Lessons in Flexibility

Day Fourteen: Pagosa Springs CO to Cortez CO

Last night was our fifth night in a row to sleep in the tent, we're so happy. The temperature was so cool that I slept in my thermals. We slept all the way in until about 8, packed up in a record 20 minutes and headed in to town for breakfast.

Pegosa Springs Bakery is lovely. It's right on the main drag, so you can't miss it. This time of year the patio seating is where it's at. They've gone through the trouble of planting herbs all around the seating area, and you're elevated from the side walk just a little so it feels extra quaint. We ordered the breakfast burrito “smothered”. This means that they add spicy ground chorizo to the burrito and then pour their house chicken green chile sauce all over it. It's delicious, and one order is enough to feed two people.

After breakfast we head to the local P.O. The Pirate has decided to thin his wardrobe (yes folks, as you can imagine, Pirates wear considerable more clothing than Mermaids). After all was said and done, a whopping 3 lbs 12 oz of Pirate clothing was mailed to the studios in Marshall. It did make some extra room, and I'm sure R. Girl is happy for the slightly lighter load.

The morning drive was a dose of stunning scenery and horses. I will always remember SW Colorado as horse country. The pastures are brilliant emerald green set against the snow capped mountains. Within perfectly maintained fences are these beautiful creatures with coats glistening in the sun. It makes me want to move here and ride horses across the countryside.

Durango is where we fuel up before heading toward Mesa Verde national park. We're actually heading to Arches national park today, but Mesa Verde is on the way, and since the Pirate hasn't seen it, I figure we can pop in (cue 'stupid presumption' music). The ride to the park entrance continues to be astounding. At the entrance, after misunderstanding the fee signs, we're charged $15 to enter the park. Then, a little ways in, another sign informs us that the goodies we've just paid to see are 27 miles into the park. Dammit, I have blown it as navigatrix. A 54 mile round trip pretty much eats up our day. This is not a park that you can “pop in”.

We settle in and decide to enjoy Mesa Verde. As you can imagine, it's teaming with tourists. Oh, and the $15 only gets your tires on their asphalt. You have to pay extra to get up close and personal to all but one of the cliff dwellings. While we're touring the park, a nice sized thunderstorm builds off to the west. It's only sprinkling, so we decide to go for it (loop 'stupid presumption' music). Within 2 minutes we're riding across a bald while freezing rain pelts us like liquid shrapnel and lighting strikes all around us. Uncomfortable and scary. The visitors center is not far, so we pull off pretty soon and get all safe and dry and chat it up with some Canadian bikers.

At this point, we're tired, bummed out and feeling defeated that we didn't make our goal of Arches today. We dodge thunderstorms in to the closest town, Cortez, and hope for redemption.

We find it at “Pepperhead”, a cute little restaurant on the main street. They have beer that makes the Pirate happy, and house infused citrus liquors for their margaritas that make the Mermaid happy. We order a combo plate of chile rellenos with pork enchilada and also a plate of chicken mole. Don't let the rellenos here fool you, they look every bit like a corn dog, but under the perfectly fried golden exterior is the spicy poblano stuffed with beautifully textured and slightly tangy cheese that defines a good relleno. The mole is also good, and there's plenty of it. We saved some for breakfast. Pepperheads has some damn good salsa that comes to your table too, make sure to pour all of the extra (if there is any) over your left overs (is there are any).

I have always wanted to stay in motor lodges, and on this trip I am getting my wish. The Aneth Lodge is cheap, clean, and the rooms come with real glasses, perfecting our end-of-the-day whiskey. We go to bed glad that we're here, glad that we didn't wear ourselves out with an extra 100 miles to Moab, and fine with skipping the Arches. Tomorrow, Arizona.