Sarah/Salida

I had not seen my friend, Sarah, for about seven years.  She usually comes to Colorado at Christmas, but she's in Boulder and Durango is clear across the state from there.  We've tried getting together in past years, but it hasn't worked.  Finally, this year, we got it worked out!  We met halfway.  She took a bus from Boulder to Salida, and I drove from Durango to Salida.

It was a nice drive through pretty country, but I hated leaving my work behind . . . I had been getting so much done on my upcoming books.  And I would never in a million years text while driving . . . I don't even like to use the cell phone at all when I'm driving . . . I hate the durn thing, really . . . and I'm sure I've said that before and will say it again!  They are not safe!  Beware for your brain.  Anyway, I wouldn't text, but somehow I found it perfectly acceptable to write verses for a new book while I drove.  I did not do it while I drove the mountain pass, though!  Anyway, when I reached Salida and picked up Sarah at the bus station, she thought I was crazy for writing while I drove!  Ah, well!  I did get some good verses out of it, though!

There were also some icy spots on the road . . . mostly at the beginning and end of the mountain pass . . . not so much on top.  That surprised me because it hadn't snowed in a while.  I was careful and didn't have any problems.

I should note that I arrived well before Sarah and took the opportunity to check out a neighboring town to see if they had anything to rent.  I'm going to be leaving the apartment where I live, and moving out of town wasn't out of the question.  There was nothing available, though.

The following day after breakfast, we went to a sports store to ask about a good place to go hiking.  After recommending several many mile hikes, I asked about a three mile hike . . . he said he had the perfect place . . . a waterfall!  And it was close to a ghost town, too.  So, off we went.

The hike was absolutely wonderful!  If I lived around there, it would be one of my favorite hikes!  Moki, did I mention that he went with me on this trip?  Anyway, Moki loved the hike, too, running all over in the snow.  Then, we crossed a small stream and kept climbing.  The waterfall was just ahead.  And it was BEAUTIFUL!  All frozen in place, with parts of it a light blue.  It was magnificent.  We hiked back down and were on our way to the ghost town.

Both Sarah and I were very excited about seeing the ghost town, which was good, because the road was snow-packed and a little scary, not bad, though.  I drove slow.  There was a sign about mountain goats, but unfortunately we didn't see any.

We finally got to the ghost town, but our expectations had been way too high.  It was a POPULATED ghost town, and many of the really cool old buildings had been slightly re-done or had modern things added to them.  It was a disappointment.  We thought it would be a photographic moment, but there were few things here to take pics of.  We did get a few, though.  It wasn't a total waste.

All in all it was a great day!  We drove back to Salida and had a great pizza lunch.  We got in a lot of good talks, which we had both been missing over the years.  Early next morning, I dropped Sarah off at  the bus.  Hopefully, we won't have to wait another seven years to see each other!!

Please note:  Sorry to keep apologizing, but this post is two months old.  So . . . coming up . . . another traveling adventure . . . possibly an upsetting incident . . . and, sorry you'll have to wait for this, but . . . a MIRACLE!!!  Yeah!!  And I'm not exaggerating!  It was a freakin' MIRACLE!!