We didn’t really do much of anything in Walsenburg- we were there from Sunday to Sunday so we worked as per usual, but I took the day off Thursday for a trip north to Denver, and we spent our pre-departure day Saturday in a spiritual center in the state. Read on for more!
Familiar Settings
We made the 3 hour drive to Walsenburg largely without incident, taking Monarch Pass this time, swinging through Salida… again… and Canon City… again… on our way to Pueblo where we caught I-25 south. A quick 40 or so minutes later, we found ourselves in Walsenburg.
We checked in to our AirBnB, a fine, little house with a large gate into the back yard, allowing me to pull Clyde through and up to a ramp to the back door. This access made unloading the truck a ton easier. I didn’t have to worry about keeping Ash in the house, I was able to load the wagon and haul it up the ramp and into the house, and before I knew it, the truck was empty. I set up workstations and we staked our claims to which bedroom would be whose, and tried to cool the house down using the single, small window AC unit in the place. Of course, we found ourselves in Walsenburg on the hottest days of the year and the little cooler did little to improve the comfort of the house. Making matters worse, I found myself in the bedroom further from the AC unit so most of the nights I slept there were spent in a puddle of sweat.
But I digress…
“Working” While On “Vacation”
Leading up to our stay in Walsenburg, I had a bit of back and forth with Christy via Facebook about a couple of things she needed to get done at her house- namely, she needed a shelf hung and some new ceiling fans and a chandelier hung. I offered to do it, she said she didn’t want to put me to work while “on vacation”, I had to remind her that this wasn’t a “vacation”, I was still working my full time job while on this trip, but would be on TRUE vacation when we hit our stop in Arizona. She finally relented so on Monday, after work, I headed to her house and hung said shelf.
I started the process of hanging the first ceiling fan but using only the tools and supplies that she had on hand, I had trouble getting it finished so she was OK with me leaving it half done until I could return the next day with some of my own tools, which I did. Tuesday, I went back to her house after work and, while I worked on finishing the first fan, she went and picked up Brandy.
I finally got both ceiling fans done and she went to pick up a small pizza as “payment”. Brandy and I headed back to the AirBnB soon after and Tuesday was in the books.
Wednesday, I worked, again, and after, I headed to the same pizza place we’d had pizza from the night before, Gub Gub’s, who also sells ice cream (I’d had a craving for ice cream since we were in Salida but never had a chance to seek any out.)
I got “The Gub” which is listed on their online menu as “Banana, fudge, strawberry, pineapple, whip, cherry peanuts, whip, cherry” (which, I know, doesn’t seem to make much sense, but it appears to be a banana split) but what I got was a very simple hot fudge sundae- soft serve (not a great start), hot fudge, whip, peanuts and a cherry. There were no bananas, strawberries or pineapple to be found.
That’s OK, it was fine.
After finishing my ice cream, I packed up and got ready for the best part of this stop on our trip.
Dodgers at Rockies
Thursday morning, just before 6:30, I set out for the 2 hour drive north on I-25 into Denver (more specifically, Englewood) where my dad had checked in to the Holiday Inn Express the day before. I picked him up from the hotel then we drove around the corner to the Lincoln Station park and ride, bought tickets for the Denver RTD Light Rail (is any of this sounding familiar?) and made the 45 minute ride up to Union Station.
Upon our disembarkation, we headed out of the terminal and through the station then made our way down to Blake Street.
A short 20 minutes after exiting the train, we found ourselves at the home plate entrance to Coors Field.
We had to wait about 20 minutes before the gates actually opened but once they did, we filtered in and walked the concourse. We found ourselves at a team store where I bought a hat, a shot glass, and a baseball (though, I MAY already have a Rockies hat… I’m not sure). We stopped at a couple of concession stands for snacks before making our way to our seats.
As I mentioned, our visit to this neck of the woods was during a tremendous heat wave. The expected high on Thursday was to be 97° and our seats were exposed to the sun, so we slathered ourselves up with sunscreen and waited for first pitch.
It wasn’t long before we decided to move back SEVERAL rows to a couple of seats in the shade where we would hang out until first pitch.
Without going into too much detail, I’ll just say the Dodgers did win, Clayton Kershaw pitched a pretty good game, going 5+ innings, giving up 3 runs on 6 hits and 1 walk. He only struck out three but he did keep his pitch count down, only throwing 85.
The bullpen tried their hardest to blow it though, Casparius, Sauer and Vesia all working into an out of trouble before Vesia finally shut it down.
After the last pitch of the game, we headed up and out of the stadium, that, if it was half full, would be a generous estimate.
Once we exited the park, we headed back down Blake Street toward 16th Street. Along the way, we lamented that we should have stocked up on water before we left the stadium. We were both very hot and dehydrated.
We stopped and sat in the empty outdoor seating area of a ramen bar along the way. I went into the establishment and asked if I could get a cup of ice water. The hostess was kind enough to oblige. I took the water out to dad and let him take a pull on it before I had my own.
Once we were sufficiently rested, we continued on our way to 16th Street where we caught a Free MallRide bus. We took the bus all the way to the Civic Center station where we were forced off the bus. We used the bathroom at the station then boarded the next bus and headed back up 16th Street to the Arapahoe stop where we got off and went to Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery.
The place was empty and we were seated in a tight booth immediately. Our server approached and we bantered a little bit before we ordered. Dad got a top-shelf margarita and I got a red rye ale and we ordered a hot honey pizza to split.
After we ate and paid the bill, we went back out to the Free MallRide stop, hopped on the bus and continued on to Union Station where our train was waiting in the terminal. We boarded and made the return journey, getting back to the hotel at 7:30. We sat and BS’ed for a while and before you knew it, we were out.
The next morning, dad left early to catch his early flight out. I wasn’t long behind him- I got dressed and went downstairs for the standard hotel breakfast then started on the 2 hour drive back to the AirBnB, stopping in Monument to refill Clyde’s tank. I got back just before 9:00, chatted with Brandy for a bit, then promptly fell asleep for a three hour nap.
Pictures from the Denver Adventure are on my Photo Diary for your perusal.
Eagles and Crestone
Upon my return from Denver, I was pretty tuckered out so I took a quick, three hour nap. When Brandy woke me up, I did a little packing up to get things ready for our Sunday departure, then we got ready and picked up Christy before heading to a nearby clubhouse for the local chapter of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, where apparently, Christy’s new beau, who we will call Anthony because that’s his name, works as a bartender.
The plan, initially, was to go there for a while so Brandy could meet Anthony, then the three of us would go to dinner at the nearby Stokehouse, but one we got to the Eagles and the alcohol started flowing, and we played a couple of rounds of Music Bingo, and we wound up staying there the entire night.
Brandy said that it was a fantastic night for her, hanging out with her friend, playing the music game, and just having an all-around good time. I am SUPER glad she had such a wonderful night, seeing her as happy as she was made my heart sing.
The next day though, regrets were had. Not nearly as bad as some hangover days in the past, but it still slowed her down a bit.
Our plan was to drive up to the town of Crestone, Colorado, a spiritual center for many religions, including Hindu, Buddhism, and New Age beliefs.
Christy and Anthony showed up to the AirBnB at around 9:30 and we were immediately on our way. We stopped first at Serendipity Coffee House, a nearby coffee shop-slash-mercantile, then up to a dispensary for Christy to pick up some supplies for the trip, then we were on our way.
The drive from Walsenburg to Crestone is about 2 hours and passed us right by the Great Sand Dunes National Park, which I have yet to visit, a UFO Watchtower, and the Colorado Gators Reptile Park.
We arrived in Crestone right at noon, just in time for lunch and all four of us were hungry so we stopped at the first place we saw, The Cloud Station, a cafe/coffee house/live music venue on the first corner we came to in town.
The menu was full of organic, non-GMO, healthy stuff, perfect for the vibes of the town we were entering. I wound up getting a Reuben (with nitrate-free corned beef), and Brandy got the Green Gobbler, basically a turkey sandwich and the vegetable soup.
We sat ourselves at a long communal table up against one wall and took in the wonderful New Age art scattered about: Paintings, statues and other art was on display and for sale throughout the venue.
One side of the room was a small stage with what looked like good lighting and sound equipment for the time when someone would stand up and play music, or speak.
Our food was served and turned out to be pretty good. We ate about half of it, then we headed back to the truck to drop the leftovers, then started shopping around.
Near where we parked were a couple of small stores/galleries where local artists set up to ply their trades, nothing of which struck our fancy.
We then headed to a nearby park where there was a small pop-up market where local vendors were selling their wares, mostly hand-crafted goods and such.
We browsed this for a bit, again, nothing really striking our fancy, until I turned around and there was suddenly a lady leaning up against a tree talking to Brandy. The way she just kind of appeared out of nowhere, and the way she was leaning against the tree was humorously unsettling. I was only picking up on a little of what was being said, but when I heard “tamales”, my ears perked up. Turns out she was selling tamales so of course yes, I wanted some. I asked how much and in a hushed voice, she said, “Twelve for six, twenty for a dozen.” The whole thing was suspiciously shady, her eyes darting about, her voice hushed as she spoke. It was damn close to being a drug deal.
I handed her a twenty and she said, “OK, they’re in my car, let me go get them” and she vanished. I was certain I’d just handed $20 to someone and that was the end of it. She did eventually return though with a gallon zip top baggie full of clearly homemade tamales. I was so excited!
Upon further reflection, I think she didn’t want to pay the vendor fee to set up an actual booth in the market so she was just walking around surreptitiously selling to whoever she came across.
(side note: I did have a couple of them when we got home at the end of the night and yes, they were damned good.)
We started making our way back to the truck when, down a short dirt road just off the one on which we were walking, we spied a donkey that appeared to be just roaming the street. We decided to go say “hi” to the fella so we walked the short distance to him and noticed he was actually tied up to a tree stump. We seemed pretty docile and approached us as we came near. Christy and I took turns petting him then we headed back to the truck for the next set of adventures.
Spiritual Tour
The next couple of stops on this adventure all dealt with the spiritual and religious aspects of the area.
Our first chosen destination was to be the Tashi Gomang Stupa, a 20 minute drive from where we were in the heart of the town. We started up into the foothills of the nearby mountains and before long, we found ourselves on a dirt road that quickly deteriorated, becoming pitted and bumpy. Before we reached the Stupa, however, we happened upon the Crestone MahaLakshmi Temple.
The drive up the “driveway” was steep, sandy, and treacherous. After having gone up to Gothic and over Ohio Pass the weekend before, this was quickly turning into a habit.
The extent of my knowledge of the Hindu religion is having eaten Indian food a few times in my life. Aside from that, this was my first immersive experience into anything deeper than that.
As we got out of the truck, I was immediately struck by the sensation of spiritual reverence in the area. I could sense the calm and serenity and it put me at ease.
We walked up to the temple-proper and snapped some pictures, then went around the side and down a small hill where there was an area dedicated to fire ceremonies, or Homa, where offerings are made to an open fire. As we approached, we noticed a man sitting nearby deep in ritualistic meditation.
After scoping out the area, we walked back up toward another outbuilding that contained a kitchen and a small store where relics from the religion could be purchased to help support the Ashram.
As we walked in, the smell of Indian food penetrated my nose and I was drawn in to the kitchen where a handful of practitioners were seated around a table, deep in conversation. Another man was busy in the actual kitchen. When he saw me, he offered a helping of the last of the remaining food. There was a pot of dal, a pot of a bean dish, a nut-based chutney and a wonderfully spicy pickled something that, when they were all combined in a bowl, made a fantastic stew. I quickly devoured it, even though I was still full from the recently eaten panini.
After we’d had our fill, we headed back out to the truck and continued on our way to the aforementioned Stupa.
A Stupa is a ceremonial Buddhist structure that contains relics and is used for pilgrimage and meditation. The Stupa in Crestone, the Tashi Gomang Stupa, is even higher in the foothills and over even rougher and more terrifying terrain. The dirt path up to the destination was barely wide enough for my truck and there were not very many turnouts in the event that we came across anyone going the opposite direction. Luckily, we didn’t.
We got to the parking area around the structure and Christy, Anthony and I got out to explore. The parking area is elevated behind the Stupa so we were kind of looking down at it, and I was struck by the sheer size of it. I wasn’t expecting it to be as tall as it wound up being. In fact, the structure is 42 feet tall.
The three of us descended the nearby stairs to the base of the Stupa. Off to one side was a smaller version of this one, which I’d estimate to be about 7 feet tall or so.
Around each Stupa, both the large and the small versions, were several offerings, including coins, photos and small trinkets. The view of the valley below was pretty spectacular and was a perfect backdrop to the atmosphere of spiritual peace.
The sky began filling with dark clouds as the threat of rain became real. I was able to snap a pretty awesome of the Stupa from the base with those clouds threatening in the sky.
Once the three of us had taken our fill of pictures, we headed back up the stairs to the truck then made our way back down the narrow trail toward Crestone, hooking around before we reached town. We headed down another dirt road, though this one, even though it was narrow, was closer to the ground so there was no fear of tumbling off a mountain cliff to our perils. Our last “group” stop on this adventure was the Crestone Ziggurat, a towering yellow spiral reaching up to the heavens perched on a sandy hill at the base of the mountain we’d just descended. The final approach to the monument was less maintained. We passed a sign saying we were entering private property and that access to the structure was to be on foot but there was a parking area at the base of the hill so I’m not sure if they meant that we could drive to that lot then would have to walk the remainder of the way, or what, but that’s what we did.
We parked and got out to face a steep incline up loose sand that made the climb even more challenging. At the top of that incline was a sharp right turn, then the path climbed a little more before mostly leveling out. It was still an incline but much less of one.
Brandy decided to attempt this trek so I stayed behind with her while Christy and Anthony went on ahead. Before we reached that initial right-hand turn, Brandy decided she would have to turn back. I continued on and by the time I reached the Ziggurat, Christy and Anthony were already at the top.
I snapped a few pics from the base and made my way up the spiral ramp. The outside had no railing and the wall only came, maybe, halfway up my calf. One wrong step and I very easily could have tumbled over the side to a certain demise… or, at the very least, certain hurt.
I did make it to the top without incident though, and, from the top, we could see the Stupa we’d just left, and the small, ant-sized truck from which I’d just hiked.
Again, wonderful views, this time from the floor of the valley, the storm clouds now throwing lightning and sheets of rain blurred the horizon.
The three of us ran down the ramp back to the base, then made the quick, maybe half-mile hike back down to the truck and we made a detour to a smaller Stupa seemingly off in a distant field in the middle of nowhere. We did NOT venture down that path though as it was much more clear that we were not supposed to drive down that road, but Christy and Anthony hopped out and journeyed down while Brandy and I stayed behind in the running truck and enjoyed the light show above the surrounding mountains.
When our travel-mates returned, we made our way back to the highway and headed back to Walsenburg. By the time we hit the road, it was 2:00, and with a 2 hour drive ahead of us, we decided to skip the stops we’d hoped to do on the way back. Those places will be there on our next visit to the state though so I’m sure we will hit them in the future.
Pics from this adventure can be found here.
Stormy Drive Home
After a quick pit stop at a nearby Dollar General for water, road snacks and a bio break, we hit the road in earnest. We were about an hour into the drive when the skies finally opened up and we were hit with a deluge of rain and hail. The streets were hard to see through the heavy drops of water and ice, and traffic slowed for safety’s sake.
As the rain eased up, so too did our pace and before too much longer, we were back at our AirBnB.
I spent the rest of the evening doing laundry, dishes and getting stuff packed up and ready to move out early the next morning. After the adventurous day we’d had, I hardly had the energy to do what I did so much of it was left until the next morning. Sunday, I got up at around 4:30 and went straight to work getting the last of the packing up done and by the time Brandy woke up at 7:30, the only things I was left waiting for were her things.
Conclusion
And thus ended our week in Walsenburg. It was so incredibly hot in the house we stayed in, I didn’t sleep great and Brandy and I agreed that the house gave a pretty negative energy, our attitudes reflected that while we were confined but we were only there for a week and the time we spent out of the house was fine, whether at Christy’s, the Eagles club or out in Crestone.
Aside from the strange energy, and stifling heat, in the house, it wound up being an pretty OK week. We got to see some pretty cool sights, had a good time with music bingo, and of course, a week-day Dodger game at Coors Field with my dad.
After our week in Walsenburg, we headed northwest, almost in to Utah, for a two week stay in Fruita. My next post will outline that stop.
Until then,
Phil