Molly graduated from Utah State! Not one to miss a cross country road trip I flew out to help her drive her car and "stuff" home. The car was so tightly packed that I was instructed that all I could bring was a change of underwear and a bottle of Febreze. Fortunately with some shipping and donated items Molly created enough room for me and a small squishy bag. After spending night one in Salt Lake with some great transplanted East Coast friends we were headed southeast to Colorado. Our planned route included a few sights and friends we wanted to see and over 2000 miles. We got a sheep fix with the Lloyds in Colorado and headed southwest( yes, southwest) to Mesa Verde, a place I've always yearned to see. Refusing to obey the Garmin, we took the Colorado Mountain route instead of the Utah route. Big mistake... 12 inches of snow got us stranded in Telluride,Co. Never dreamed we'd spend a day there but it turned out to be a beautiful stop. When the Lizard Pass finally opened, we were off to Mesa Verde. There was no snow on that side of the Rockies. Had we listened to Garmin we would have been to Mesa Verde already but what a ride we would have missed. Touring the cliff dwellings of the early Southwest tribes was as great as I had hoped. History comes alive in our National Parks for sure. From there we listened to the garmin and took this amazing mountaintop road to Taos, NM. to see Bill's granddaughter and her husband. Sarah and John were surprised that the road was open due to recent snowfall. Garmin would have been thrown out the window if we had gotten all the way to the top of that mountain only to find the gates closed and the road snowcovered! Our stay in John and Sarah's adobe desert home off the grid was cut short due to time lost in the snow but every minute with them was perfect. I am determined to go back to Taos again soon. We hiked up into the Carson National Forest and walked the Rio Grande Bridge. Beautiful. We're home. Back to sheep duties and life in general, but it was a perfect escape week.
