December 20, 2004 - 12:28 a.m.
Well Above Sea Level
I thought I had updated since I got done with classes, but I guess not. My semester was over about 9 days ago. We spent a day getting ready to leave, and then we took off for St. Louis. I met a few of Rob's friends, saw some neat things like Laumier Sculpture Park and the National Museum of Transport, froze for the first few days, and got to try Ted Drewes' frozen custard. Even at below-freezing temperatures, it was good stuff. Rob also focused on his favorite pizza places, Imo's and Fortel's Pizza with St. Louis style thin crust. We ate a lot of pizza in those three days.
Then we headed across Kansas. Unfortunately, we couldn't see the 8,000 lb prairie dog because the place was very closed. We did stop at Ozarkland somewhere in Missouri and perused the aisles of trinkets and "vintage" beanie babies. Can something be vintage if it's only 5-8 years old? I think not. Those were the highlights of driving from St. Louis and then across Kansas.
Wait, I lie. We had Christmas cards to send out, so we looked for small towns from which to mail these things. I sent mine from Sweet Springs, MO. Rob considered Arriba, Colorado but settled on Kanorado, Kansas. What is it with towns that meld two state names together? Texas has Texoma and Texarkana. There must be more out there. I mean, there's Kanorado. Stopping in those two towns were highlights.
When we finally made it to Colorado Springs, the light was fading fast. We went to the Garden of the Gods park and saw the amazing red rocks, again froze our butts off, and found the first snow to walk in.
The next day we arrived in Taos. We had Lotaburgers and then explored the Rio Grande gorge like I've never explored it. Our bed and breakfast, the Cottonwood Inn, was wonderful. Our room had its own hot tub and steam shower, as well as a view west across the gorge and a smaller view of Taos Mountain, not to mention a fireplace. We had an okay meal at the Old Blinking Light down the road. The next day we explored downtown Taos, discovered that the Taos Book Shop has closed, and ate a second breakfast for lunch at Michael's Kitchen. After a big plate of huevos rancheros, I had to take a nap. Upon waking, we headed up to the ski basin for nighttime tubing. We don't ski, and I don't really do snow at all (growing up in Dallas and all), but I did have a great time. They had groomed a run just for the tubers (that sounds like potatoes rather than the kids and families throwing themselves down the hill), and we got at least 5 runs in. That night we ate at Roberto's, a childhood favorite of mine.
Right now I'm writing from a hotel in Santa Fe. We've extended this part of the trip by a day because we found out that a family friend of my parents that I don't really like is going to be staying with them tomorrow night. I'd much rather avoid her. And one more day in Santa Fe isn't a bother. We had another Blake's Lotaburger tonight and then went to the movies. Tomorrow we'll do some looking around Santa Fe then head towards Texas.
We started out basically at sea level in Savannah. We made it to 9200 feet at the Taos Ski Valley. Right now, we're around 7000 feet. It's all downhill from here.
�
�
