Road Fever Strikes Again

It's predictable....Most of the times it happens about once a month. The only cure is "hair of the dog".

I'm not talking about substance abuse. I'm talking about road fever and I have it again! The only cure is to hit the road for however long I can. Work, weather, holidays and whatnot are boxing me in but I figure I can get away for a three day weekend in about two weeks.

A three day weekend isn't long enough to go too far but this is Colorado. There are all kinds of places just waiting to be explored that are relatively close by. Even if I stay out of the mountains and the chance at getting snow bound, there are still lots of places to pick from.

I've been wanting to explore the Colorado - New Mexico border area for a while and I think this is the time to start. It's about 165 miles from the Denver area to Trinidad, CO, a small front range town of about 10,000. It's the last town of any note before crossing into New Mexico.

Trinidad is on the old Santa Fe Trail route and was a former coal mining town. It also sits at the northern edge of Raton Pass. Uncle Dick Wooten built a toll road here in the 1860's and that route sits to the west of the present I-25. I've always wanted to find and travel it from Trinidad to Raton, NM if possible. I'm gonna try this trip.

I'm thinkin' that I can leave on a Friday morning with Bivouac and set up camp in Trinidad Lake State Park by early afternoon. This State Park has a year round campground with water and electricity so I should be comfortable. Saturday I'll try to find/drive the old Raton Pass route and if I'm real lucky, discover the site of Uncle Dick's house. Sunday I'll trudge back to the Denver area and start planning the next get away.

That's the plan so far. The details should keep me busy for a while and hopefully before I know it, it will be time to go. Stay tuned for more.

Thanks for visiting.