It’s been a long time since I’ve written a blog and not because I haven’t had time. This being number 42 its starting to feel a lot like hard work, but I still want to keep it up so here goes…
If I recall we last left the blog back in Mexico where after a brief stop in the charming colonial city of San Miguel de Allende we headed out at 5am and drove 900km to the Mexico/USA border at Laredo. We were done with Mexico and planned to drive all the way to Denver, Colorado as soon as we could to start a new chapter in our trip. We would be picking up ten week old Golden Retriever puppy. At the border we anticipated our arrival in the USA so much that we paid a toll and left Mexico without realising and without getting our passport exit stamps or our car deposit back. So we had to turn around in no mans land and re-enter Mexico to get that sorted. Of course we then had to pay the toll again to be able to leave for the second time! At the US entry I was worried our car wouldn’t get through but after a friendly chat with the border protection officer’s and the only comment from our car search being that we had a bit of an oil leak just like that we were in the USA and back on the road once more. With many miles ahead of us we pushed on through San Antonio stopping only because we ran out of gas… Then finally after 1,280km and 17 hours we had made it to Austin, Texas. Plain worn out we stopped for dinner at the first place we found which turned out to be Burger King and camped for free in their car park. It was a relief after 10 months to be able to talk to people in English but alternatively I could have talked to them in Spanish as all the staff there were Mexican and spoke to each other in Español.
Austin seemed to be a lively chic city filled with good food and boutique stores not to mention the western wear, Will couldn’t help himself and found a well known store, Allens Boots where he brought a pair of cowboy boots. The couple of epic driving days that followed took us nearly the length of Texas state. Mile upon mile of cattle grazed country dotted with grain mills and oil wells filled the windscreen. The Lone Star state lived up to its reputation; the trucks were big the food was big and the people were big too. It was nearly overwhelming as we soaked up the rapid change in culture that we has become accustomed to since the beginning of the trip.
The Dodge was running well (helped along buy the amazingly cheap gas prices at $2.80 per gallon) and before we knew it we had crossed into Colorado. One of our first stops was at a Colorado Welcome Center where two old ladies loaded us up with dozens of brochures and maps of the state. Later in the day while cruising along the interstate at 80mph Will spotted a giant Cabelas outdoor store so executing a quick exit we went in for a mandatory look. After passing through the big city of Denver and continuing North for about an hour we arrived at Lee Ann and Davids; the owners and breeders of Hunters Goldstrike Golden’s. Here we met our new two month old golden pup who we had already decided to call ‘Scout’. Lee Ann and David had offered to have us stay for a few days so we set up camp in their backyard for the next four nights. We had Scout sleeping in the car with us from day one and back then he fit in easily.
Each crisp morning we woke to an endless blue sky then mucked about with David, Scout, their twenty other breeding dogs and whoever else stopped by to say hello! Will was in golden retriever heaven and it was fascinating to see how they operated their immaculate kennel. More than one morning we were also treated to a good country style breakfast of hash browns, their own eggs and extra crispy bacon just the way Rochelle likes it. Another morning Will and David took off to fix our ever troublesome exhaust, a few hours later and they had a shiny new hot-rod muffler on the Dodge… we no longer scare babies and give old people heart attacks when we start the truck; perfect. We can’t recall how many fun hours we spent talking about all the differences between New Zealand and America. Everybody enjoyed hearing about New Zealand and delighted in the fact that there were so many American things we didn’t know about or foods we hadn't tasted.
We especially enjoyed Lee Ann's cousin Larry who came over twice and had us shooting hunting bow and arrows and even a .50cal black powder rifle came out for a few shots. We had a heap of fun and Larry must have liked us as well because he soon offered us the keys to his hunting cabin up in the Rocky Mountains. With an offer like that on the table we fitted a little cardboard box for Scout on the front seat and took him for a couple of slow test drives around the area. Fortunately he took to the truck straight away and so we waived good bye to David and Lee Ann and made our way out to Larry's cabin.
Will and I were quickly falling in love with Colorado; the crisp frosty mornings, blue sky's, the mountains, the trees, the rivers and the cleanness of it all but we only knew half of it at this stage…
Rochelle & Will
Will and I were quickly falling in love with Colorado; the crisp frosty mornings, blue sky's, the mountains, the trees, the rivers and the cleanness of it all but we only knew half of it at this stage…
Rochelle & Will