DAY 21: COLORADO SPRINGS TO ALBUQUERQUE

The alarm went off at 6:30am. Portland gave me a look that said it was too early, and put his head back down. I told him to sleep in as I got ready and packed up my bags to leave Nancy's place. It was such a great visit, with time to reconnect after a few years and to learn more and meet more of my extended family. Too short of a visit. This morning, Nancy's daughter Emily and her three sons were coming over for breakfast before I had to hit the road. They were set to arrive at 7:30am and I was ready with the car packed, planning to head out for a hike after breakfast.

Emily and the boys brought in a rush of early morning energy and the dogs picked up on it, playing games and picking up the pace where space had become a bit more limited. Coffee was brewed on the Keurig, along with hot cocoa with spirals of whipped cream for the boys. There were choppy attempts at conversation and introductions made amongst the chaos of early morning and so many people in one space. Eventually, we were all settled around the dining room table to talk and enjoy the meal. Bagels, scrambled eggs, and the turkey bacon that stole the show. As Nancy and Emily were finishing up in the kitchen, I talked to the boys about their experience with homeschooling so far this year, and what they like to do for fun.

The conversation at breakfast was centered around learning trips that Emily and the boys had taken; a recent one to Cave of the Winds. That brought up my question about White-Nosed bat syndrome, and sharing what I knew about the subject. I also shared some stories from my trip, but by that point the boys had wandered off to other things.

It was nice meeting another extended cousin that is of a similar age to me, and I was glad to have stayed a bit later in the morning for more family time and good conversation. After breakfast ended, everyone seemed to be on their way, and I was able to get on the road shortly after 9am, as planned.

I wasn't ready to head towards New Mexico just yet. First, we were off to hike at Garden of the Gods, a park that Dad and I had visited together back in 2016 on our first National Parks trip together. The park is full of fantastic rock formations, arranged together in a group, forming a rock garden. My return this morning, and during COVID, was a little bit different than I remembered. Dad and I had visited first thing in the morning, and he famously rushed us towards leaving at 10:30am, en route to our next adventure.

My current take on the center garden was that it was much too crowded with tourists to be as beautiful and enjoyable as I recalled. I think I was a bit too late in the morning for any sort of solitude here. But, my plan was to hike the trails on the outskirts of the park, a route I'd found in All Trails, but perceived to be the flat, paved, biking and walking path that I'd remembered from my last visit. I explored the center garden, just to see the parts of the park that I'd missed the last time. It was too crowded. In search of a connection to the outer loop trail network, Portland and I spotted a horseback trail riding group and Portland was amazed and excited, pulling me toward them. Silly boy.

When we found the trail, it was at a rock formation that I recognized as Giant's Footprints and I tried to take some pictures, but Portland didn't seem to be interested. We took the Palmer Trail towards the parking lot near Kissing Camels and Gate Rock, no longer having time for the full four mile loop. In the end, I wished I would have stuck with this loop, not taking time in the busy center of the garden.

The Palmer Trail was so beautiful and scenic, climbing high up above the Garden of the Gods and through a more natural landscape; no paved trails here, or signs warning about natural conditions like rattlesnakes. There were much fewer people along this trail, and in the mile or so that we walked along this route, I saw around ten people total. Next time I'll know to take this "scenic" route.

I was glad to get some “true“ hiking in, and that the busy walk in the center hadn’t been my only experience. After returning to the car, I drove out of the park and towards The Mate Factor in Manitou Springs. This is another place that Dad and I had visited and eaten lunch just a few years ago. It is a super cute little cafe, looking something like a treehouse or an Ewok village hut. I found a space right outside and walked to the pay station to get a receipt for my free thirty minutes of parking. Then, I continued down to one of Manitou Springs' eight natural mineral springs, stopping at Cheyenne Spring, flowing from an elaborate teal colored metal fountain in the center of town. I filled my water bottle and tasted the slightly salty tasting, naturally carbonated spring water. Each of the springs in Manitou has a unique flavor, and I remembered Dad and I on our walking tour with me sampling water from each spring.

At The Mate Factor, I was more than excited. This showed (a lot) when I started talking to the kind and helpful woman that was working there. I explained that I had visited a few years before and had been looking forward to returning. I ordered a large iced chai mate latte (the best chai latte I've ever had), a mate bar with peanuts and chocolate (to go), and a Chicken on the Ranch sandwich for a quick sit down lunch in the cute treehouse-vibe cafe.

I asked the woman about mate gourds and bombillas (the metal straws with strainers that mate is traditionally drank from, but I didn't end up buying one. The woman came out and showed me a catalog with a lot of their other different locations - markets, restaurants, bake shops, etc. that they own closer to the east coast and even abroad. It really seemed like they had a lot of cool things going on in different parts of the country and the world. She also explained that they had recently bought their own mate farm to grow on, extending their ability to control and improve their product.

The Chicken on the Ranch was the same sandwich I'd ordered the last time, on a homemade roll with shredded chipotle chicken, havarti cheese, tomato, feta spread, lettuce, and their special sauce with chips and a pickle spear on the side. As good as I remembered, if not better! Somehow, I fit this lunch stop in perfectly to the free half hour on the parking meter and my goal of getting on the road by noon.

On my way out of town, I noticed some local murals and art shops and wished I had a little more time to explore, especially after seeing all of Nancy's great art decorations. But, I had to get on the road to Albuquerque, and headed to I-25, which I would follow for many hours across the desert. I did still have a few things to worry about today, aside from driving. My computer was officially dead, and would not charge with the cord that Nancy and I had picked up last night.

Driving away from Colorado Springs area, I passed a large shopping area with a Best Buy, and quickly pulled off the highway to backtrack to the store. Carrying my laptop into the store, I thought I'd found what I needed -- TWICE! I bought two rounds of universal adaptors, each time taking them out to my car to test them using my power converter, but each time it didn't work. I left without a cord, calling Mom once I was back on the road to try to troubleshoot and see if I could get one sent through Amazon with two day delivery. No go. One of the associates at Best Buy had mentioned that an office store may have a bit more of a selection, and I called Office Depot but they didn't have anything either. The person mentioned that I would probably have to order online due to the low wattage used by my laptop.

Long story short, my blogging now depends on the kindness of others to lend their spare or personal laptops to me for late night blogging. I don't want to have to rely on the app version to write on my phone, but I’ll do what I must!

The drive to Albuquerque was long, but pretty uneventful, with some mountain scenery. The highlight was the tumbleweeds, which made me exclaim, "Tumbleweeds, tumbleweeds, tumbleweeds!,” as they rolled and bounced across the pavement. It's the little things.

I finally made it back to listening to my book on tape, Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman, and it was a surprisingly good way to pass the time. The desert road was so long at times that I could imagine running out of gas out here, and being stranded for miles around. Luckily, once my gas light came on the nearest station was within reach, still cutting it a little close, getting down to ten miles to empty.

I drove into Albuquerque around 6pm, navigating towards Luke and his wife Valentine’s house. Luke is a friend of my friend of Beth's. A previous Sarah may have been too shy to stay with strangers, even someone that a friend knew well, and it was still a little strange not knowing what to expect. But, I'm glad I've moved past that and can now just go with the flow, trust in the kindness of others, use connections and meet amazing people.

I pulled into Luke's driveway, hopping out to meet him as he walked out the back door. When I let Portland out of the car, he ran right past Luke and into the open back kitchen door. It was the strangest thing. "Great," I thought, "he's wandering into strangers' houses now." All of his stranger danger protocols have gone out the window. But, Luke was a good sport, laughing it off, and we brought my things in and hung around in the living room, talking on opposing couches over cans of Lagunitas A Little Sumpn' Sumpn IPA -- always a goodie.

We talked for a long time, telling stories of our past travels and experiences in Pittsburgh (where he once lived) and beyond. Luke has done an almost cross country bike trip, and works for the railroad in Alaska each summer. Fascinating! Eventually, it was time for dinner and I was so grateful for a delicious home cooked meal. Luke had made homemade pasta which he paired with a marinara sauce and Italian sausage. For an appetizer, salad with arugula, apple, blue cheese and nuts, dressed in balsamic. It was insanely good, and I felt guilty for sitting back on the in-kitchen booth/couch to continue our conversation while he made dinner. I felt like I was on a cooking show, waiting for a plate of food to arrive in front of me, and apologized for not being more helpful. After dinner, I did my part by handwashing the dishes in the sink.

Luke had a lot of stories to share about his summers working in Alaska, living in an RV, and it was already getting late by the time we decided on a plan for the rest of the night. We took Luke's car downtown, Portland in the backseat, headed for a brewery called Marble, but detouring to see some mural art, when I mentioned public art in this city. We pulled up next to a mural on the side of Sidetrack Brewing Company, two chrome flying pigs, and after a picture, I ran inside to ask how late they were open. We thought we had until midnight at Marble, which seemed crazy late to me in these times.

It turned out I was right, due to updated restrictions, all breweries had to close at 10pm, and regularly dog friendly areas outside were no longer allowed to host dogs. So that was a change in plans, no spontaneous "late night" brewery crawl through downtown Albuquerque. We went inside and got a table on the patio, leaving Portland in the car. Luke's wife, Valentine, was on her way to meet us after work, and he ordered a beer that she would have to drink quickly when she arrived.

We did a toast when she joined us, and I caught her up on my travel and the evening so far. She is super cool, and it seems like we have a lot of common interests. It was closing time and we all headed back to the house. There, we continued to talk and lounge in their living room and Portland was loving all the attention and couch space. Valentine made some tea and we talked about phases of hobbies and interests and she talked about hooping (hula hooping) and I talked about aerial silks. I took a few minutes for yoga, and more tea and it felt so lucky that Valentine let me use her laptop to type this post.

Looking forward to adventures with these new friends over the weekend here in Albuquerque. Stay tuned!