you make it back to Canada as Gio is eyeing them!  There was a touristy walk along the river which we also enjoyed.

Forsyth Park, Savannah

Georgia was very lush and green and the homes we saw were beautiful.  That all changed when we crossed over into Alabama - the green was still there but the homes became more run down and there were a couple of small towns that were not places we would care to stop. 

Our routes are not always straight forward.  The highways seems to have numerous numbers - and that is for the same highway.  We ended up on the interstate today for a while before we found #80, the two lane highway we were looking for.  To quote Dawn this morning "we have been on the road for two hours this morning and 1 1/2 hours have been in the right direction"!

HWY 80

I just wanted to add that tomorrow we will leave Alabama and enter Mississippi.  We have no planned stops; we will just see what the drive has to offer.  Gio is requesting a good Southern eatery with plenty of meat.  As we have Fox with us and will not leave him in the car, all of our eating has been out of doors, which is fine with the warm temperatures we have been having.

Oh, an added note - we crossed the Chattahoochie River today.

Until next time, BLou

Finishing Florida

I wrote a very descriptive account of today and then I lost it.  I do not feel like repeating it.  Just know we went to Cocoa Beach today, drove through Daytona Beach and past the Daytona Speedway.  

We spent some time in St. Augustine and have crossed the state line into Georgia.  we are spending the night in Kingsland, Georgia.  Tomorrow we will go into Savannah and then start our drive West.

BLou

Wandering North On Florida's Scenic Highways

Greetings.  Here I am making the first entry on "Two North's Wandering".  Dale, I hope this blog is satisfactory.


We spent the day packing and did not leave Pembroke Pines until 1630 hours.  We meandered north along Highways 1, A1A and 707.  The route took us along the ocean and all its beauty of beaches and palm trees.  The homes along this route ranged from quaint and cozy to elegant and majestic.


We are currently in Fort Pierce and tomrrow we will continue the scenic route until we arrive in St. Augustine, where we will make our first major stop.

It feels good to be on the road and tomrrow we will start the drive with Willie Nelson singing "On the Road Again".

Until tomorrow evening,

Luba, Dawn. Gio, Belinda and Fox

Florida Highway

Fox In A Box

This is a photo of Fox, out of the box.  For most of the trip he will be "Fox in a Box",  When we are near the coast, he may be Fox on the rocks, when playing he may be Fox with socks and I do believe Fox even talks.  Come to think of it, this blog could have been called the adventures of Fox. 

Two Norths Wandering

Greetings and Salutations from one of the Wandering Norths.  I have received permission from Dale to blog on our site, provided I do so in a manner of which she would approve.  I take that to mean that I cannot be overly terse and must write in a descriptive and interesting manner.  I shall do my utmost to live up to her expectations.

The "two North's wandering" shall officially commence on May 9th when Dawn and I, along with Gio, Belinda and Fox in a box drive from Florida to Colorado.  Please stay tuned for the upcoming road trip. 

Betty-Lou (a.k.a. Luba)