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Wednesday, August 8, 2012

We found the cool.......

Hubby wanted to head to Pagosa Springs, Colo. for a competition and so off we went.

Our first stop was for breakfast at our favorite casino Cliff Castle which I have written about several times and I snapped a picture of our table....
This was a woven piece that has been laid on the table and then sealed over to become permanent.. It was a quick stop and hubby left with $100 more in his pocket so a win, win all the way around this time.

We had to cross the Indian reservation and although some of it is very beautiful much of it is such a desolate land, I can't imagine anyone living on it like we told the Indians to....

The scenery changed back and forth from the dry land to the painted rocks...



To these  strange rocks

to castles in the sky.....


I had downloaded a few books on my little nano that I hoped hubby would like...the first, Call of the Canyon by Zane Grey. This was definitely written in another era and some of the words frequently used gave us a start. Like for example....."She firmly ejaculated her misgivings about the situation" Though written a century ago it also glimpsed the prophetic warning that ( Americans might become," Socialist " with one group of citizens who have no regard for honor, moral and social discipline, or personal responsibility, expecting the other portion of the citizenry who manifests these very attributes in differing degrees of success, to willingly or confiscatorally give up their fruits of labor for the purpose of providing sustinence unto otherwise able body and minded leeches. Let us therefore change course and honor the honorable and pick up the able if they be willing, and always by the grace given us truly care and draw up those who truly are found to be unable to do for themselves, though they would, if but could they).
It was also filled with such detail that I found it difficult to believe a man actually wrote it:) Oh well, It keep us entertained as we drove the many hours to our first night stay at the Sky Ute casino. Here the room was exceptional but the pillows were more like mountains to try overcome and their dinning facility left a lot to be desired. This trip proved that I don't always hit the jackpot for our nightly stays.



It got greener the closer we got and road construction afforded this shot.






We found the cool.....

Pagosa Springs is a little town in a valley of huge mountains with the San Juan River flowing through the heart of town and their famous hot springs connecting at just the right places. The hot springs has many minerals one of which is sulfur which you can definitely smell.

As I have mentioned before Hubby and I like to stay at a hotel where there is a restaurant and bar and in this town there was only one place, Oak Ridge Lodge. It was only rated a 3 star so I knew it wasn't going to be great but this was more like a has been motel 6 .....We were not very happy with our choice but quickly found out that the "town" was filled up with the competition, bike riding event, large wedding, and the fair all going on this week-end and the only place with an opening was the most beautiful hotel in town....
 The Springs at $300.00 per night.


We decided we would just live with the tattered curtains
worn out carpet
and not so clean places but in the end we were glad we stayed because the restaurant/bar was great and we spent our evenings sitting out on the deck....

 The bar and bartender were pretty lenient and this was the only warning we ran into. The menu was not fancy but the food was pretty good and in fact the ribs and turkey were smoked on the premises and mmmmmmm good. It included a continental breakfast and left a lot to be desired so we ate at a local place on the way to the fairground and you definitely knew you were in the mountains with the critters...check out these mounts...

and I loved these two who were challenging each other....

A afternoon downpoour was great music for a nap..

To be cont.



4 comments:

Chatty Crone said...

It is so fun to see all your adventures- you can just go on a whim. And you made a $100 that is awesome. I enjoyed the photos. And it is interesting how the country changes in a few hundred miles. sandie

Nancy said...

You go on the most interesting trips.

If the price is right, I can deal with some "imperfections" like tattered curtains and worn carpet. ;oD

Jeremy Bates said...

Yeah, that carpet saw it's better days 40 years ago I would imagine. I'd love some CSI folks to come in that place and run a check on it. I bet there's a few warrants that could be issued. lol

The pics were cool and it sounds like the drinking might have been the best part of it.

Linda said...

I am loving getting to visit exotic places via your blog! Actually I have been to Pagosa Springs several times but it was years and years ago. The Springs are truly amazing!

You guys really know how to travel and have fun! Thanks for taking all of us along with you! I had a great time!!