Weekly Recap: Fort Morgan Week 1 (CO)

Sunday morning we woke up energized. After a great day in Albuquerque, we were ready to begin our drive up to our Fort Morgan campground. We packed up, dumped our tanks, and headed north. We took a winding route for a bit, but it paid off with great views and a deer sighting. Our destination was a Love's in Walsenburg, CO. We arrived without issue and parked the camper in one of their RV spots. We were leaving it for a bit to go see Great Sand Dunes National Park, just a short drive away. 

We unhitched and set off for the park. It's a pretty surreal sight, as the brown sand is piled high among these larger mountains. It seems to come from nowhere! We wandered for a bit, enjoying the sand and watching people snowboard down the dune. It was cold and we were hungry so we headed back to the Love's for dinner. 

When we arrived at Love's, we saw that one of the camper tires was flat. No big deal, we have a compressor! Bryn went to get sandwiches and refill the water bottles. Shawn took care of the tire and discovered the problem was much worse than we thought. There was a nail in the tire rapidly deflating it. We ended up putting our spare on the camper in the dark. Lucky for us, a man named AJ was getting gas and took pity on us. We have a small jack for this very reason, but it's so small it only just lifted the tire off the ground. AJ to the rescue, with his power tools and big jack. He had us back on the road in no time and gave us a tool to boot. Thanks, AJ!

After all the excitement, we drove to our sleeping spot: a Walmart in Falcon. It was bedtime by the time we arrived and set up. We were exhausted.

Monday morning we both woke up around 6:45 and got on the road. We drove to our Fort Morgan campground and set up for a whole MONTH stay. We are sad to be so far outside of Denver, but the prospect of staying in one place for 4 weeks is appealing. Percy especially is thrilled he won't have to go in his carrier for such a long time. After set up, we worked. For dinner we decided to go to a restaurant called The Mav next door. This is a hotel restaurant, but some of the best food in town. We had a delicious dinner and were happy to have such a good spot close to 'home'.

For the rest of the week, we took advantage of being settled to have a few quiet days to ourselves. We ate homecooked meals, got lots of sleep, cleaned and organized the trailer, and worked. 

A fresh, clean truck bed

Friday night we were super productive! We decided to do laundry and accomplish a few things. While our clothes were washing, we refilled our propane tanks and got groceries. We ate dinner at the adjacent Thai restaurant while our clothes were drying. Then we decided to check out some of the local bars. We went to Queen Lounge, a lively hotel bar that quickly filled up as we sat enjoying our drinks and watching the women's wrestling on the bar TVs. We switched to Club Tap for one last drink before heading home and had some... colorful interactions with the locals there. What an interesting experience.

Dream Lake

Saturday was an early morning! We were headed to Rock Mountain National Park to go hiking. It's about 3 hrs. away, so we needed to get going early. When we arrived, our intended trailhead parking lot was already full, so we pivoted to a lower lot that still had access to the trail we wanted. The trail was snow-packed, so we used our spikes. As we got hiking, Bryn quickly realized she was beginning to have an asthma episode--probably a combination of elevation, cold air, and 'working out' (hiking). We took it slow and enjoyed the winter scenery. We hiked from Glacier Gorge to Bear, Nymph, and Dream Lakes, all of which were frozen over. The views were spectacular! We were sad to miss the blue alpine water but still thought it was a beautiful hike. Bryn ended up with a disgusting sounding cough for the next 4 days. Worth it.

Bear Lake

After our hike, we took a scenic route out of the park, passing more gorgeous views and encountering a massive herd of deer. We went to Rock Cut Brewery to unwind and meet a friend of ours who was at the local Frozen Dead Guy Festival in Estes Park. It was fun catching up, and we made plans to meet up again while we're in Colorado.

It was time to begin our long drive home. We stopped at the Pourhouse in Loveland for dinner. Bryn was really struggling to breath so we didn't explore more and just went home. It was a rough night, but she was feeling much better Sunday. Time to get an inhaler again.

Weekly Recap: Albuquerque and Santa Fe (NM)

Early morning at the campground

After we settled in Sunday, we started discussing our schedule for the week. We chose our campground because they offered an extremely reasonable rate for a weeklong stay with water and electricity only. However, we were 40 minutes from Albuquerque and an hour from Santa Fe. We needed to do laundry ASAP and shower, so on Monday after work we headed to a Planet Fitness in ABQ to workout and shower. Then we headed to a laundromat, got dinner, washed the car (and vacuumed the interior), picked up some grocery essentials, and headed home.

Tuesday we worked all day and then decided to go check out Sierra Blanco Brewery nearby. We'd had their Alien Amber in Roswell, looked it up, and discovered it was very close to our campground! It's a special spot. We had a lot of fun and purchased a bunch of beer to go.

Wednesday we woke up early to head to Santa Fe. We went to a Planet Fitness to lift and shower, then got a table at Henry and the Fish. This is a popular café with breakfast sandwiches, smoothies and juices, and lunch items. They also have freshly made pastries and cookies, some gluten free! We spent the entire morning working. The staff is very friendly and the food was delicious.

For the afternoon we moved to the Santa Fe Railyard. We started at Second Street Brewery for lunch and working. Once we wrapped up work for the day we had a round of beer here and then moved to the nearby Boxcar Sports Bar for dinner, watching the Villanova basketball game, and a couple rounds of karaoke for Bryn. We ended the night at Santa Fe Brewing, which is in a funky, converted house.

After staying in the trailer all Thursday, we headed to Albuquerque Friday morning for another day of working in the city. We started off with a morning workout (saving our grey tank in the process). Here we spent most of the day at Central Grill and Coffee House, staying for both breakfast and lunch. This place had excellent food, and we loved their "waffle dogs", which are breakfast sausage links dipped in waffle batter and fried. It's like a breakfast corndog. We're going to try making these at home.

Waffle Dogs

After work we honored Shawn's parents by hitting up two breweries in a row with relevant names: Bow and Arrow Brewing Company and Tractor Brewery. We stopped at Sierra Blanco again on our way back, enjoying another round of their beer with some take out. One of the guys recognized us from earlier in the week as soon as we walked in.

Saturday we returned to Albuquerque for one final day exploring the city, but this time with no work to distract us. We hiked around the Petroglyph National Monument west of the city. This is an area with a lot of volcanic rocks, many of which were carved into hundreds of years ago by the Pueblo people. We did a short loop hike in the Rinconada Canyon Trail, seeing dozens of petroglyphs along the way. After that we circled around to the other side of the Monument and hiked out to the JA volcano (dormant) and an overlook of the valley the city sits in. We ended up skipping the remaining two volcanoes on the trail because of several trail closures and incredibly high winds.

 

We tried to take the tram to the top of the Sandia crest, but it had temporarily closed due to the high winds. We pivoted to a nearby axe-throwing place ( ABQ Ax). We spent an hour throwing axes and ninja stars (much easier). We had a lot of fun and got the hang of it pretty quickly. Also, they amazingly had the Bruins game on their one TV.

After the axe throwing, we saw that the tram had reopened as the wind died down, so we rushed over to the base of the mountains. Unfortunately it had reclosed in the 15 minutes it took us to drive over, so we had to accept we were going to miss out on this attraction. Instead we took another shower at Planet Fitness and then checked out High and Dry Brewing for some beer and a snack. 

We hopped over to Lizard Tail Brewery in Nob Hill for another flight. They had the 2014 Godzilla movie playing, so we watched while we enjoyed their funky and delicious array of beer. The bartender and a couple patrons recommended Happy Accidents, a cocktail bar, and M'tucci's, an Italian restaurant. We took their advice and had some unique cocktails at Happy then headed to M'tucci's for a hearty and absolutely amazing dinner. We had a Cacio e Pepe Arancini appetizer that we LOVED. Bryn got the Pasta Alla Gricia, a carbonara-esque dish, and Shawn ordered the Bolognese. It was a great end to a great day. 

We headed back to the camper to prepare for our Sunday drive into Colorado. We were excited to get to the Denver area, but definitely sad to leave New Mexico.

Brewery Recap #3 (Twin Falls, ID to Sacramento, CA)

Shawn and Bryn enjoy craft breweries and beer in general. Throughout our travels so far, we've been to quite a few local breweries and wanted to document them, both for our sake and for anyone who may be interested in visiting these places!

Milners Gate, Twin Falls, Idaho

This is an upscale, newer brewery in downtown Twin Falls. The interior is industrial, with exposed duct work, brick, and fire places. This brewery offers a full bar (wine and cocktails) as well as a nice selection of beer. The food was delicious! We enjoyed our meal here and would recommend it to anyone traveling through Twin Falls. Unfortunately, there are very few beers to-go from here.

Koto Brewery, Twin Fall, Idaho

Koto is located on Main St. in Twin Falls. It's a brick building with a good amount of seating for the brewery. They have a nice variety of beer styles, good food, and a stage for live music. 

White Dog Brewery, Boise, Idaho

This spot is a fun, relaxed, open space in a former industrial-use building. The bar has a very cool frozen steel bar feature to keep your beer chilled as you sip. We particularly enjoyed the Irish Red and Blueberry Sour. The beer list has a nice variety and they sell crowlers of any beer on tap as well as pre-made cans. There is food here, but we did not order any. White Dog is in downtown Boise and also has an outdoor, dog-friendly space. We had a great time hanging out here for an afternoon!

Sawtooth Brewery, Ketchum, Idaho

Bryn visited Sawtooth (named after the Sawtooth National Forest) after a day of skiing at Sun Valley. It is a small brewery but the employees are so fun and invested in you loving the beer. Bryn got to try a lot of the beer plus some of the employees' favorite beer combos. The food is yummy, there is wine available as well as nonalcoholic options. The Double IPA was delicious. This is a great après ski stop!

Bewilder Brewing Company, Salt Lake City, Utah

It's not surprising why we decided to stop by Bewilder one of the days we worked in SLC. Rabbit paraphernalia gets us every time! This spot has a nice variety of beer, a spacious seating area, and weekly events. Bryn ended up getting a Cranberry sour to go!

 

The Fox Brewery and Pub, Carson City, Nevada

We stopped by this brewery after a failed attempt to ski Kirkwood Resort (due to blackout dates on our passes). We shared a wing platter called the Wing Nut where you get 25 wings and 5 sauces. The food and beer were good, and we recommend stopping by for lunch in you visit Carson City.

The Brewer's Cabinet, Reno, Nevada

Brewer's Cabinet was a recommendation from a Harvest Host we stayed with in November. They used to have two spots in Reno, right next to each other. However, since our visit the Taproom has closed. The BC has a great menu and beer list. The vibe is relaxed. There is good wifi and outlet access. We spent an afternoon here working, which was enjoyable. 

Lost Cabin, Eureka, California

We went to the location in downtown Eureka to work for the afternoon. There were several tables with outlet access and decent wifi. Bryn got shrimp tacos that were delicious. As for beer, Lost Cabin shines when it comes to wheat ales. We thoroughly enjoyed our afternoon here.

Redwood Curtain, Eureka, California

After Lost Cabin, we headed to Redwood for our last bit of the working day. This is a small spot just outside of downtown Eureka. They were closing early due to power outages (this was when we were in Northern California getting pummeled by heavy winds and rain). We took advantage of the wifi and good beers for about 2 hours before making our way home to discover our own power had gone out.

Russian River Brewing Company, Santa Rosa, California

This was a brewery we REALLY looked forward to. Getting your hands on Pliny the Elder on the East Coast can be difficult, so getting it fresh from the tap was amazing. RRBC offers a flight of every beer on tap. EVERY BEER. For $30. So of course we did that. Some favorites: Shawn loved Robert, a Farmhouse Saison. Bryn loved Intinction Sauvignon Blanc, a white wine barrel aged beer. Of course, we got plenty of Pliny to go.

This brewery has a classic wooden bar, old school vibe, good food, and even better bartenders. They also offer non-alcoholic and non-beer options. This is a must go if you're around San Francisco!

Urban Roots Brewery, Sacramento, California

We went to Urban Root on a Friday night and had a blast. They are situated in a converted industrial building. They have quite the expansive beer list, with plenty of their own beers and several collabs and guest taps. The food offering is Smokehouse BBQ. We were starving by the time we got here so we may be biased, but we thought it was delicious! We really liked the atmosphere here. There is a private room you can rent, a huge outdoor space, and pretty quick service. It is a popular spot!

Weekly recap: Las Cruces/Carlsbad/Roswell (NM)

We arrived very late Tuesday to our campground, a state park outside Las Cruces that has several campground spots as well as vault toilets. Unfortunately, we did not realize that the park closes at sunset. The gate was padlocked! The exit side was open, but had tire spikes. We didn't want to wait until morning so we used weights from our "home" gym to keep the spikes down and drove in. The campground is composed of several "loops" and we had some difficulty finding our spot. After driving one loop, we turned down another which ended up being extremely narrow. Far too narrow for us to make the turn: the camper wouldn't even fit across the turn on it's own. Shawn ended up backing the trailer up in the dark, about 150 ft., so that we could escape. Our "drive in" spot that Bryn booked ended up being a back in. We accomplished this in the dark, got set up, and passed out. Our bed had never felt so comfy!

We awoke Wednesday to view our camping spot in daylight. What a great spot! Super quiet and private, very affordable (about $18 per night), level, with a stone structure covering a picnic table right next to the concrete pad for our camper. There are also walking paths and desert scenery all around. We worked all day then headed to a Planet Fitness to lift and shower. We picked up some Rudy's BBQ for dinner and drove to a brewery in Truth or Consequences. Bryn saw a sign for this town and knew we had to visit, just for an evening. We ate our BBQ, played GloomHaven, and drank some very good beer at T or C Brewery before heading to Walmart for some groceries. It was a very fun night!

Rudy's BBQ

Weirdest name for a town ever

Our campground was an hour from White Sands National Park, which we visited Thursday after work. By the time we arrived at the park we had more than enough time to drive through the dunes, sled down the sand, and watch the sun set over the mountains. The sledding was quite fun but messy. The sand is fine and really gets everywhere. The sunset was beautiful and it was lovely to see warm orange and pink colors over the bright white sand dunes. We thoroughly enjoyed our time at White Sands, but we know it's unlikely we'll go back. The park is fairly remote. It's certainly worth a visit on a trip like this, but we wouldn't devote a separate trip to see it.

Our campground had a very generous check out time of 2pm, so we got up early and worked until about 1:30 before breaking camp. We had to dump our tanks before leaving, which took some time but was an easy process. Our drive took us into Texas as we drove to Carlsbad. We set up at a Walmart around 6:45 and unhitched. It was Friday night, so we grabbed some food to go from El Charro (GREAT spot!) and headed to Milton's Brewery, a small craft brewery in downtown Carlsbad. This spot's main taproom is pretty small, but they have an adjacent room with a lot more seating. There are board games and the beer is solid. We had a great time relaxing and eating our tacos.

Saturday morning we woke up fairly early to get to the Carlsbad Caverns Visitor Center by 8:15am. The park requires visitors to reserve a timed entry slot so we booked the first one at 8:30. Driving into the park, we encountered a large herd of Barbary Sheep eating and lounging in the morning sun. It was a special moment. When we checked in at the visitor center, we were given the choice to hike down into the cavern or take the elevator. We chose to hike down, which was absolutely the right choice. It is a fairly easy 45 minute walk into the cavern. It is all downhill and paved, so it's not strenuous. The only hitch is that a lot of it is in very dim lighting. The descent offers impactful visuals of how deep you are going underground (755 ft.) and views of very interesting calcite formations as well as a huge rock that fell from the ceiling over 500k years ago.

Reaching the bottom, the trail opens up into the Big Room, an impressive and imposing cavern that is 8.2 acres large. It looms before you in the dark, illuminated by lights installed by the parks service. The paved walkway continues around this room, weaving through stalagmites and over pools of dripping cave water. Overall, we spent 2 hours hiking to and exploring the cavern before taking the elevator up to the surface. It was an unforgettable experience that solidified Carlsbad Cavern as one of our top parks. Truly it is a breathtaking natural phenomenon and we are surprised more people don't visit each year. We will certainly be hyping it up to everyone who asks!

We saw during our walk that they offer a ranger-led tour of the Lower Cave, which involves going down a ladder into another, deeper section of the cavern. We will definitely be doing this the next time we go to Carlsbad.

After we refilled our water bottles at the Carlsbad visitor center, we headed to Guadalupe Mountains National Park, about 35 minutes away. We ate sandwiches in the parking lot and got a park map before heading to the trailhead. We then hiked up to Devil's Hall. At just over 2 miles one way, about halfway in it switches to a scramble through a wash. This is a fun, technical hike. The "hallway" (slot canyon) is striking and rewarding. We finished in just over 2 hours. It was a super enjoyable hike that we highly recommend. There are no spectacular mountain views, but the physicality of the hike is what we liked the most. The Devil's Hallway is a beautiful and unusual formation.

Devil's Hall

After our hike we drove back to the camper to hitch back up, we headed a short ways north to another Walmart in Roswell to boondock for a second night. After a quick shower at Planet Fitness, we set up at the Walmart. We spent the evening in walking distance, first having dinner at RibCrib across the street (through we actually ordered shrimp and a brisket burrito instead of ribs). It was very good. We headed to the Chili's in the Walmart parking lot for dessert and drinks.

Sunday morning we went to the International UFO Museum & Research Center. This museum is kind of small but has a ton to read, mostly accounts of the 1947 Roswell incident (and obviously with a bit of a slant on what really happened then). We spent about an hour and a half working our way around the museum, which is definitely worth the stop at only $7. Then, we walked to the nearby UFO Spacewalk, which is a black light experience (with various alien paraphernalia from different shows and movies). This is kind of silly and really short (it only took us 3-4 minutes), but also only cost $5. Worth the fun!

Roswell Mural

The beginning of the UFO Spacewalk

After our pair of alien themed adventures, we went to the nearby La Sierra Mesquite Smoked Barbecue for lunch. This time we did get the ribs, and they were excellent. These were possibly the best cooked ribs we've ever had. The rub on it wasn't as outstanding but still good, and the brisket was fine. But if you're in Roswell absolutely stop by for some of their ribs.

After lunch we went back to the Walmart to hitch up and drive to Moriarty (about 45-60 minutes outside of both Albuquerque and Santa Fe) for our next week's stay in a campground again. This was the worst fuel mileage of our entire trip due to a continuous, slow uphill drive and very aggressive headwinds. We initially were very confident that we would make it on one tank but had to stop along the way. Once we arrived at the campsite (which refreshingly offered online check-in!), we dumped our tanks. This site does not have sewer hookups but we only stayed one week. Percy was happy to have the slideout out again.

Weekly Recap: Phoenix/Tucson (AZ)

We were on a real high after our Moab weekend. Bryn took off for a bachelorette in New Orleans while Shawn stayed in Phoenix and golfed with his cousin every day. Friday night Shawn joined his cousin's friends to a "night golf" tournament at Bellair Golf Course. This was their first time trying it, and it involves playing a 9 hole scramble after dark. Special glow in the dark balls are used, and the flagsticks are covered with glowsticks. It was an incredibly fun time. Shawn's cousin already signed up for the next one offered by this course, and Shawn is going to try to find a similar option when we get back to Boston. After the round the group of 6 all went out for a round of drinks and a late dinner at Santasi Brothers, which is a sports bar/Italian restaurant with more TVs than seems possible.

Night Golf, about a foot short of a hole-in-one (this was not Shawn)

On Saturday and Sunday Shawn and his cousin played a round each day at Falcon Dunes, which is the golf course for Luke Air Force base (his cousin is retired from the Air Force). Shawn couldn't stop slicing his drives, but did manage to chip in once each day. The course was fun, although the sand traps are more like dirt traps. This was fun enough that Shawn is going to try to get back into regular golf when we return home for the summer. After the round on Saturday Shawn hung out in the hot tub and then watched back to back Bruins/Avalanche games with his cousin (a Denver native).

Falcon Dunes

Bryn arrived back in Phoenix Sunday. Shawn picked her up from the airport with some Rudy's, a barbecue chain popular through the southwest, for dinner. We relaxed for a bit in the hot tub and then prepped for the week, which would include a work survey for Bryn and a move to New Mexico on Tuesday. Monday night we went out for dinner with Shawn's cousins one last time. 

Hot tub built into the pool

Shawn picked Bryn up in Phoenix after her survey and we headed to Las Cruces via Saguaro National Park. It was very fun winding through the park looking at the massive cactuses! We didn't stop much and don't recommend dedicating a huge chunk of time to this park, but the terrain just driving through was really spectacular. We wish we had time for a hike, but we had a very long drive ahead of us. Perhaps we will go to Saguaro again on another trip to Phoenix.

Saguaro National Park

Shawn skeptically stares at a saguaro

A tall saguaro