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Published: October 28th 2009
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Journey to the Rockies
Next morning after eating some breakkie in the sun we were once again on the road driving out of Clayton, passing the famous saloon complete with bullet holes in the ceiling which was recommended by Norma at the cotton mill as it was an original resting point for cowboys passing through, however it was unfortunately now shut down awaiting new owners.
We decided that morning to visit a dormant volcano in a small town called Capulin an hours drive away. The time passed quite quickly especially with giving Bowks the challenge of counting the number if carriages being pulled by a freight train we passed (can you believe it, it was pulling 120! Unbelievable!) The volcano in Capulin was great. We spent a few minutes watching a video of how it was formed and then took the 1 mile drive up to the top along some steep sided roads. We walked around the 1.3 mile loop around the top of the volcanoes perimeter and admired the views, showing four surrounding states: New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado and Texas. The volcano was also home to 1000’s of ladybirds. Having walked the perimeter, then down into the centre
and back which was very tiring and with the feeling of slight windburn headed back down. As we passed the visitors centre on the way out we passed a bus full of old folks who were just arriving and we were glad we hadn’t had to meet their big bus coming down the narrow winding road.
We ventured on now aiming to get to Pueblo, the last town before heading up into the Rocky Mountains. The scenery soon changed into mountains surrounding all around. We arrived at Fort Woods RV Park which was more of a trailer park, late that afternoon. Price $10, couldn’t say no, especially as we had the offer of two pitches, the front lawn which was “freshly poopa-scooped” or the gravel one behind the laundry complete with fag butts. Gravel one it was as there was more sun and that meant more warmth for longer. After I deleted the entire contents of my iPod (oh no!) we put up the tent and the guy who owned the site let us borrow his gas BBQ. Whilst we were cooking our packet of rice and tin of chilli we were approached by Brian. A self confessed ‘trailer
trash resident’ but with a difference seeing as he owned a Mercedes Benz, Harley Davidson and a beautiful Airstream caravan that I adored. He offered us both a beer (a 9% bottle of stout) and it wasn’t long until he offered us some organic yard bird, otherwise known to us as chicken. We wandered over to see Brian’s collections of ‘toys’, the inside of his Airstream was amazing as it still had all the original features. Brian then proceeded to give Bowks his Harley Davidson hat which although she politely declined he insisted she have it, so she’s now the proud new owner of a bikers Harley Davidson hat! Brian offered us the use of his laptop with internet connection and an offer of fresh coffee the next morning even though he’d be at work, a very trusting guy. So after another beer we headed off to bed, layered up to the max in the hope of a warmer nights sleep.
A better nights sleep but still rather cold, but at least a great shower was available to warm us up. Bowks couldn’t help but chuckle at the sign that was in the ladies toilet requesting that the person
who had taken a dump in the trash can should stop their behavior (please see photo), and another regarding the ongoing problem of spitting and snotting on the walls. I do take her to all the classy establishments! We popped to Brian’s van where everything was left out for us to use to which we were very appreciative, thank you Brian.
We then set off deep into the Rockies heading to the Royal Gorge, just past Canyon city as we wanted to walk over the ‘world’s largest suspension bridge over a gorge’, not over a road, but a gorge! About an hour later we pulled up into the car park. The gorge was huge and I would go as far to say it deserved to be a ‘royal’. We strolled up to the ticket office to be told that the price of a ticket to cross the highest suspension bridge in the world above a gorge would be $24 each, daylight robbery as far as we were concerned. Even after being told that on the other side there was the opportunity to ride the world’s steepest cliff train and stroke the horses in the petting zoo. More so the
season pass was $34, crackers!
Now onwards to find some hot mountain springs.
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