Climbing a volcano

Yesterday we made our way towards Colorado. We were in New Mexico and was able to see their beautiful mountain range. It was so peaceful and relaxing. Here is a picture of one of the mountains. It's really hard to see the depth and magnitude of these formations.

Then we saw a sign for the Capulin Volcano. So Dave was like, "hey lets check it out." So we turned off to main road and drove to the top. When we first approached the volcano you could smell the fresh air and the cedar. The smell was like walking into the wood department of Home Depot. It was rich and earthy.

Here is the the volcano in the distance.

This is on the way to the top looking out.

In this picture you can see the Rockies in the background. They are faint, but you can see them. It was awesome to be able to see them from on top of the volcano. It was so clear too.

This was the trail we hiked around the top of the volcano. Most of it was steep. We had to stop several times to catch our breath.

The plant life along the trail.

You can see where we parked in the bottom left. The Rockies are in the back and the crater is in the far right corner.

This is what the volcano looks from the trail. We walked around the whole thing. In the middle is the crater.

Me.... :)

Dave.... :)

This was another volcano. Yup.... another one.

A closer view

Here is the sign for the volcano above.

Here is another view of the volcano from a cliff that jetted out a little.

These were ladybugs.... a ton of them.

Here is another angle of the crater and volcano ridge line.

Then we left and continued our journey to Colorado. Then we really got to see the Rockies. When we first saw these, we were amazed. It was so beautiful. Pictures don't do it justice..... really.

This was what we viewed the whole way through New Mexico and Colorado. It was breathtaking. 

Once we got checked into our hotel, we set out to find dinner and a barber. We went to the mall and Dave got a hair cut. Then we went to west side of Colorado Springs and walked the town.

We found a place to eat that served chicken and waffles. So we had to try them..... and they were good. 

Then we headed back to the hotel and rested. 

The next day made our way to Casper, Wyoming.

Amarillo by evening (or not)...

Well, yesterday started out pretty good. We got the car packed and left by 7:30.

As we drive out of town we stopped in Centerville at a local smokehouse called Woodys. We loaded the car up with beef jerky and hit the road again. With our car full of gas and belly full of meat we made our way to Dallas.  We made a pit stop in Corrsicana at the Collin Street Bakery for some cookies.

We made it to Dallas and got to see an old friend. It had been for over 4 years since we had seen each other and it was great meeting up. 

Then we were off.  We stopped in Decatur for lunch at a place called Sweetie Pies Ribeyes. It was really good. It was located on the town square and across the street from it was city hall. Here's a picture of the building. 

Then we continued on our way to Amarillo. We were about two hours away when I started looking for a hotel to stay in. After deciding on one I called the 1-800 number and booked it. They gave me my confirmation number and we proceeded to find the hotel. 

After we got into town we checked in to the hotel..... at least we thought we would be able to. I gave the girl at the desk my name and she couldn't find me in the system. She asked when I booked the room and I said two hours ago. "Well, we've been closed on booking since 2 pm. I have no more rooms available." she said. "Well I have a confirmation number. Would that help?" I replied. "We can try it" she said. 

So she looks up the number and still no record of us. "Sorry" she said. "I can't help you. You need to call them back and sort it out." After spending 20 minutes on hold, their customer service department finally answered. After talking to them, he too can't find a record of us. So we had no room. Upset about what just happened, we got in the car and left. We decided to drive to the next town and see if they had anything rooms available. 

Well, as we are driving to the next town (which is literally out in the middle of nowhere), we didn't check to see if we had enough gas to get us there (you can guess where this is going). So we are driving along trying to cool down from the situation, enjoying the scenic views and just driving without a care.

Well.........when we did look down at the gas gauge we only had 10 miles left until we were literally out of gas.

Empty.

Bone dry.

Pushing the car kind of empty.

So we started calculating where we were and how far away the next town was. We started thinking we might be sleeping in our car that night.

Turns out we barely made it to the next town, which turned out to be about 4 blocks long.

So we are frantically looking around trying to see if there was any gas stations. There were grain silos on the left and fields full of crops on the right. 

THEN there it was....... a 24 hour gas station. So we were able to fill up.

Phew!!!!!!

That was a close one.

So we filled up with gas and headed back on the road again. As we drove away I captured this sunset.

We finally made it to another town and found a motel to stay in. Turns out they too were almost full.

So if you ever stay in the panhandle of Texas, make sure to book a room before you go. Apparently they are full every weekend.

Sailing in the Bay

Have you ever made a bucket list? Well, in January I turn 30. I have slowly started making that list of things I want to do and places I want to see.

A couple of weeks ago some friends asked us to go sailing with them. My girlfriend said that she found this really interesting Groupon. It was a sunset cruise out into the Gulf. We left around 6 p.m. and came back around 9 p.m.

It was so much fun! When we got on, we had a few instructions on what to do, but then we were off. After we got out in the bay, we were able to drive the boat. There were 3 couples on the boat. So the 6 of us set sail.

After we got about 2 miles off the coast, we were able to move around the boat freely. So while the other couple, Brian, decided to drive the boat my girlfriend, Jane, and I took pictures. Here are some of the pictures I took.


(names have been changed for privacy)

Here is the boat that we went out on, and her captain.

I love this picture. I love the natural sun flare and reflection in the water.

Here is the other couple that went with us, Brian and Sarah. 

This is looking back towards the boardwalk and bridge that goes over the bay.

This was at sunset. The sun was setting over the bridge.

This was on the boat looking at the moon, between the two sails.

Here is my handsome hubby. 

I took this one on the back of the boat, as I was taking over to drive. This looks out into the Gulf.

This one my friend, Jane, took of me driving the boat. It was a lot harder than you think.

I love how you can see the sun rays. I was trying to so hard to capture them. 

Here's another of the moon coming out behind the sail.

Here is the boardwalk. You hardly ever get to see it from this side (the ocean). Normally we see it when we cross the bridge or on the land side. It's neat that you get to see the roller coaster on the left with the drop tower, the farris wheel, and the needle.

Brian and Sarah enjoying the ride. 

Here is Brian teaching Jane how to steer the boat. 

Here is another picture of Brian, Jane, and Sarah. He's telling her to find a fixed point to steer towards.

Here is Brian and his wife, relaxing on the boat.

Here are a few pictures that Jane took of our trip.

I hope you enjoyed looking at my pictures. We all had a wonderful time and I would HIGHLY recommend it. If you have a place near you that you can rent a sail boat and have someone take you out, I would go. We were able to eat dinner too while out there. It was so relaxing. We even saw a dolphin swim next to us.