There and Back Again: TX, NM, CO 2010

We like to take road trips. We leave behind TVs, computers, video games, and the like, taking only with us as entertainment audiobooks (this trip we listened to the Fablehaven series), journals, puzzle books, and select books to read. And, of course, I bring along my camera.

Our summer vacation for 2010 consisted of a trip to southwest Colorado, camping in the Durango/San Juan Mountains area, circling up to Black Canyon of the Gunnison and Lake City, traveling farther west to the Grand Canyon in Arizona, and eventually heading home, with lots of mini-detours along the way. One of our dogs joined us for the trip (the other two had their own vacation at a doggy play camp), making for an interesting twist to the planning of vacation activities.

Well, we had a fine trip. We ventured west from Austin through San Angelo (dog-friendly fort there) and headed to Roswell, New Mexico, home of the mysterious 1947 crash that became known as the UFO Incident. Although we didn’t bother with the museum in Roswell, we had great fun seeking the various aliens around town.

Sure, most of them (ok, all) are placed there by businesses hoping to get a boost from tourists, but even the city got involved with their unique streetlamps. Totally kitschy and cheesy.

In Albuquerque we stopped at the Petroglyph National Monument, venturing briefly up the short Piedras Marcadas trail. We couldn’t spend much time there — the sand was too hot for Grover’s paws, so only two of us zipped up the trail to find a couple of petroglyphs, snap pictures, and leave. Alas. We’ll go back another time.

But we were greeted by the wildlife just the same.

This black-tailed rabbit kept playing peek-a-boo with us. Long ears and long legs and long feet — it has a black stripe down the back of its tail for easy ID, but of course you can’t see it in the side view.

In Colorado we camped with my parents near Durango for the first few days. The weather was perfect, and the ever-gorgeous scenery of Colorado made us both wistful and content. The boys enjoyed fishing with their grandpa at a small lake in the San Juan Mountains. In fact, we spent quite a bit of time at Haviland Lake, hiking and swimming there as well.

I enjoyed taking a few pictures, but I never managed to capture a picture of the raptors swooping down to catch fish in the water. They did so at dusk, not being considerate enough to fly when I returned in better light. Considering the fishing skill involved, I wondered whether they were osprey, but it’s possible they were eagles. We also spotted a beaver swimming lazily in the water…at…dusk…too. My youngest caught his first fish completely in the dark with me already heading back up to the car. What is up with that?!! Well, at least the setting entertained me in the light.

Hmmm, might this be wild chamomile? Whatever it is, it was present in most places we visited in Colorado. (EDIT: Katina suggests it might be Shasta Daisy, a non-native annual that’s been spreading across the state. Thanks, Katina. I wish it were easier to tell them apart from photos I’ve seen online.)

Colorado has the biggest dandelion-like seedheads I’ve ever seen. Inches across, they are. (EDIT: Mary tells me this plant is Salsify, of the genus Tragopogon. Once again I’ve photographed a picture of a non-native plant. But those seedheads get to be 4-inches across! It’s in the same family as dandelions, but a completely different genus. So distant cousins from across the world…)

 

The lovely white flower below, if I’ve labelled it correctly, is not one to consider loving too closely. Its name is Death Camas. Guess why. Yep, all parts highly poisonous. One of those “I wish I’d known it at the time” moments for me, yes, but this is why we don’t eat plants we don’t know! According to what I read, however, occasionally a pioneer mistook the bulbs as those of wild onions, to tragic effect.

Canada geese, a common sight at lakes in Colorado…

White geranium. There’s a pink variety, too.

There are numerous purple thistles around the area. The one below is, I believe, a musk thistle. Pretty, yes, but musk thistles are on the Invasives list for Colorado– native to Europe, they spread quickly and are not palatable to livestock. At first I admired them, until I realized that I shouldn’t. And then I realized they were everywhere. 

The ever adorable ground squirrel — a common sight all over Colorado. In many places, this little cutie (and its cousins) is considered a pest, too — and a harborer of fleas and disease. But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s cute! We saw many chipmunks, too.

Okay, this fooled me. We stayed clear of these leaves of three and red stems, thinking it was poison ivy, but upon closer look (via photos) those notches make me think it might be box elder. In any case, better to be safe than sorry! 

This Horsetail variety did make me feel at home (Horsetail being one of my favorite Texas water plants) — we found it along a stream in the San Juan Mountains, standing out among the ferns.

Aspen daisies, perhaps? Also known as Showy Daisies.

The Colorado Wild Rose — reminds me a little of our Rose Pavonia back in Texas…

The Durango area has much to offer visitors. Excellent camping and hiking, a historic district in town, tubing and whitewater rafting, fishing areas, and area lakes, an old train that takes people up to the old mining town of Silverton (if you are willing to pay the outrageous costs –we drove there one afternoon instead), and it’s just a short drive away from some of the most amazing cliff dwellings in America.

Because we had our dog with us, we couldn’t go whitewater rafting, but the boys and I did drive out to Vallecito Lake to enjoy some canoeing. A very pretty lake, blue from afar, but actually somewhat red in color due to the red soil along the banks around it.

After a week in the Durango area, we broke camp and then headed to the airport to pick up my husband, who flew in to join us for the second half of our Wild West adventure. Stay tuned for Part II…