What a journey Spring Break 2020 was. Normally, when I plan these solo spring break trips (when the boys are with their dad), I make them camping trips and pack up my tent. But this year, I just wasn't up for that. Plus I knew I wanted to visit Pagosa Springs and it's cold there, and I hate being cold. So I booked an Airbnb instead.
Just three days after I booked, my dear friend, Laura, told me that her mother, Glenda, who had been diagnosed with ALS last October and was placed in hospice care just two weeks ago, had passed away. Her funeral was in Artesia, NM on the Saturday that I was supposed to be checking into Pagosa Springs. I wasn't sure if I should cancel the trip to Pagosa Springs so I could stay with Laura, and went back and forth on it for a while hoping that Laura would give me some direction on what she needed from me. Ultimately, I got the impression that Laura was overwhelmed with people and "noise" so I would just go to the funeral and then leave her to mourn in peace. But then I also thought, "maybe Laura will want to get away for a few days and come with me and the timing of this trip will actually work out well."
So with my new idea in place, I left early Saturday morning and headed to Laura in Artesia. The funeral service was beautiful and sad all at the same time. Stories of sweet Glenda were told, tears were cried, and all the hugs were given. I wanted to take a few pictures but it just felt intrusive and didn't seem right. At the burial service after the funeral, I approached Laura with the news of the Airbnb I had booked and invited to her come with me and escape for a few days if she wanted. She accepted but opted to drive up by herself the next day so she could have some alone time during the quiet drive. By 6pm Saturday, I was leaving Artesia and headed for Pagosa Springs. For the next 6.5 hours, all of my thoughts were on Laura and her family. They had experienced loss and death before, but this one was the hardest. Even now, as I temporarily move on away from writing about Glenda, it just seems weird. Like this shouldn't be a part of the story, or maybe it should be the whole story. I don't really know.
It was after midnight when I finally arrived to Pagosa Springs, Colorado. I hated not being able to see the scenery around me since it was so dark. But I did notice the snow and outdoor lights all around.. it felt like Christmas was still lingering in this city. I wasn't upset by that in the least. I also came across a very large herd of elk who were in no hurry to move off of the road. I wish I had snapped a picture but my brain was just in "don't hit the elk" mode.
Even though I wasn't camping this year, I was still trying to stay as cheap as possible with my room and board, so instead of booking "an entire place" like a cabin as I usually do, I booked a private room inside of someone's house. It was a secluded room that was on the third floor by itself with it's own bathroom, shower, and coffee bar so it wasn't too bad. The bed was one of the most comfortable beds I have ever slept on, and the couple who lived there were super nice, but it was still definitely a little awkward walking through their living room and greeting them every time I came or left.
My view of the mountains in the morning was not bad..
My first full day there, Sunday, was a bit up in the air since I wasn't sure what to expect with the upcoming arrival of Laura. I wasn't sure what she would be up for, when she would be arriving, or if she wouldn't just change her mind and not come at all. I ended up keeping that first day pretty simple and just did some basic exploring of the city along the beautiful San Juan River. It's such a gorgeous part of the country.
I knew that the hot springs were a major attraction in the city, but I did not realize that there are also just random springs along the river. It was so weird to see steam coming up from the springs right next to the river that was so cold.
What I also wasn't prepared to see was the use of these random springs by the public. Turns out all of the random springs along the river are considered actual public hot pools that are fine for people to use. Not any different than people swimming in the river during the warm months. It still threw me for a loop when I first saw people stripping down to their swimsuits and jumping in though. There aren't a ton of them and they aren't super big so they have the potential to get crowded, which might be the only downfall. I only took a couple of pictures of people in the public hot pools because I felt like a major creeper taking pictures of strangers.
Also along the river, there were a few community greenhouses and a community garden. Kind of neat. Even though the community garden looked a little rough this time of year.
Further down the river is the wetlands area. Apparently there is quite a bit of life around that area because the hot springs flow into the nearby ponds and keep them warm. I didn't see much wildlife, but it was still a cool area.
I finally decided it was time to eat and headed on a walk to a nearby restaurant. The next few pictures are just some of the scenery and things I saw along my walk into downtown.
This place, Kips, was recommended, so that's where I went for my first meal in Pagosa Springs. I ordered a blackberry mule that was on special and fish tacos. Although I have a bit of a pet peeve for mules not being served in copper mugs as they should be, it was still good so I'll let it slide. Kips was insanely crowded so I just hung around for a bit before finding a seat at the bar. While I was waiting and looking at the menu on the wall, I had this strange feeling that someone was staring at me. I blew it off, but eventually the people that I felt were staring actually did get my attention and asked me where I was from. When I told them Abilene, Texas, they said, "We were wondering! We saw your Beltway Women sweatshirt (which I wear all the freaking time because it is the softest and coziest sweatshirt on the planet) and wondered how many Beltway's there might be!" Turns out they live in Italy, Texas, but their daughter lives in Abilene and attends Beltway and they are trying to move to Abilene soon to be near her. Their names are Barry and Kelly and they are the nicest people. A place opened up next to them at the bar and they invited me to sit with them and talk while they waited on their to-go order. There were also a couple of guys from Dallas at the bar who were there visiting for Spring Break. Such a small world and so fun to get a piece of two places I have called home there in that little restaurant.
After dinner and conversations were finished at Kips, I decided to head back to my room and catch up on some homework that would be due after spring break that I didn't want to be rushed to complete later. I brought my laptop with me, which is now a constant reminder of a friend I have who is extremely solid with all things IT related and got me access to my own computer when I forgot my login password not too long ago. Except he apparently isn't a good enough friend to know that my name does not have an "e" at the end and my own login name is now misspelled. (Insert laughing emoji here)
Anyway, by then I had confirmed that Laura was in fact still coming and she would be there late that night. I confirmed with my house host that this was perfectly fine. Once she got there, we stayed up until 5:00am talking and laughing. It was so refreshing to hear her laugh and to be able to laugh with her. The weirdest sentence I think I have ever said came out that night when I said, "Laura, you're here right now because your mom died, which is the crappiest reason to be here. But also, this might be the best night of my life." I honestly still don't know what to make of it, except that I really am so glad that at least for a moment (that lasted the length of the trip), life wasn't completely dreary. Also, I wasn't sure if our late night shenanigans would get us kicked out of the house we were staying in. Thankfully, later that morning, we learned that we were still welcome. Whew.
So there are a couple of different paid hot springs you can visit in town. We had plans to visit the main spot with the hotel and spa and all the fancy stuff attached, but we did still also check out one of the smaller places. This is pretty much the best tank top in the history of tank tops. Laura bought it because, duh. I tried to also buy one, but they refused to have one available in my size. Rude.
I wasn't really a fan of this smaller place because they just filled tubs with the spring water and there was no "natural" feel to it. It was on a rooftop though, so I guess that part was cool.
Did I pull the creeper card again to snap a picture of what it looked like to soak in the courtyard tubs because Laura and I were not going that route? Yes, yes I did.
It was still early so we headed to the Root House Coffee shop for some caffeine and pastries. It doubled as a gift shop where I found the best stuffed unicorn animal. It was decided that if I were to be a unicorn, I would not be one of the pretty graceful ones normally depicted; I would be this kind of unicorn. I would have bought it had it not cost around $50. That's just an absurd amount of money to pay for a stuffed animal. But I digress..
We also found this cute little book store we wanted to visit, but were disappointed to find this sign. Although I commend their afternote of being closed "but still awesome."
The crosswalks in Pagosa Springs are not like the crosswalks I am used to where you push the button and then wait for half an hour for the little white man to give you permission to cross. Here, you push the button and immediately the lights start flashing and the cars have to stop to let you cross. They even have flags for you to carry and instructions on the proper way to cross the street. If you're on FB you may have seen the video of me gracefully executing this task. And by gracefully, I mean the exact opposite of that. Here on the blog, I give you a picture of Laura showing off her mad safe pedestrian skills.
When your (/your best friend's) mom dies, you remain being financially responsible, but also throw out the concept of being cheap just for the sake of being cheap. Because life is precious and sometimes you just need to live your best life. So we booked massages at the main (fancy) hotel/spa/hot springs, which also granted us entrance to their hot springs for the day, which is where we ended up spending the majority of the day on Monday. There are over 20 different "pools" to sit in, all of which are different temperatures ranging from 85° to 115°. We didn't ever find the 115° pool named the "Inferno" but we did get in the second hottest pool named the "Lobster Pot" that was 110°. It was my favorite. They also provided poolside drink delivery which was pretty much the best. All in all, this was probably my favorite day... spending the day at those amazing hot springs with the amazing views topped off with massages to finish the day was just so nice.
Since we had massage packages, we got the fancy robes to wear for the day, so of course we posed like the movie stars that we are while wearing said soft, giant robes around the springs.
The next day we headed to the Wolf Creek ski area. Not to do any skiing (although that's still something I have yet to do that is still on my bucket list), but just to see the scenery since that's where most of the snow in the area is. Laura forgot to pack her toothbrush though so we had to make a pit stop to pick one up right before she continued on to brush her teeth in the car. I love her.
Right before we made it to Wolf Creek, we came across Treasure Falls, which the host of the house we were staying in said is a lovely hike when conditions are right. So we stopped and made the hike, which was definitely worth it. The waterfall right in the middle of the snow and icicles was beautiful.
Along the way, Laura noticed the aspen trees and pointed them out to me. It was cool seeing all the carvings, though we didn't make any ourselves.
Once we left Wolf Creek, we stopped for lunch in downtown Pagosa Springs. Afterwards, we saw this car parked next to us with "Just Married" written in the dirt on the back window, so I had to write them a reply of "Congrats!"
After we stuffed our faces with tacos and margaritas, we walked downtown a little more and found this Cajun restaurant that we opted to stop inside for an order of beignets for dessert since neither of us have ever had them. As soon as we walked in, the hostess told us to sit wherever we wanted and that a waiter would be right with us with samples. Laura and I both looked at each other... samples? Sure enough, they bring out samples before you order. But we had just stuffed our faces with Mexican food so of course we just stuck to ordering our beignets. Just kidding, we ordered gumbo and lobster bisque and catfish to go. I mean... why not? Anyway, the beignets were good. Laura, as usual, was much more graceful with the consumption of hers. Showoff.
Once we loaded back up in the car, we happened to see this frozen pond. Laura had heard that throwing rocks on a frozen pond made some really cool sounds and thought we should find a way to that frozen pond to test it out. We back-tracked and found a road that led to said frozen pond. The only problem: it was on private property. With a giant gate that could only be entered via remote or code. However, it just so happens that a truck who was entering said private property was right behind us while we were pulled over discussing our options. Laura thought about it for exactly 2 seconds and then followed the truck in. Did I mention I love her?
This is happy Laura, so glad to have found a frozen pond and some rocks to throw at said frozen pond. Also, wherever we were, it was GORGEOUS.. something right out of a postcard. Totally worth the trespassing charges we risked getting.
Again, if you're on Facebook, you may have seen the videos that tell the story of how all this actually went down.. i.e., it was a complete fail. The rocks made zero cool sounds (maybe because of all the snow on top of the ice?), then the guy that we followed in found us. I was sure we were going to get arrested. He wasn't a police officer, but he was in some sort of "ranger" type of khaki uniform looking outfit. And he had a walkie-talkie with someone on the other end that he was talking to about our shenanigans. As he was walking toward us to confront us, he held up his walkie and said to the person on the other end, "They're throwing rocks." I can only imagine what he thought we were doing and why we would trespass somewhere to throw rocks on a frozen pond!
He then pointed out that "this is private property." Laura just said, "We'll leave" which thankfully, he was satisfied with. When we got back to the car, Laura informed me that she almost lied and said she didn't know that we were on private property, but that would be a little hard to pull off considering the giant signs that said "Private Property" at the entrance gate. And also that the gate we entered was massive. And secure. Good call, Laura. In the end, at least we got a story out of it. And plenty of laughs.
As we drove towards our Airbnb, we found another pond. On public property this time. So we decided to give the rock throwing another whirl. Still no success.
This is frustrated Laura that didn't get to hear the cool sounds of rocks being thrown on a frozen pond. I love her. At least we didn't have to escape a man on walkie telling someone "they're throwing rocks" on private property this time.
We finally decided to call it a day. But not before making a Walmart run to pick up two electronic Oregon Trail games to play in bed that night. And when we came across these cheap best friend necklaces, did we buy them? Yes, yes we did. Because we are awesome.
We also got these $1 beanies while inside Walmart and then proceeded to take selfies in them once we got back to the car. Honestly, I don't even remember what we were laughing at during this point, but I'm pretty sure it had something to do with our time on private property when suddenly a strange man showed up, informing someone on the other end of his walkie that "they're throwing rocks."
The Oregon Trail game playing was pretty epic. I beat it for the first time in my life and actually made it to Oregon. Laura did too. She died once though so I win. On a side note, my kids have since played it at home and they also love it, which makes so very happy.
Wednesday was check-out day. I had asked Laura if she was ready to go home or if I should look into booking another night, and she mentioned that Santa Fe was on the way home and she kind of wanted to explore it. So we booked an Airbnb in Santa Fe, extended our trip one more day, and headed to Northern New Mexico for new scenery and adventures. P.S. - I stole most of the scenery pictures from Laura, the professional photographer. Also known as a showoff, but I digress..
We made a pit stop at this cool echo canyon place. There is video somewhere of us yelling into the canyon a lot to hear our own voices, but that shall not be found here. Here are some still shots though.. again, Laura's shots are so much better. Because she is a showoff.. I mean professional..
Once we made it to Santa Fe, we stopped at the local library. But just to pee. Thanks for the public bathrooms, Santa Fe library.
We were too early to check into our Airbnb so we decided to just do our exploring then and check-in later that night.
We were too early to check into our Airbnb so we decided to just do our exploring then and check-in later that night.
There were street vendors lined up all along downtown where Laura got herself some gorgeous turquoise earrings.
Look, I know the phone in the front pocket of my shirt is weird, ok. But I was wearing leggings that didn't have any pockets and I wasn't carrying my purse. So you just hush your judgmental mouth.
One of the things on Laura's to-do list was to visit the Loretto Chapel which is famous for it's miraculous staircase which is surrounded by three mysteries: the identity of the staircase's builder, the type of wood used, and the physics behind the construction that allows it to support weight without any visible means of support. When the chapel was originally built in 1878, supposedly nobody thought about how to access the choir loft and a normal staircase would interfere with the chapel seating space. According to the legend, the sisters prayed for nine days and on the final day of prayer, a carpenter showed up looking for work, proceeded to build the miraculous staircase within a few months, then disappeared without pay or thanks. So there is your history lesson for the day.
The famous miraculous staircase..
The chapel was beautiful. They had an area where you could light a candle for lost loved ones and for obvious reasons, Laura was feeling very sentimental so she lit a candle for her mother.
It was after we left the chapel, that my feelings about this place changed. There was no exit in the direction that we came in. We had to exit through the gift shop. I understand that the chapel isn't used for church services anymore and is now used as a "museum," but I just think that it should still be respected as the place of worship that it was built to be. And you should not attach a "market" to a sacred building for profit. But that's exactly what this place did, and it just did not sit well with either Laura or me. I remember looking at Laura and asking her, "Isn't this the exact kind of scene where Jesus was flipping tables?"
In this corner, you have a shrine to the pope, which can of course be purchased for profit.
In the next corner, you have the St. Joseph home seller kit. Because when selling your house, it is not enough to just pray to St. Joseph, you must also purchase a figurine, lest risk your prayers not being answered. Because answered prayers aren't cheap ya know! Instructions on the back..
Of course once your prayers have been answered and you have sold your house, it is recommended that you give all of your profits to the angel of credit.. (that part was completely made up, and this was actually found in another shop not inside the chapel, but seriously, what's with this money angel figurine??)
Finally, right next to the holy water (for sale of course), you have the rosery section. Where only the best of the best of roseries are sold for the small price of $345. And if you need to transfer or pull out money from your bank account for said purchase of holy items, fear not, there is an ATM right in the middle of the chapel gift shop. For your convenience of course, and not at all for the profit gained from the greedy people running a place that is supposed to be sacred.
After all of that, we decided a drink was in order. The mojito and blood orange chili margarita hit just the spot. We both had enchiladas and Laura ordered hers with both red and green chili sauce, which is dubbed "Christmas Style." I hadn't heard it being called that before and just liked it.
And if you just hadn't gotten enough of your Christmas fix in between the snow and Christmas lights in Pagosa Springs, and the Christmas enchiladas at the local Santa Fe restaurants, you can go into your local store and purchase a fake reindeer head to hang on your wall year round.
Another thing on Laura's to-do list in Santa Fe was visiting the Fred Harvey hotel. I had no idea who he was until this trip and Laura informed me. While we were looking for places to eat, we came across this restaurant called La Fonda. We went by it once and passed it up, then went by it again but it wasn't open until dinner at 5:00 and we didn't want to wait, so we ate at the place with Christmas enchiladas. We later discovered that the La Fonda restaurant was part of the La Fonda hotel which is the Fred Harvey hotel Laura had been looking for! We were so mad at ourselves for passing up eating there. But just like at the Cajun restaurant in Pagosa Springs, we decided screw it... we couldn't not have something from the place that she was so looking forward to! Guess we would just have to be ok with 27 meals that day. When we went into the restaurant area of La Fonda, we were asked if we had a reservation and when we replied no, we were promtly turned away. I think my leggings might have also had something to do with it but whatever. Anyway, there was a bar area of the restaurant we were allowed to sit at so it all worked out.
We really were full so we thought we would just have drinks and dessert. But there were only two dessert options and neither of them were things that Laura or I liked. So we opted to share an appetizer just so we could say that we ate there. We had the bacon wrapped quail. It took us exactly 1 minute to consume each of our two bites, but they were a delicious two bites. And considering the fact that we had already eaten, it really wasn't a big deal anyway. We went, we drank, we ate. All was well.
I had a drink called "Across the Border" with a whole bunch of liquors I haven't heard of and Laura had the house margarita because it was made with tequila that is made just for the La Fonda hotel and can't be found anywhere else. How fancy we were.. as I sipped my $20 beverage in my flannel button down shirt and fleece lined leggings..
This display case held a bottle of the La Fonda tequila on a rabbit that is also somehow connected to the Fred Harvey history, although we never did get an exact answer behind the meaning of the rabbit..
Some old school phones with cords were all around the hotel. So of course we documented..
Just some cool "Santa Fe"-esque stuff we found around our exploration of the hotel..
And a random dog statue that doubles as a swing outside. Because why not?
We finally called it a night and checked into our Airbnb. No private rooms in a shared house this time. We got our own place. And it was adorable.
Later that night, since we never had dessert at the La Fonda, we decided we still had a sweet tooth that needed to be satisfied. Except it turns out that pretty much all of Santa Fe shuts down by 8:00pm. Laura wondered if we could try getting something delivered and found this awesome looking gourmet donut shop called Glazed, so we put in our order. Laura was getting some delicious looking raspberry donut and I was very much looking forward to my s'mores donut. Laura got to the screen to review her order and the most disappointing news ever was learned. Glazed is in Houston, not Santa Fe. How the crap we ended up on the menu page for a place in Houston will forever be a mystery of the world. So we settled for a Wendy's frosty instead. And we just made it fancy by putting some French fries on top. Whatever. At least nobody was judging me for my leggings and flannel shirt at Wendy's.
The next day was check-out day, but we made a couple more stops before parting ways and heading back to each of our own cities. The first stop was a French pastry shop that is also a part of the La Fonda hotel. We didn't eat our dessert there the previous night because it had closed at 5:00pm. Laura and I both loved the atmosphere and thought that we were in a scene from the movie Beauty and the Beast. It was a lot of fun.
They had homemade animal bread loafs that were just the cutest. I hadn't bought any souvenirs for the boys so I got an alligator loaf to bring home to them. They loved it.
I had the peach raspberry crepes with nutella and Laura had the croque Madame and dark forest sponge cake. SO good.
Our final stop was the last thing on Laura's to-do list which was visiting the Georgia O'Keeffe museum. Admittedly, I hadn't heard of her until this trip. Guess I had been living in a bubble. But I did fall in love with her and her story once I learned about her. I was so glad this was a stop Laura wanted to make.
Apparently when Georgia moved to New Mexixo, she had a built in bench in her house that contained a rattlesnake skeleton like this one..
After the museum came the hard part. The goodbye. Laura wasn't quite herself on this day and I wonder how much of that had to do with the life she was headed back to. The real world without any more funerals to plan, no more escapes, and no more mother. A couple of times during our visit to Santa Fe, she had said, "Oh, I need to text my mom!" and then immediately caught herself. I just can't even begin to imagine. And now this is it. This is where really living without her mom will come into play. Doing the "normal" day to day stuff, living her life for the first time ever in nearly four decades, without her mother. Ugh. I thought of her the entire 7 hours back to Abilene. The clouds and the dreariness seemed very fitting to real life that day.
My drive to Abilene included going through Fort Sumner where Billy the Kid is buried. It was a total random thing, but since I was driving through anyway, I figured I might as well stop. I guess his tombstone had been stolen a couple of times, so they finally caged in his gravesite. There were other gravesites in the cemetery that were caged in too, so I wondered what those stories were about.
This is always a welcome sign when heading home, but I will forever be thankful for this trip. Laura, I'm so glad you decided to come. Selfishly, it was so much better with your company. I hope it brought you some happiness also. And I hope you are finding your new normal and finding peace now that you are beginning this new, hard chapter in your life. I wish I had more and better words to give you, but just know that I love you more than words can say.
