We had a relaxing time in Denver. We stayed with a high school buddy of mine, John. He had a terrific patio and the weather was beautiful. I was interested in doing a bit of cooking the second night we were in town. Susie was interested in me making salmon and an Israeli salad. We invited a dear friend of ours, Denise, who also lives in Denver. It was a delicious and simple meal, finished with Palisade peaches. Susie almost made it to 10 pm.
We were planning to spend our next night with dear friends of the family (the Thackers) in Colorado Springs, but our drive from Colorado Springs to Balmorhea would have been around 10 hours. I was not up for another 10 hour drive, neither was Susie. Denise and John recommended we see Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, visit w/ the Thackers and then stop in Trinidad, CO. We took their advice and were very happy. This gave us plenty of time to visit, have a relaxing dinner and laugh about family stories. The next day, we found a little gem of Jewish heritage, Temple Aaron, in Trinidad. Too bad the synagogue was shuttered and we could not see its inside.
On our drive through New Mexico, we stopped at the No Whiner Diner in Carlsbad. As it was national bacon day, I partook of the BLT Plus sandwich that was a BLT combined w/ Pastrami and Swiss Cheese on Rye; Susie liked it too. The diner is right next to a Stagecoach Inn that we stayed at with our kids on our first Southwestern US road trip, back in 2003 or so. Now both of our kids are adults and away from home. How time flies when we go from one adventure to the next.
Our last stop was to see dear friends, Dave and Karen, who run the Eleven Inn at Balmorhea, TX. We’ve known them for around twenty years (an added bonus is Susie loves the beds there too :-). Their youngest, Julia, stayed with us for a bit in Cambridge and used to watch our kids when they were little. We also visited with a friend of Susie’s from college days, Missy, who happened to buy a place in Balmorhea and are also friends with Dave and Karen. Dave made a delicious King Ranch Casserole and a pie out of the last of our Palisade Peaches. It was good fun. I think Susie passed 10 pm that night.
Our drive home from Balmorhea was uneventful. We stopped at a Country Store in Junction that had changed owners and was now just a restaurant. We thought about seeing Stonehenge II, outside of Kerrville, but Susie wanted to get home. All in all, we drove just over 3,800 miles over the two week road trip. We could not have done the journey without converting the back of the car into a bed, see:
My only regret is the trip was too short. In all the places we stopped, I wish we spent more time. I think this trip should have been spread over a month.
