Colorado, New Mexico & Texas Summer 2015

John259

shown73 wrote: »

Nobody mentioned Carlsbad Caverns so far.

It is spectacular. There is a park entrance fee, plus fees for ranger-led tours. I reckon it's well worth it but obviously it's a matter of opinion. Here's the details on the National Park Service web site, if you haven't already discovered it:
http://www.nps.gov/cave/planyourvisit/feesandreservations.htm

torbrex

shown73 wrote: »

Nobody mentioned Carlsbad Caverns so far. Is that because it is not as spectacular as it seems, or perhaps a major rip-off in price? Had it pencilled in as one of our POI's.

It was so good and so big I went twice

If you are there at the right time, the bats flying out of the walk-down entrance are quite a sight as well.

The rock formations and overall size of the caverns took my breath away.

torbrex

Colorado things to see & do:
Denver has 3 sports teams maybe 4 I'm not sure about basketball, there is also a 6flags with a waterpark attached, south to Colorado springs there is an area called Garden of the Gods which has a very good light show in the evenings. To the west of that is the Spiney Mtn State Park and nearby the Florissant fossil beds National Monument, south west from there is a 'do not miss', Royal Gorge Bridge with a cable car ride across the river 1000ft below and a fenicular railway down to the river where if you are lucky a train or some rafters might go by
I went rafting with a company near Salida but if that takes your fancy there are rafting companies all over that part of Colorado.
South again there is the Great Sand Dunes National Park where lots of cowboy film have been made.
I then took a big jump west to The Mesa Verde Cliff Dwellings, I missed out on the narrow guage railway near Durango as it was closed for repair at the time.
North to Montrose and the Black Canyon of The Gunnison, if you want to feel small, that is the place to go
I did some mountain driving after than and weaved my way back towards Denver only really stopping at the Coors plant on the way.

I did not go anywhere east of the 25 in Colorado but I did venture north to Mt Rushmore which I actually didn't like, I found it 'too American'

Texas was a whole different trip, if you want me to post my route and any details I can.

Murphy_The_Cat

torbrex wrote: »

Colorado things to see & do:
Denver has 3 sports teams maybe 4 I'm not sure about basketball, there is also a 6flags with a waterpark attached, south to Colorado springs there is an area called Garden of the Gods which has a very good light show in the evenings. To the west of that is the Spiney Mtn State Park and nearby the Florissant fossil beds National Monument, south west from there is a 'do not miss', Royal Gorge Bridge with a cable car ride across the river 1000ft below and a fenicular railway down to the river where if you are lucky a train or some rafters might go by
I went rafting with a company near Salida but if that takes your fancy there are rafting companies all over that part of Colorado.
South again there is the Great Sand Dunes National Park where lots of cowboy film have been made.
I then took a big jump west to The Mesa Verde Cliff Dwellings, I missed out on the narrow guage railway near Durango as it was closed for repair at the time.
North to Montrose and the Black Canyon of The Gunnison, if you want to feel small, that is the place to go
I did some mountain driving after than and weaved my way back towards Denver only really stopping at the Coors plant on the way.

I did not go anywhere east of the 25 in Colorado but I did venture north to Mt Rushmore which I actually didn't like, I found it 'too American'

Texas was a whole different trip, if you want me to post my route and any details I can.

Hello Torbrex

Thanks for that post -- lots of things for me to look into.
If you cou post up your Texas route, I'd really apprecaite it.
The entire tripm is going to be new ground for us, and I apprecaite that we're not going to be able to do much more than a bit in each State, but any thoughts, opinions, experiences are really apprecaited.

torbrex

Journey round Texas (winter)

I was in Texas for sightseeing, no real places of interest that I was intending to visit, I just took them as they came, the only exception being Big Bend National Park and that was dependant on the weather.

I flew into Houston and as is my want, I drove straight out without looking sideways (I dislike cities) and headed west towards San Antonio where I spent a couple of nights. I took a bus tour of the missions rather than try to find my own way round and the driver was very good with lots of stories. More by luck than judgement I got a motel just off the I10 about a mile from the Alamo and I was able to walk in to the ‘centre’ of town. The Riverwalk area I found to be quite relaxed and there are plenty of shopping opportunities, museums, theatres and other places of interest.
On a recommendation from another guest at the motel I drove north to the Natural Bridge Caverns and it was well worth the detour, the underground tour is a guided one with about 20 in a group and is well lit, there are also overground attractions for the kids.
I took the I10 west to Ft Stockton then south to Alpine where I stayed a couple of night while visiting Big Bend NP, it was only later I realised it would have been a more scenic trip if I had gone south to Laredo first then followed the border towards the park.
My next stop was north to the Carlsbad Caverns which I mentioned previously, I had intended going on to Roswell just to say I had been there but went to Lubbock instead then north to Amarillo which is a horse town, there may be other things there but all I remember is horses.
I started east again with no real destination in mind other than to get to the other end of Texas, I took in a couple of state parks on the way and finally ended up in Texarkana which to me was the most disappointing place on my tour, I’d heard it mentioned in songs and movies but boy is it dull.
Now I kind of lost my way towards the end of my tour, I had intended going south towards Corpus Christi to see the shoreline and also down to the Mexican border but I was advised that the area was still a mess after Katrina and hotels were not going to be easy to get, it was also New Year and a lot of places were closed.
I ‘pottered’ about until time to go home, 4800 miles in 13 days, Texas is BIG, don’t get fooled by what you see on the map, it takes a long time to drive to anywhere, I found myself skipping lunch so that I could get an extra 60 miles in.

PeacefulWaters

4800 miles in 13 days

Mega-gulp!

Murphy_The_Cat

torbrex wrote: »

Journey round Texas (winter)

Texas is BIG, don’t get fooled by what you see on the map, it takes a long time to drive to anywhere, I found myself skipping lunch so that I could get an extra 60 miles in.

cheers Torbrex

That last paragraph really hit home and my plans have changed already.
Originally, we were landing at AUS, but now we're arriving at DFW. Adding AUS & Carlsbad Caverns to the trip to DEN was going to add 400 miles to the initial 1100 miles, so it looks like AUS and Carlsbad are gointo be an addition for another time (although Carlsbad may be doable if we go East, rather than NE via Amarillo).

One of the pleasures in planning a trip like this is to make it as Cat Family Friendly as possible. Spending hour after hour on the Intersate in enormous States like Texas just isn't a family holiday, although to do what we are doing, we realise that we have to do some big miles, on some days.

At the moment, it looks like 4 nights DFW, 1 night Amarillo, 4 nights ALB, 1 night CO Springs and 4 nights Denver. All the hotels will be pre booked and all will probably be Homewood Suites/Embassy Suites properties (although we may find a B&B for a couple of nights for a change). I appreciater that you & I differ widely in this respect -- however for me/the Cats, driving 250 miles and then driving directly to our sat nav pre programmed hotel, where we know we're goinbg to get a suite room with a spereate bedroom is solid gold for us.

On with the plans

Murph

John259

Trivia time: I-10 across Texas is the longest stretch of an interstate within the same state: about 880 miles. I think I-5 in California comes second at around 796 miles.

Murphy_The_Cat

John259 wrote: »

Trivia time: I-10 across Texas is the longest stretch of an interstate within the same state: about 880 miles. I think I-5 in California comes second at around 796 miles.

That backs up exactly what Torbrex was saying -- its a huge state.
We're a family on a family holiday, not truckers trying to get from A-B asap :beer:

torbrex

Murphy_The_Cat wrote: »

cheers Torbrex

That last paragraph really hit home and my plans have changed already.
Originally, we were landing at AUS, but now we're arriving at DFW. Adding AUS & Carlsbad Caverns to the trip to DEN was going to add 400 miles to the initial 1100 miles, so it looks like AUS and Carlsbad are gointo be an addition for another time (although Carlsbad may be doable if we go East, rather than NE via Amarillo).

One of the pleasures in planning a trip like this is to make it as Cat Family Friendly as possible. Spending hour after hour on the Intersate in enormous States like Texas just isn't a family holiday, although to do what we are doing, we realise that we have to do some big miles, on some days.

At the moment, it looks like 4 nights DFW, 1 night Amarillo, 4 nights ALB, 1 night CO Springs and 4 nights Denver. All the hotels will be pre booked and all will probably be Homewood Suites/Embassy Suites properties (although we may find a B&B for a couple of nights for a change). I appreciater that you & I differ widely in this respect -- however for me/the Cats, driving 250 miles and then driving directly to our sat nav pre programmed hotel, where we know we're goinbg to get a suite room with a spereate bedroom is solid gold for us.

On with the plans

Murph

The Texas trip for me was a particularly grueling one, my mum had just passed away and I had recently started a new job and was having a bit of trouble with it. The driving was easy for me on my own but with the kittens in the back, I can see why you need to limit travelling time each day and yes for a family, a destination to aim for is a must.

For your 'big miles' day I would suggest as early a start as possible so that you actually miss any of the commuting traffic on the roads, it also gives you more time at the next stop, especially if it a one night stop up next.

The roads in Texas are particularly dull through the centre section, no corners or significant hills so if you do head east to the caverns, some car games for the family might be in order.