Road Trip #2 (Day 5) = The Road Home

June 19, 2012
Colorado, USA

We reluctantly checked out of the comfy Laguna Vista Lodge this morning having rested well every night of our stay. We rolled out of Eagle Nest, NM just before 8 am traveling north on Hwy 38 toward Red River, NM past the now familiar dragon in the field and the small ghost town ruins on the hill and over Bobcat Pass (elevation 9820). It was a crisp, clear morning and the riding was fine.

We had the idea breakfast this morning would present itself somewhere along the road home. Then we remembered that a donut shop in Red River called T-Bucks was on the list of sponsors for the Saint Jude's Benefit Run we participated in just last Saturday. That seemed as good a place as any for coffee and breakfast. We found T-Bucks Hole Thing on the northern end of town. You can't miss it. It is painted day-glo yellow with bright red/orange trim and a red roof. Yep! It looked like our kind of place. Better yet, T-Bucks offered a full breakfast menu so we passed on the donut idea. Tim had a full B&G breakfast. I had pancakes. The waitresses and owner/cook (I believe her name is Theresa) were a hoot, laughing and cutting up with all the customers. It made for a pleasant dining experience. The place was clean, the decor I would call unassuming - let's-get-down-to-business-and-eat/mountain cafe, the wait staff friendly and efficient, the coffee was strong and our cups stayed full. Prices were reasonable and the food was served up in generous portions, fresh and tasty. When we paid out we thanked them for their sponsorship of the benefit run and then they tried to give us donuts for the trip home. We pointed at the motorcycle parked across the street, declined the persistent offer and suggestion we could squeeze a donut on there somewhere and confirmed we would stop by again our next trip through. And, we will.

Feeling fat and sassy, we pointed The Ride toward home. Taking Hwy 522 north out of Questa we made our way to Colorado via the tiresome bump-bump, bump-bump, bump-bump road. Little Costilla Peak (elevation 12,584) dominates the northern New Mexico skyline all along the way.

The historic town of San Luis (oldest town in Colorado est. 1851), about 18 miles inside the Colorado state line was our first pit-stop. The road number changes at the state line to CO Hwy 159. Now we were looking at Culebra Peak on the eastern horizon. It is located in the Culebra Range, a sub range of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and the southernmost fourteener in Colorado (elevation 14,047). Due north is Blanca Peak, another Colorado fourteener (elevation 14,345). I should note here, the farther north we traveled the hazier it got and the more it looked like smoke on the horizon. Before long we could get a whiff of smoke now and then. Oh boy! We left our neck of the woods last week with the High Park Fire raging and we knew of wildfires burning in the northwest corner of New Mexico and the southwest corner of Colorado.

Continuing north on Hwy 159 to Fort Garland we turned east toward Alamosa (passing by a huge solar panel plant called SunEdison). I think it is about 80 acres of solar panels. Finally deciding Hwy 285 would be our route home, we turned north on Hwy 17 which runs alongside the Saguache (say-watch) Mountain Range and over Poncha Pass (elevation 9019). We would connect with Hwy 285 in Poncha Springs.

Poncha Pass Colorado (elevation 9019)

We stopped for gas and water at our customary stop in Salida before traveling back to Hwy 285. We were sore tempted to travel further west up and over Monarch Pass, but we stayed our course. Here that Dad? We abstained from piddle-fartin' our way home. Ha! The skies seemed to clear some as we traveled by the always scenic Collegiate Peaks. Before long we were rolling over first Red Hill Pass and then Kenosha Pass (both 10,000 + elevations).

As we scooted into the small town of Bailey, Tim made a quick turn into the Coney Island hot dog stand. It was time to get off, cool off and top off I guess. Ha! We ordered a foot long and a half foot long with sauerkraut of course and fries and a big, cold drink. The place was busy and the line long, despite the fact we were there at mid-afternoon on a week day. We probably waited half an hour for a hot dog. Now, there are many people who will swear these Coney Island dogs are the best hot dogs anywhere... and they were tasty enough but I am thinking that's because we were hungry. They don't come close to earning a "best" in our books. It is a novel stop along the road more than a good place to eat. The place is situated beside a river with tiny and very cramped dine-in tables at each end of what should be a dine-in bar (it was occupied by people waiting on food) and a nice deck/patio. The Coney Island Hot Dog Stand has an interesting history in Colorado and that history lends itself well to the nostalgic charm of the place. A hot dog is a hot dog and a hot dog is exactly what you get - so, if you stop by, you might want to put a leash on great expectations and just enjoy the place for what it is - a quaint little hot dog stand by the side of a dusty mountain road with a river rushing by.

The rest of our ride in was basically uneventful. We continued on Hwy 285, turned off in Morrison, travelling through Golden and north on Hwy 287 for the last leg of our journey home. The closer we got to our neck of the woods, the thicker the smoke from the fire was along the mountains and foothills. A huge plume of smoke could still be seen from miles away.

We rolled into the drive about 6:15, making our ride about ten hours long. It was about 85 degrees with a hot wind blowing. I made a check-in call to the Folks, then we settled in on the patio with a couple of beers as is our post ride custom.

Today's mileage = 407.6 miles. The entire trip was exactly 1300 miles. We enjoyed every s'mile of it.

Slide show of today's ride (80 photos):

Alternate link to this slide show