Travel log: Colorado and New Mexico high country

The U.S. Lower 48 offers the opportunity to experience a virtually endless variety of sites, sounds, tastes and smells.

Here are some highlights of a road trip my wife, Wendy, and I took last week to Colorado and New Mexico.

Saturday, Feb. 17:

We left the Holiday Inn Express in Topeka, Kan., early in the morning after a breakfast including the chain’s amazing cinnamon rolls (if you haven’t tried one, you need to; they’re the best). We drove past hundreds of giant windmills in a big wind farm next to I-70 in west-central Kansas and enjoyed the beauty of countless open spaces in “cowboy country.” After entering Colorado on the way to Colorado Springs, we passed several groups of unafraid antelope hanging out along the highway.

Upon reaching Colorado Springs and settling in at our little apartment in nearby Manitou Springs (found online via Airbnb), we went to dinner at Rudy’s Country Store and Barbecue. I don’t recall eating better brisket and turkey, and the rub and sauces – wow!

Sunday, Feb. 18:

We spent a couple of hours at Garden of the Gods, a free public park established in 1909 featuring numerous huge and incredible rock formations. The temperature was in the mid-60s and the colorfully stony scenery was unlike anything we had ever witnessed.

Next, we drove the famous Pike’s Peak Toll Road up Pike’s Peak, a 14,114-foot mountain that for centuries has been the main landmark of the Colorado Rockies “front range.” The highway goes to the top, but the lady working the fee station at the bottom said, “we can’t get you to the top because of hurricane-force winds, but we can get you to about 13,000 feet.”

We actually reached a roadblock at about 12,000 feet, but that was the highest elevation either of us had ever been to. The air was noticeably thin, and the wind was blowing at about 60 miles-per-hour. But the views from that height were amazing.

About half way up, we stopped next to the frozen waters of Crystal Creek Reservoir and I took photos of Wendy standing into the wind, with her hair blowing almost straight back from her head.

Breathing the thin air pretty much wiped us out, and we went to bed early. But not before enjoying dinner at the Mason Jar in Old Colorado City, a quaint and historic area of Colorado Springs (man, the sirloin was thick and tender).

Monday, Feb. 19:

After leaving Manitou Springs in the morning, we met up with some acquaintances for breakfast at the B Street Café in Pueblo. I had a B Street Omelette, which was drenched in the most perfect pepper sauce.

A couple of hours later, we crossed the state line into New Mexico and Raton Pass and then headed west toward Taos. At about the 8,000-foot level on U.S. 64 near Eagle Nest (west of Angel Fire), we stopped and photographed a huge herd of elk. There were more than 100 of them, grazing and moving around in a big meadow surrounded by mountains. Before reaching Taos, we encountered rain, snow and high winds, but safely made it to the cozy adobe abode awaiting our arrival (also found via Airbnb). The place was equipped with a fireplace, and we enjoyed a fireside dinner with our daughter, Roxanne (who lives in Taos), including a Mexican dish highlighted by red trout.

Tuesday, Feb. 20:

We woke up to about an inch of snow on the ground, which was interesting because Taos (elevation 6,969 feet) has had very spring-like weather for almost the entire winter. The day included a drive up to Taos Ski Valley, a world-famous ski area with a base elevation of about 9,300 feet. We sat for quite a while by a wonderful fireplace inside the restaurant at the Hotel St. Bernard.

We had dinner with our daughter that night at The Love Apple, a unique establishment in a former Catholic church building that was constructed in the 1800s and operated for more than 100 years. The menu says the emphasis is on “regional and organic home cooking.” The tamale I ordered has to be consumed to be believed. Unreal!

Wednesday, Feb. 21:

The three of us traveled about 65 miles south to Santa Fe.

“Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” host Guy Fieri has often said Santa Fe is his favorite city to eat in, and one of my goals for the trip was to seek out one of the places he has highlighted on the show. The idea was met with great success, as we had an awesome lunch at a little dive called the Tune-Up Café. Wendy ordered “pupusa,” which we had never heard of but are now big fans of. It’s basically corn flour pancakes stuffed with savory fillings like beef, cheese and peppers. I had a cubano sandwich (marinated pork loin, ham and swiss on a ciabatta roll), which was probably one of the top-10 sandwiches I’ve ever had.

Roxanne had told us about how Santa Fe has numerous consignment stores and we went to several of them. It’s pretty cool; we didn’t see a single flea market, but all the consignment stores offer lots and lots of really good used clothing, furniture and about anything else you can imagine.

That evening back in Taos, the three of us went to Taos Mesa Brewing for dinner and to hear The Deer, a band from Austin, Texas, that plays (as they say on their website) “Cosmic Americana, Psychotropic Folk, and Transcendental Texas Surf-Country.” The food and music were both outstanding. I couldn’t get enough of the soft tacos with pork, mole, ricotta and pineapple.

And we bought two of The Deer’s CDs.

Thursday, Feb. 22:

The lack of winter became a memory. We woke up to a big snowstorm that dumped about seven inches before it quit before about 11 a.m.

That afternoon, Wendy and I drove up into the high mountains again to the little town of Red River and went on a guided snowmobile trek. The big snowfall made the outing that afternoon about as good as it could have been.

Red River is at about 8,700 feet, and the trail we followed took us up to about 11,200 feet. Our guide, Josiah, had to use his machine as a snowplow on the way up because Red River had received about 20 inches of new snow over the past 24 to 36 hours.

A couple from Louisiana was in our group, and all four visitors rode their own snowmobiles. The scenery was like from a storybook (with aspen, fir and pine trees galore), and the super-dry snow flew around us like smoke.

Along the way, we passed a huge mule deer with a very large rack. After more than an hour of going up, we reached a big meadow where Josiah told us to zoom around on our own for a while before we went back down. When we got going fast enough, the machines would plane atop the deep snow, like a boat does on a lake.

Going back down was even more fun, because our five machines had packed a nice trail that made keeping your machine’s rails straight a whole lot easier.

That night, the three of us ate more fabulous food at the Guadalahara Grill in Taos (my chimichanga dish was awesome). Then, we wrapped up the big day at The Taos Inn, hanging out with Roxanne and a friend of hers and listening to Rudy Boy Jaramillo deliver up a neat, bluesy sound with his voice and electric guitar.

Friday, Feb. 23:

Before leaving the Taos area, we visited the Rio Grand Gorge.

The 650-foot deep canyon and the U.S. 64 bridge going over it were flanked by giant mountains, making for an incredible set of scenery. Several local Native Americans were setting up tables at the gorge park to sell their handmade wares. Wendy interacted with a woman for a while and bought a couple of unique pieces (including an odd-looking elk antler knife).

As we left, Wendy photographed a group of bighorn sheep lounging in the sunshine at one end of the bridge.

We made it into mid-Oklahoma, bedded down for the night in a motel, and made it home by Saturday afternoon.