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Telluride’s 33rd Annual Hot Air Balloon Festival
Guys, if you haven’t been to Telluride, CO, then things need to change. ASAP. By no means have I been everywhere, but I have been a few places! I’ve never seen forests as beautiful as Oregon’s, and I’ve never seen a mountain town more majestic than Telluride! The town of Telluride is nestled in a box canyon surrounded by tall white-capped mountains. The mountainsides are covered in aspen and evergreens, and a rushing river flows through the middle of town (no big deal). It’s pretty much Valhalla, except real…and on Earth. Most people have heard about Telluride in relation to the Telluride Film Festival, but not everybody knows that Telluride is home…
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The Ultimate Guide to Visiting Oregon’s Sea Lion Cave!
The Oregon Coast (which is another one of the 7 Wonders of Oregon!) is such a beautiful and entertaining road trip! We probably only drove down a third of it, but we made countless stops along the way! The last stop we made on the Coast was at Florence’s Sea Lion Cave! (Click here to see all my posts on the beautiful Oregon Coast!) Directions: The caves are very easy to find. They are located north of Florence on Highway 101, between Florence and Heceta Head Lighthouse. Parking is across the street from the entrance. Tips: Find out how many sea lions are in the cave before you go. Visit their…
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New Mexico Roadside Attraction: Albuquerque’s Rattlesnake
Imagine with me, if you will, that you are visiting a foreign city. As you visit all the “it” places that are “must-see’s”, you think to yourself, “Man, I sure would like to see something random and off the beaten path!” Friends, if this is you, and if you are in Albuquerque, NM, than I have just the thing! Now let’s not get all excited before I give you a little info. Our rattlesnake friend (we’ll call him Timmy) lives on a median of a deserted road in the middle of a random area of town – an area that my friend who was a local assured me was the…
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Hiking the Misery Ridge Trail at Smith Rock State Park
My sister (who is one of my all-time favorite traveling companions!) and I went on an EPIC trip to Oregon last summer. We flew into Portland and traveled approximately 540 miles on a road trip across the state! During our time there we got to see 4 of the 7 “Wonders of Oregon”. Smith Rock is one of those Wonders. Smith Rock State Park is located about 35 miles north of Bend. It offers miles of hiking and mountain biking, as well as some pretty intense rock climbing! While there were several trails for us to choose from, we decided to hike Misery Ridge Trail! It was a steep hike but…
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Ruidoso’s Grindstone Lake & Trails
Ahhhh Ruidoso. Its mountains don’t compare to the Rockies of Colorado, and its forests don’t hold a candle to the Pacific Northwest, but there’s just something really fun and special about this little mountain town. I know that kind of reads like, “It’s mountains suck and its forests are lame”, but truly, Ruidoso is a cool travel destination, and is very beautiful. (For more ideas on what to do in Ruidoso, check out my other posts!) I’d been to Ruidoso many times before I finally went to see what Grindstone Lake was all about. My aunt actually showed it to me for the first time, but as it was January and snow was…
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Noisy Water Wine Tasting in Ruidoso, NM
Having lived in Carlsbad for most of our prison sentence here in southeast NM, Ruidoso has been our go-to spot for day trips and weekend get-a-ways! It’s a super cute town and has beautiful mountains and woods all around! Out of all the cool things you can do there, I have to suggest going to the Noisy Water Winery located on Sudderth St. in the middle of all the shops! (Visiting Ruidoso? Check out my other posts for ideas on what to do!) So here’s the deal with Noisy Water: Wine tasting is $5, and it includes samples from 3 different wines of your choice. Once you are finished with your…
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Top 10 Things To Do in Carlsbad, NM…besides the Caverns!
You wouldn’t believe how far and long people will travel to see the Carlsbad Caverns. In my waitressing days in Carlsbad I would meet people from British Columbia, France, England, and a plethora of states who were passing through just for the Caverns. It always made me wonder what they thought of the area, because I personally always thought it looked like a flat nuclear wasteland. I’ll hand it to the Caverns…they are very impressive. It’s not until you visit other caverns in the country that you appreciate the magnitude and vastness of what you find in Carlsbad. However, once you spent the day at the caverns, the question then becomes,…
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New Mexico Roadside Attractions: The Roadrunner
For all you people out there who think that the stretch on I-10 through west Texas and southern New Mexico is the most soul-sucking drive known to man…I agree with you! The terrain in New Mexico doesn’t get even remotely interesting until you travel off the Interstate…40 or 10! However, if you are stuck driving this deserted interstate, might as well stop for one of its roadside attractions! So for those of you who like the weird and the quirky, this post is for you! (Like Roadside Attractions?? Click here for others in New Mexico!) This little guy perches atop a hill overlooking Las Cruces, NM. (I would like to think of…
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Telluride’s Best SECRET spot!
Guys, I’m not even gonna lie to y’all…this place is the closest I’ve ever been to having my own “The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music” meadow. What makes a place beautiful? Mountains? Trees? Meadows? Wildflowers? Majestic Views? A Woodland Stream? Check, check, check, check, double check, and check. All it’s really missing is a waterfall and a couple of unicorns. Ok, I don’t wanna oversell it, so I’m just gonna go ahead and tell you how to get there. Disclaimer: You will want to take this ride in a car that can handle rough roads. The footpath that we found was not fenced off, it didn’t have posted private…
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Tips for Hiking Cloudcroft’s Mexican Trestle Trail
Cloudcroft, NM is my favorite spot in Southern New Mexico. It’s a small but beautiful getaway in the middle of a desert that stretches for hundreds of miles! At 9000 ft elevation, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between Cloudcroft and some places in Colorado – which is why everyone around here loves it! Cloudcroft is not a big town by any means, but it has a small list of historic, must-see spots. Today’s post is dedicated to one of them! The Mexican Trestle is one of Cloudcroft’s most iconic landmarks. Seriously, just google Cloudcroft NM and look at images…I promise you will see more than one pic of the…
