Walsenburg, Colorado

February 27-28

Brandy’s going through a tough time at work right now. Just a couple weeks ago, Albuquerque suffered a pretty serious cold snap that saw our high Real Feel in the negatives, which is rather unheard of. She’s spent the last few weeks dealing with frozen and burst pipes.

Her friends Christy and Josh just moved from Omaha, NE, to Walsenberg the week of February 15. We were initially planning on heading up that weekend, on the 20th, but Brandy was so tangled up in the messes here, we couldn’t get away. We wound up pushing the trip to this weekend.

We left home at 8:00 Saturday morning, stopped just outside the gate on Eubank, and made the trip, arriving at Christy and Josh’s right around noon. It was just a straight shot up I-25 to just north of Trinidad, which is the first city you hit once you cross the state line.

There was leftover snow on the ground and it was blisteringly windy. The house that Christy and Josh moved into was previously owned by a couple that run a bed and breakfast just down the hill from the house. Christy and Josh quickly became friends with them during the purchase of the house. Brandy and I were showed the huge pile of coal that runs just east of their house. We thought it was a mesa, but no, it’s a huge pile of coal that ran the old Walsenburg power plant.

We chatted for a bit more then we swung by the B&B on our way to Crafty Canary Brewery where we had some cocktails (I had the Tequila Mockingbird – blood orange liqueur, tequila, lime, and bubbly wine), hummus and chips with salsa.

Colorado allows alcoholic beverages to go, so once we were done with our food, we each took a to go drink and headed back to the house. We polished off our drinks before Josh passed out on the couch and Brandy went to bed for a nap.

I stayed up and chatted with Christy for a bit before she and I started dinner – a pot of chicken tortilla soup. Brandy and Josh woke up just as it was finishing up so we ate and sat up and talked a bit longer before calling it a night at 8:00.

I woke up at 4:00 Sunday morning, showered and got ready to start the day. I had told everyone that I was going to go to the abandoned power plant in the morning and check it out. I LOVE old, abandoned buildings and after driving past it on the way to and from the brewery, I decided I wanted to go explore it. By the time the sun came up, everyone else was up so Josh joined me on my adventure.

We took his 4Runner down to the place. On the way, I mentioned, “I hope it’s not gated in or anything.” We got there and it was gated in. But, the gate was open. But there was a no trespassing sign. But we ignored it. We jokingly said we’d claim diplomatic immunity.

We headed toward the dilapidated building and I was enthralled. crumpling walls, concrete stairs leading down into a dark, mysterious basement, rusted machinery littering the place… It was right up my alley. As I wandered into the building, I noticed what appeared to be a functional Jeep Wrangler parked inside. There was also new equipment, like a backhoe and a scissor lift, so we figured it was being worked on, but thought the work crew would be gone for the weekend.

I slipped around the back of the building while Josh stayed out front. After I got my fill of pictures, I started back around to the front to see a white pickup flying in through the gate. A man got out of the cab, leaving a large, blonde husky inside the truck. I saw he and Josh talking as I approached, but didn’t hear the beginning of the conversation. As I approached though, it was clear that all was well.

Apparently, the man that joined us owns the property and is in the process of excavating 40+ years of dirt build up and repairing decades of decay. He has a camera on the property and Josh and I triggered an alert on his phone. He came in with the expectation of confronting thieves or vandals but quickly discovered we were just there out of curiosity.

Not only was he OK with us being there, but he wound up giving us a guided tour, letting us climb the steep staircase to the upper level, and giving us the entire history of the building and much of the town of Walsenburg.

After chatting with the guy, Josh and I went back to the house, telling the girls we had been shot at. They didn’t believe us.

As snow started to fall, Christy made breakfast for us, we sat and talked for a while longer and Brandy and I left at noon. We stopped at the Loaf N Jug for gas and pulled in to home at 4:30.

It was a nice, quick weekend getaway that will happen with alarming frequency, now that Brandy’s best friend lives so close. And we expect to host them fairly regularly as well.

I took plenty of pictures of the power plant, as well as a couple at the Crafty Canary. Be sure to head over to my Photo Diary page to peep those.

We are planning our next trip a short two weeks from now, and Alan and I are planning on something this next weekend, so stay tuned for more as the adventure continues!

And I leave you with this wonderful quote:

“Jobs Fill Your Pocket. Adventures Fill Your Soul.”

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