hawaii

we got a good head on our shoulders

i hope, tomorrow, after a night's sleep and a warm breakfast, i will find the desert again.

Colorado Homecoming +2

I'm feeling very zen.  Because of the desert.

I wonder if this calmness of the spirit will survive first contact with the real world.  Probably not.  It never does in my experience... 

  

...butt, we'll see.   

time and space is all i need 

 

if you walk without rhythm, the world can't find you. 

 The desert makes me happy, in a way few things can. 

 

Can't force it.  Let it come and let it go. 

homecoming: leaving to come back

nothing better than sleeping in your own bed and taking a shower in your own bathroom.

confusion.  was homecoming always this good? I don't remember it feeling so good. 

where would I rather be?  the road or home? when did this become a question?

tuesday 5/16/16

I think i may have to become a vegetarian after this trip.  so much unhealthy food. I'm going home and eating nothing but raw fruits and vegetables and whole grains for a month straight.  and sushi.

great music at this hostel.

protip: freshen up a stinky shirt with a UV wash on the dashboard of your car. 

takeaway: can't force it

can't force it.  Let it come and let it go.  

barbwire

how many millions of miles of barbwire are there in this country?

Conclusion: Colorado

Colorado is nice.   Come back and roll the dice again with winter/shoulder season travel and check the weather reports and bring proper outdoor gear.   Probably avoid summer.

Go back to sand dunes and camp out.

maybe rock climb.

Colorado is oddly strict on their rules regarding checking IDs for drinks and cops pulling people over on the roads.    

 Everybody at the hostel bar is on their computer right now!  WTF!  

...so am I
 

Rumors by Fleetwood Mac is my new favorite album as of right now.

quincy's steakhouse, Florence CO

Driving past all the cattle ranches and seeing all the happy grazing cows made me want to eat a steak.  so I went to Quincy's steakhouse in Florence, CO.  It is one of a four-restaurant chain. it is known for its very simple menu.  Friday to saturday it is prime rib.  From monday to thursday they serve filet mignon.  that's it:

i appreciate the level of decision making required.

The price was great.  The food... not so much...  It's been such a long time since i last ate a whole steak but I'm 99% sure that what i ate wasn't a filet mignon, it was steak made from meat glue. It may have been locally ranched grass-fed beef?  Which would explain the toughness and slight gaminess of the meat?  the best part was the horseradish.  and the baked potato was good too. 

The wine was exceptionally oily (literally) and astringent. but it got better by the bottom of the third glass ($3.50 each).

The most interesting part of the dinner was the gorgeously cute waitress with blonde hair and dark eyes.  she was the kind of small town girl songs are written about.   I wanted to ask her all about her life and why she is working at a budget steakhouse in Florence, CO.   She asked me if i had moved here... i had to disappoint her and tell her i was just driving through... watching the rain fall was nice.

time and space

that's all i need

815pm south colony lakes

failure.

I got to the trailhead and it started raining and snowing.  it was cold.  i waited out the first squall and the weather cleared up.  I decided to take a chance.  weather report said fifty percent chance of rain with passing thunder showers.

The hiking trail was snowed over.  I didn't want to do it in my mesh sneakers.  so i walked back down.  it was still a nice hike, the 4.5 mile 4wd road was in itself a very nice and super easy hike.  the road was practically paved. I'm not sure i'd i want to come back without a 4wd vehicle though, cuz that portion adds 4.5 miles one way and a couple of hours on top of the actual hike. 

Sunday May 15 2016

9:00am: ominous rain clouds. Not sure how this will affect the drive to the trailhead and the trail itself.  Alternative: go to the LARPing festival down the street.

canon city

this one is gardner, or florence, or westcliffe maybe, some random small town. 

where the buffalo roam

the endless miles. 

south colony lakes trail

today was basically a rest and relax day (like a vacation) but it was good to reconnaissance the trail head to this hike.  in the middle of nowhere, off the main road and down six miles, half of it unpaved county road before you reach the two wheel drive parking lot area and another four miles of 4wd road to the trail head itself.

the road to the trailhead

the 4wd only part of the road to the trailhead

saturday 5/14/16

from denver to sand dunes, taking the scenic US 245.

from sand dunes to Days Inn Alamosa, and vice versa

from alamosa to south colony lake trailhead in westcliffe CO via 

east on 160 then north on 69, then back east on 96 then 67 to Canon City.   Nice scenic drive through small towns ranch land and such.

The plan today to hike the South Colony Lakes trail was postponed for the next day.  the drive time, plus getting lost time plus the 8 mile hike plus the gathering storm clouds meant I decided to head to my Super 8 hotel (motel?) room in Canon City an hour and half away.  

mexican food

the two food groups since i've been in colorado: mexican and american style breakfasts.

monterrey cafe in Alamosa

Ortega's in Canon City

my body doesn't feel too good now; partly because of the exhaustion and travel, but mostly because of the unhealthy food. the dining options in small and medium town america is limited by nature and exacerbated by the constraints of being a stranger in a strange (small) town.   

Colorado has a disproportionate amount of mexican and chinese restaurants.  

Colorado cops are all about giving speeding tickets.  in utah and arizona i didn't even see a cop car my entire time there, here, i've seen cars pulled over a bunch of times. 

carvillas

11 dollar Mexican buffet that was surprisingly good. 

logistics

on trips like this, half of my logistics take place in the trunk of the car. 

breakfast lunch and dinner

sand surfing

protip: practice on the smaller 20-30 foot dunes at the beginning of the park so you don't completely blow it later.  then hike to the 700 foot big ones, chill on the top for a while, enjoy the view, find your lines (this is important if you want to maximize your returns from spending an hour or two climbing up a mountain of sand. You really only have one series of rides to the bottom, unless you are fit enough to climb up and down sand dunes all day), find your lines (maximize efficiency with smart dune selection) and then sand surf your way down to the bottom.  good times. 

The board is hard to control, you can really only go straight. for me, cutbacks, carves and turns were impossible. you can't cut across the face of the dune, at least i could never manage it.   you go really really fast on the big steep faces (probably too fast, might want to focus on quality rather than speed of ride); it helps to crouch down low and drag a hand in the sand to slow and stabilize yourself.

protip: lots, if not most, tourists go straight up the middle to the big dune, and it is big, maybe the biggest 700 foot one, there are a five around that size in the park, but on my first day there i went to the right side  (north-east corner) of the dune field (if you are looking at the dunes from the parking lot) and found big giant dunes all to myself, virgin sand with no footprints but my own.  the big one in the middle is cool cuz you get a 360 degree view from the highest peak, but it's also crowded... and a lot of work to get to the top. the second day i went to the big one in the middle cuz i wanted to maximize my board riding opportunities.

sand dunes protips

1.  maybe take sips of water throughout the day rather than chug periodically from the one gallon jug to avoid having to find bushes on the side of busy highways during long drives. or, better yet, don't drink coffee.  but drinking coffee all day is one the perks of traveling.

2. Sand board surfing at sand dunes park is really fun.  hiking up the 700 foot dune is a pain, but coming down is a cool experience.    protip: krist's mountain sports store in Alamosa rents boards, you can return it the next day by 10am and get charged only one day.  unlike the lodge/store a few miles from the park entrance, you can only rent it for the day until the store closes so you can't do an evening session (that day it was 4:30pm).  

2a. camp out on the dunes.  get a permit. 

3. check the wind and rain report first. it started gusting at sunset the second day and it was unpleasant, a dry skin exfoliation 

4. free after 4:30pm?   the first day at sand dunes park i drove in after four thirty and it was free cuz the rangers at the ticket booth had finished work for the day.  the second day, i tried the same thing, but they were still there at 4:45!  so i had to pay the fifteen bucks. boo.

5. go in evening or early morning.  you want to avoid the noon time afternoon sun.  it's way hotter, supposedly windier, you have to pay the entrance fee, the lighting will be too harsh for pictures and the sand dunes won't have texture, and you miss out on the sunset colors.  

in the desert again

In the desert, life feels far away and frivolous.  In the desert, there is no question and no answer, there is only the sand, cold, sun and quiet. 

If you walk without rhythm, the world can’t find you.