Day 1  | July 4 | Monday

Denver to Colorado Springs to Pagosa Springs

The flight from Houston to Denver was fine. My parents dropped me off at the airport and the only problem was that I had bought an extra set of lithium batteries for my GPS tracker. At HEB, they were $4.97. At Wal-Mart, they were $9.97, so I asked if they would sell them to me for the HEB price and they said yes. Later, I found out that the lithium batteries I saw at HEB were in the wrong spot and that’s why I thought they were so cheap. It didn’t matter though, because you’re not allowed to bring uninstalled lithium batteries on the plane, so I gave them to one of the Southwest workers.

I picked up my car from Enterprise. I had gotten a great deal on a standard SUV – “Hyundai Santa Fe or similar” – but they gave me a Hyundai Tuscon. Sure, they’re similar, but are they comparable?

6-cylinder vs 4-cylinder
3.3 cc engine vs 1.9 cc
290 hp vs 160 hp
252 torque vs 151 torque
all-wheel drive vs front-wheel drive
80 cubic feet of cargo space vs 62 cubic feet

(When you’re driving up a mountain in Colorado and the gas pedal is pushed all the way to the floor but you can’t get over 45 mph, that’s when you realize that these SUVs aren’t comparable.  I’ll be writing them a letter.)

I zipped into Colorado Springs to see their Garden of the Gods. There’s a lot to see in Colorado Springs, but this is all I had time for. It was the 4th of July and very crowded, so I just drove the loop and went on my way.

From there, it was just driving to Pagosa Springs.

I parked at their visitor center which was where the main hot springs were. The hot sulfuric water bubbled out of the ground like a volcano. I wandered around looking for a reasonable place to eat. One Mexican food place advertised some shrimp dish for $30. I finally ended up eating a burger or something at The Junction.

By then it was dark and the fireworks show had started. I walked back to my car, tried to take some fireworks pictures (that didn’t turn out), then got in my car and spent the night there.

July 4, Monday: Pagosa Springs
July 5, Tuesday: Piedra Falls
July 6, Wednesday: Natural Bridges National Monument
July 7, Thursday: Mogi Dugway, Valley of the Gods, Antelope Canyon, Zion NP
July 8, Friday: Zion National Park
July 9, Saturday: Page, Arizona
July 10, Sunday: Durango, Colorado
July 11, Monday: Durango to Silverton by Train
July 12, Tuesday: John Denver Sanctuary, Aspen, Colorado
July 13, Wednesday: Homeward Bound for My Sister’s Birthday