2011 – Day 8

Posted on August 23, 2011 by Travel Spirit

This morning we hiked at Tent Rocks…as you can see from the photos it was amazing! From Wikipedia:

Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, located 40 miles southwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico was established as a U.S. National Monument by President Bill Clinton in January 2001.

The area owes its remarkable geology to layers of volcanic rock and ash deposited by a volcanic explosion. Over time, weathering and erosion of these layers has created canyons and tent rocks. The tent rocks themselves are cones of soft pumice and tuff beneath harder caprocks.

A 1.2 mile (1.9 km) recreation trail leads up through a slot canyon to a lookout point where the tent rocks may be viewed from above. A 1.3 mile (2 km) loop trail leads past their base.

Always look up…

It reminded me some of Cappadocia in Turkey. There they call them the fairy chimneys…

I love hiking in beautiful places…it’s one of my most favorite things to do! We went back to our rental to shower and made a healthy lunch of fish, broccoli and salad.

Next on the agenda…Cowgirl Bar & Grill in Santa Fe for a margarita and some chips/salsa. Kathy’s friend…Chris…met us there.

We wanted to dance…so we checked out Evangilo’s, but the band hadn’t started yet. We ended up at La Fonda’s again and the band Soulman Sam was playing. It was so much fun…great band!

Positive Energy Adventure – Colorado/New Mexico 8/2011 – Day 3

Posted on August 19, 2011 by Travel Spirit

This morning I made us an omelet, 12-grain toast, strawberries, blueberries and banana for breakfast. We drove 1 1/2 hrs. to the Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I was driving and after we paid the $15 entrance fee, there was another somewhat “scary” mountain road to traverse before arriving at the top where the Park was located.

We waited in line for about 30 minutes for tickets to the Cliff Palace and then went to the Museum for a 20 minute video about the Park. We then toured Spruce Tree House. This is the walk down to it…

After eating our picnic lunch, we were ready for the 1:30pm tour of Cliff Palace. It almost looks like a miniature reproduction…

The tour guide was very friendly and made the tour interesting…

We had to climb some ladders…

We got back to Durango at 4pm…explored the town some…ran into Oprah…(not really)…

This is a Hummingbird Moth…at first I thought it was a Hummingbird!

We had dinner at Francisco’s, which was very good. Next stop was the Balcony Bar & Grill, where there was live music and very strong drinks! We had a long island, which we nicknamed “After Mesa..Got Verde Wasta”. This is the duo…it looks like she’s naked, but she’s not!

It was another great day!!

Washington/British Columbia Trip – Day 5

Posted on August 9, 2011 by Travel Spirit

Today was our lay low…chill at the house…do laundry…drink Pina Coladas and watch boat traffic day. While walking on the beach at low tide, I was able to get within 50 feet from this eagle.

The house is the one above the beach house on stilts.

This was the sitting area below the house.

Another wonderful day!

Washington/British Columbia Trip – Day 4

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Travel Spirit

Although we hadn’t planned on going to Olympic National Park, it turned out to be the highlight of the entire trip for me. It was another 13 hour day. We drove 40 minutes from Seattle to catch the Edmonds/Kingston ferry, where we drove our car on. The ferry ride over took about 20 minutes. After driving a couple of hours, our first stop was the beautiful Crescent Lake, where we had lunch at the Lodge. The blues are so brilliant!

From there we made our way to the Hurricane Ridge Road entrance to Olympic National Park. It was a windy road with scary cliff drop offs, but so worth it! We hiked the 3 mile round trip, Hurricane Hill trail. I have hiked at some amazing places, but this is my favorite hike.