Colorado, New Mexico & Texas Summer 2015

Murphy_The_Cat

cubegame wrote: »

I guess you are going to Palo Duro & Caprock Canyons?

Taking Texas Highway 70 North from Abilene is a lovely drive and you could stop in Turkey.

Then going to Palo Duro and Caprock in the same day will mean you only pay one fee.

And the Hotel Turkey gives a lovely slice of non-chain Texan charm....

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g56794-d125375-Reviews-Hotel_Turkey_Bed_Breakfast-Turkey_Texas.html

John259 wrote: »

I liked Palo Duro. You can view it from the rim, then drive down to the bottom and look up. Also, most of the visitors there seemed to be locals out for the day rather than tourists. More info: http://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/palo-duro-canyon and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzQweCM3Lj0

Sorry, I've never been to Caprock.

Cheers chaps

Once I've chained Mrs Cat down and agreed an itinerary for trip, so I can see which night we're in what place, I'll be able to 'fill in the blanks'.

Both Palo Duro and Carrock Canyons look lovely:beer:

Murphy_The_Cat

cubegame wrote: »

I guess you are going to Palo Duro & Caprock Canyons?

Taking Texas Highway 70 North from Abilene is a lovely drive and you could stop in Turkey.

Then going to Palo Duro and Caprock in the same day will mean you only pay one fee.

And the Hotel Turkey gives a lovely slice of non-chain Texan charm....

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g56794-d125375-Reviews-Hotel_Turkey_Bed_Breakfast-Turkey_Texas.html

John259 wrote: »

I liked Palo Duro. You can view it from the rim, then drive down to the bottom and look up. Also, most of the visitors there seemed to be locals out for the day rather than tourists. More info: http://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/palo-duro-canyon and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzQweCM3Lj0

Sorry, I've never been to Caprock.

Cheers chaps

Once I've chained Mrs Cat down and agreed an itinerary for trip, so I can see which night we're in what place, I'll be able to 'fill in the blanks'.

Both Palo Duro and Carrock Canyons look lovely:beer:
The Big Zip looks fun :eek::D

cubegame

Murphy_The_Cat wrote: »

The Big Zip looks fun :eek::D

They had no walk-in availability when we went. :mad:

Murphy_The_Cat

Flights booked and seats assigned
Car hired and paid for (Chevy Tahoe or Similar)
All accomodation reserved and mostly paid for.
In the end, this is how its going to go
4 Nights Dallas
1 Night Amarillo (staying in a Staybridge Suite - Cubegame, I'll haunt you if its not as good as your claim it to be !!!!)
4 Nights Alurquerque
3 Nights Colorado Springs
2 Nights Denver

There are 3 days with hefty drives in them (300+ per day), but other than that, we're golden.

Happy to have everything booked and secured.

cubegame

Are you doing Dallas or Fort Worth?

Murphy_The_Cat

cubegame wrote: »

Are you doing Dallas or Fort Worth?

We're staying between the two and to the North of them, so we'll be able to scratch the surface of both.

cubegame

Murphy_The_Cat wrote: »

We're staying between the two and to the North of them, so we'll be able to scratch the surface of both.

I was asking as I wondered if you would want some free tickets I had for Fort Worth Zoo.

Unfortunately it appears that they have met a sticky and unfortunate end due to a leaking pack of mustard!

But time enough to give some snippets of what we did in case you're interested:-

We mostly did Fort Worth. Dallas was fairly dull and business like without much character. There is also no where whatsoever to park!

Fort Worth Zoo is excellent, probably the one of the best we've been to and second only to San Diego. Even without the free tickets it's very cheap and worth a visit.

We also visited the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens which is a lovely place to mosey round if you like plants.

We saw the Cattle drive in Fort Worth stockyards but didn't think it was worth it although it's nice to wander around the stockyards. Leddie's Boots is worth looking at even if it's just to try on a pair of $3000 boots. Lots of great country music places around there (we're big fans) including the world famous Billy Bobs.

We went to the Baseball in Arlington. Great ballpark and $10 with free fireworks on a friday night.

Four Day Weekend (an improv show in Fort Worth) was amazing and well worth a visit.

Fort Worth Sundance Square district is lovely at night. One of the nicest, relaxed and safe cities we've been to in America. Lots of excellent eating and live bands most nights I believe. The nearby water gardens are lovely at night too.

Nearby, Grapevine Malls is enormous and worth a look if you like shopping. We also finally managed to go to a drive in movie at the Coyote Drive In.

Last, but not least. We found the Flight Deck Trampoline Park just over the road from our hotel in West Fort Worth.....and as it was raining good proper Texas rain we gave it a go.....so much fun!!!

Murphy_The_Cat

cubegame wrote: »

I was asking as I wondered if you would want some free tickets I had for Fort Worth Zoo.

Unfortunately it appears that they have met a sticky and unfortunate end due to a leaking pack of mustard!

But time enough to give some snippets of what we did in case you're interested:-

We mostly did Fort Worth. Dallas was fairly dull and business like without much character. There is also no where whatsoever to park!

Fort Worth Zoo is excellent, probably the one of the best we've been to and second only to San Diego. Even without the free tickets it's very cheap and worth a visit.

We also visited the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens which is a lovely place to mosey round if you like plants.

We saw the Cattle drive in Fort Worth stockyards but didn't think it was worth it although it's nice to wander around the stockyards. Leddie's Boots is worth looking at even if it's just to try on a pair of $3000 boots. Lots of great country music places around there (we're big fans) including the world famous Billy Bobs.

We went to the Baseball in Arlington. Great ballpark and $10 with free fireworks on a friday night.

Four Day Weekend (an improv show in Fort Worth) was amazing and well worth a visit.

Fort Worth Sundance Square district is lovely at night. One of the nicest, relaxed and safe cities we've been to in America. Lots of excellent eating and live bands most nights I believe. The nearby water gardens are lovely at night too.

Nearby, Grapevine Malls is enormous and worth a look if you like shopping. We also finally managed to go to a drive in movie at the Coyote Drive In.

Last, but not least. We found the Flight Deck Trampoline Park just over the road from our hotel in West Fort Worth.....and as it was raining good proper Texas rain we gave it a go.....so much fun!!!

cheers cubegame for taking the time to post up your experiences and suggestions.
We went to some of them last time and very much enjoyed them. As much as possible, we try not to do things that we've done before, so that we can all do/see/try new things -- but it was 4 years ago and the children were 7 and 4, so in their world, it would all be new anyway .

I could enjoy a mooch around the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens and Butterfly House again (& the Japanese Garden was lovely !!)

Murphy_The_Cat

As we get closer to 'blast off', my tail is wagging more and more.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed so far.
Briefly, I'm doing as follows
In Dallas
Rodeo, Shooting, Botanical Gardens, Soda Shop (don't ask), outlet mall (not my choice), mini golf, carting, chilling
Amarillo stopover only, with Palo Duro Zip Line for good measure
Albert Turkey. Day trip by train to Santa Fe, National Nuclear Museum. Sandia Park Tramway,Madrid (from Wild Hogs)
Taos hot air ballooning
Colorado Springs Drving UP Pikes Peak, cycling DOWN Pikes Peak (well Mrs Cat & Snr Kitten are) & rafting
Denver water park and car racing

We'll find smaller things to fill some of the blanks, but we've got the foundations of the holiday laid out and (mostly) paid for.

Flying with AA/BA to gain some lovely jubbly airmiles. Plus MCE to Dallas.
Chevey Tahoe (or similar) paid for
all accomodation booked and nearly all paid for (prices have risen ny about 50% from when we booked)
Logans Steakhouse locations recorded en route
Map apps downloaded
Credit cards lined up

Happy, happy times just around the corner.

John259

Murphy_The_Cat wrote: »

Albert Turkey

Whether that was intentional or due to an auto-correct or speech recognition system, either way it made me smile. And if anyone's puzzled, look at the map of New Mexico to see where I-40 and I-25 cross each other.