Dad's Life 3D: Memory lane in Colorado and a continent far away. Cortez to Lamar, the anniversary trip continues

My grandfather in the pith
helmet. My mom is petting
the baby leopard!

This was one of those days on our cross country trip in 2009 that I can still remember quite vividly. Not because we found out that Farrah Faucet and Michael Jackson had died. And not because we had covered a lot of miles. Today we were heading to a town in Colorado where I had spent a lot of time as a kid. Canon City.

It was dark by the time we arrived in
Canon City.

Even though it was just getting dark, and raining, it was a special moment for me pulling into this small town in central Colorado.

My grandparents (Mom's side) moved from Los Angeles to Canon City when I was a baby. From the time when I was a toddler to my mid 20's, when my grandma passed, we would go visit them by car, by train or by plane every few summers. I have many fond memories of this old cowboy town from my youth.

Royal Gorge Bridge just outside of
Canon City. I spent many good times
here as a kid.

My dad still loves to tell the story of how we got stuck in a blizzard on our way to see them one winter. He had created a nest of blankets in the back seat of our station wagon, so that I could remain snuggly and warm. I'm not sure if I have flashes of memories of the actual trip, or if I just remember the story as told by my dad. Either way, I remember feeling safe and warm in my nest of blankets in the back seat of our car, despite the fact that I wasn't wearing a seat belt... ;) But that was the '70s!

I have spoken about my grandparents in other blog posts. They were missionaries in Malawi, which is between Mozambique and Tanzania on the continent of Africa way back in the late 1930's. My mom actually grew up on the mission out in the "sticks" until they moved to Los Angeles when she was 14.

As the dad raising a 13-year-old daughter in an era of iPhones and social media, it's hard to comprehend the extreme differences. The queen grew up without running water, slept under a mosquito net in a small, rustic cottage with no TV, phone or connectivity to the world and had leopards sneaking around the mission at night. The princess on the other hand has two bedrooms in two homes (Dad's and Mom's), has more connectivity to the world than is imaginable through her iPhone and the only animal roaming around at night is a labradoodle named Leia... Wait, we do have a skunk that comes around once in a while (Leia's dog friend, Pepper, found out the hard way...), but that's a far cry from a leopard! It truly makes me wonder, where does this all go...?

And with that, lets pick up where we left off...

June 28, 2009

Cortez to Lamar

I woke up in our modest motor lodge at about 8am. It was the only motel we could find in town that had rooms, and I’m pretty sure I now know why! Anthony was already up prepping Trusty for the day’s journey, which would be a long one.

Before we left town we made a pit stop! Three quarters of the way through the Canyonlands yesterday the air conditioner went on the fritz. And the reality is we’ve got over 2000 hot & humid miles to go, so this pit stop was an important one!

We found a little garage in town called D&L Service. Don, the 68 year old, 6’2” owner is about the nicest man I’ve met on this trip, and I’ve met some really nice people! Becky his secretary was so nice. So much so, she felt it necessary to tell us her life’s story, from her time in the Army in Alaska, to trips to Lake Powel with her kids. I of course was all ears, because it’s these kinds of life stories I find interesting. Don was so envious of our trip that he suggested we clear out some room in the back and bring him along with us. Ya know if he were really game, we probably would have!

Pit stop, Cortez, CO (Unplanned).
Problem: Air Conditioner not working
Solution: Recharge and re-connect wire that came loose
Back on the Road: One hour

We wandered down Main Street on our way out of town and found a great little coffee house, Spruce Tree. You could smell the coffee before you got in the front door. Wow, either this place has really great coffee or my craving of the fine beverage had reached its limit. This because of course we had spent the last few days in the Arizona and Utah deserts! It was just after our coffee stop that we learned of Farrah Fawcett’s death.

We were off to Mesa Verde, where the Pueblo Indians built their village right in the side of a cliff. It’s a bit touristy here, but we made the short hike first down and then back up into the side of the cliff. These dwellings have been here for over 800 years and give visitors a great look at how multiple families once lived here well protected from the elements.

It started to rain as we headed back to Trusty. We have a lot of ground to cover today so we were off to Durango, CO for lunch. By the time we got there the rain had stopped, so we found a little open air, second story Mexican restaurant called The Patio. The tacos turned out to be pretty good. Not totally authentic, but good just the same! It was as we were leaving Durango that we were shocked by the announcement of Michael Jackson’s death.

It started to rain again as we made our way over the Great Divide in Wolf Creek Pass. This lush green pine forest was quite the contrast to the desert and rock formations we’ve seen for the last couple of days. There were even a few patches of snow at the crest of the pass.

We pushed hard to get to Canon City, CO before it was dark, but fell short by about an hour. Canon City is where my grandparents used to live, so I spent a lot of time there with my Mom, Dad and Sister when I was a kid. Even though it was dark, I was able to pass by my grandparent’s old house as well as a few other places I remembered from my youth.

Next it was a bonsai run to get as close to the Kansas boarder as we could. The clock hit midnight around the time we blew through a small town named Fowler. It’s a “blink and it’s gone” cow town, but Anthony officially hit 37 years old as I pushed Trusty back up to 65 MPH just outside of town. Sure, it would have been nice to stop for a beer, but I don’t think there was a place in town where one could be had!

We arrived in Lamar, CO, which is little more than a truck stop in cow country. It also happens to be the town where my grandmother was born. My great grandparents had a farm just outside of Lamar.

It was late so found a Best Western called the Cow Palace that had rooms available. This hotel was built in what used to be a cattle auction house. Time to sleep, as we have another big driving day tomorrow!

Day 5 – June 25, 2009
Start: Cortez, CO
Destination: Dodge City, KS
Mileage: 579 miles
Did we make it? No
How far did we get? Lamar, CO (436 miles)