Southwest Travels

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September 7th 2008

Published: September 11th 2008

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mlehnerd

SMILE!

Brandy and her camera on the way to Monte Vista

I apologize for not writing in a couple weeks, but things have been so busy here with work and getting settled!! I’m going to try to briefly recap the past couple weeks of travels for both work and pleasure, both inside and outside the San Luis Valley. On the weekend of August 24, most of the gang took the Scenic Railroad to the nearby town of Monte Vista, partially to visit the thrift store there but mostly just for the fun of it. It was great seeing the mountains from a different viewpoint, and we all had fun taking lots of pictures standing on the back of the train car. Once arriving in Monte Vista, our mission was to find costumes to wear for the 80s themed pizza night my house was hosting later that week. Everyone found some great outfits and looked successfully 80s.

The following weekend, some of the ladies took a road trip to New Mexico to visit the city of Taos. It’s a really funky town with lots of artsy stores/galleries and sweet adobe buildings. On the way there, we stumbled upon this house called the Earthship. It’s made all of recycled materials, uses solar power,

Fascinated by the scenery

Paul, Mark and Nicole

and looks a lot like a spaceship of sorts. And, you can rent it out as a vacation home. Next we stopped at the Rio Gorge, which was a huge canyon that opened up to the Rio Grande River. As we looked down into the gorge and clung to the bridge, we pondered what it would have been like to be a pioneer exploring the West and all of a sudden coming up to a huge hole in the ground! Upon arriving in Taos, we found a cute little park and ate a picnic lunch. Then we went shopping for things that we couldn’t afford on our volunteer budget. While we had a great time in Taos, our favorite part didn’t come until the drive home. As we were crossing back into Colorado, we drove past a sign that read “Most Beautiful Place in Southern Colorado - 9 miles over the Mesa”. So, what did we do…turn the car around, of course. We wanted to see the most beautiful place in Southern Colorado. As we drove over the mesa, things weren’t looking too promising. However, when we reached the other side, there before us was a beautiful lake surrounded by

Joe the 80s Gymnastics Coach

mountains on all sides. We parked the car at an empty lodge and set off exploring. Our day ended perfectly splashing around in the lake and taking pictures among the wildflowers!

The following week, Ben (my co-worker) and I spent Monday and Wednesday driving around the valley to make deliveries to our satellite food banks and pick up some donations of food. We had a great time hanging out in our lovely green pickup truck that has, of late, been named Butch. I got to meet all the cute old ladies who run the food banks in Creede, Del Norte, Monte Vista, Center and Saguache. While we made the normal deliveries of canned food, cereal, pasta, bread, etc., we also picked up some extra food that Creede had collected in a recent food drive. And on Wednesday, we tested the limits of Butch’s hauling capacity when someone donated about 60 cases full of lettuce! With each case holding 24 heads of lettuce, we had 1,440 heads of lettuce in the back of our truck! To top it off, we also picked up a donation of 150 pounds of frozen meat from a donor’s house. With the truck bed full

The Monterey House Ladies

Nicole AKA Jane Fonda, Heidi and Me

of lettuce, we had to pile the 150 of frozen pig parts in the back seat of the truck…something that would probably not be of approval with the health inspector. Luckily, no lettuce was lost off the truck on the way home, perhaps because Ben drove 45 miles per hour the whole way. Throughout our adventures that week, I took tons of pictures and found that my job will offer me a great opportunity to explore the valley.

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