Travel continued; my upcoming days uneventful, thankfully. I enjoyed a night at a Harvest Host location. Alpacas are the most calming animals, so I spent time chatting with them upon my arrival. Then had a good night sleep at this location.

Weather reports were for snow where I would travel through a mountain pass in a few hours in New Mexico into Colorado. I hadn’t packed my ice scraper on this trip since I was leaving weeks later than past years. Off to an auto store and luckily they had one long-handled scraper and brush. Better to have one and not need it, then to think a credit card could scrape my huge van windshield! 

I drove through snow. Despite reports of low visibility, I got through the mountain pass fine. About 5 inches of snow had fallen as I drove through. The next morning I did have ice on my windshield. Fortunately I parked my van so solar energy could melt the ice by the time I ate breakfast, took a walk at the campground … observed killdeer and other birds, like a beautiful western meadowlark, at this site!

I love mountains. Seeing snow-capped peaks of the Rocky Mountains was wonderful! So fitting also as I was listening to an audiobook: Tap Dancing on Everest by Mimi Zieman, MD. It brought back my memories of travel in Tibet, China and trekking in Nepal to Everest Base Camp so many decades ago. (If you follow mountaineering expeditions, this is a good book to read.)

I stopped at Fountain Creek Regional Park to take a driving break. I walked some of the trails; no snow here! This park and nearby nature center needs to be a future stop. There are plenty of trails and a nature center to visit. Another Harvest Host location for the night. Enjoyed dinner with a beer and talking with fellow travelers from Wisconsin. Great conversation! Now to enjoy 3 days and hopefully bicycle ride. If not, then to at least hike and take a break from driving!