Christmas 2016 Highlights

I broke my promise of writing this post last week, but better late than never. Work was extremely busy last week so I didn't have much time to do other things. Here are a few highlights from our nine day trip to California over Christmas break. We drove from Albuquerque to California and then back.

Drive - Part 1

The drive from Albuquerque to San Diego is roughly 12 hours so we broke it up into two days. We traveled to Tucson on Christmas Eve and then on to San Diego on Christmas Day.

Attempt at a Nativity Scene photo with the pups in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. This was the best they could do!

Tips for Road Tripping with your Dogs

My two poodle mixes have now completed two road trips. Last May, our road trip took us from New Mexico to Arizona, Utah and Colorado. More recently, I took a road trip from Albuquerque to Los Angeles with the pups in tow. Here are some things that I have learned along the way: 

Roadtrippin' 2015: Ouray, Colorado and heading back home

Our final stop on our 10-day road trip was Ouray, Colorado. Raisin Bread visited Ouray once before and has raved about it since. It was sort of on the way back to Albuquerque, so we decided to make a stop here.

As we made our way into the mountains, it was obvious that the weather gods were not on our side.

Ouray likes to call itself the "Switzerland of America." Unfortunately, for me, I think Colorado hates me. I have visited Colorado three times, and each time, the weather has either been awful or I got sick. This time was no different. The weather was terrible pretty much the entire time we were there.

The temperatures hovered around the 40s for the entire weekend and it rained off and on the whole time. Since our main interest in being there was to go hiking, the weather put a damper on those plans. We even considered just going back to Albuquerque but we would not have gotten any money back on our lodging, so we decided to stay.

After making the drive from Moab, which took 3.5 hours, we were at a loss on what to do. We took a dip in the hot tub and then took a nap.

Carson napping

We also walked around Main Street as much as we could, visiting the shops.

Grey, rainy and cloudy Ouray

We did, however, have a fantastic dinner at The Outlaw. It is an great steak and seafood restaurant, decked out in old saloon fashion.

On top of that, they have a live piano player by the bar. Bonus points!

Raisin Bread had a huge slab of prime rib.

While I had the surf and turf - filet mignon and a king crab leb. The steak outside of the steak was a little too overdone for me, but the crab was amazing!

The next morning, the weather looked like it was going to hold up for a couple of hours so we completed the Ouray Perimeter Trail, which basically goes around the entire perimeter of the town.

A word of warning if you decide to do this hike, the trail is not marked well at all. We lost some time trying to figure out which way we were supposed to go and back tracking when we made a wrong turn.

Although the weather still could have been better, the scenery was beautiful. I love all of the colorful trees.

The trail was very muddy because of all of the rain and the pups got so dirty! We even had to carry them in about three spots because the mud was so deep.

Towards the end of our hike, we arrived at Cascades Falls. Reaching a waterfall always makes me feel like the hike was worth it.

In total, we did over 5 miles along the Perimeter Trail. We headed back to the hotel and it started raining pretty hard. We had to give the doggies baths because they were covered in mud and soaking wet. 

Finally, we were able to head out for some lunch. We decided on Maggie's Kitchen for some big juicy burgers. 

After lunch, I walked around town for a bit and picked up another ice cream cone before heading back to the hotel for a quick nap.

Our last night of our road trip was met by an unfortunate dinner. We dined at Bon Ton, where I was served the worst lasagna I have ever had. What a disappointing end to our fun road trip. 

The next morning we were back on the road with our destination being home. The mountains were still covered in clouds and rain.

Hello, New Mexico!

Our last and final stop on our roadtrip was Serious Texas Bar-B-Q in Bloomfield, New Mexico. I had a yummy brisket sandwich, which filled me up quickly. 

Well, that concludes our road trip! I love experiencing all of the things that our country has to offer and oftentimes, the best way to see all of the interesting small towns and sights is to hop in your car and drive!

Roadtrippin' 2015: Canyon de Chelly and Canyonlands Needles District

We reached the midpoint of our road trip. This day we drove from Holbrook to Moab, Utah. It was by far the longest day of our entire trip. We lost a lot of time during our drive for some reason and wound up at our destination much much later than planned.

At least we had some beautiful weather and scenery to enjoy!

We decided, at the last minute, to make a detour to Canyon de Chelly National Monument, since it was right on our route.

We didn't want to lose too much time, so we decided to just drive to Spider Rock, which is the main highlight of the park, and enjoy some of the vistas.

There was short walk around the Spider Rock overlook, which we took. Spider Rock is a 750 foot sandstone spire and is quite a sight to behold. 

Spider Rock in Canyon de Chelly

Carson even wanted a closer look and hopped onto the ledge to take in the great view.

After that detour, it was back on the road. The highway that we were on was lined with amazing landscapes and geological features. This part of the drive was much more interesting than some of the other days.

Once we reached Utah, our plan was to stop in the Needles section of Canyonlands National Park since we would be passing by the turnoff that leads to this section of the park. 

Canyonlands has two sections that are completely separate and actually very far from one another. It is not possible to visit both sections in the same day because of all of the driving that would be required. Even getting to the Needles section is quite a trek, it is located another 30 miles after you turn off onto the access road. 

At that point, we knew we would be in for a long afternoon! The road leading up to the entrance station was gorgeous. We could not believe that we had not reached the inside of the park yet. There was already so much to see. 

Once we entered the park, we drove along to road and took in the views. 

The Needles in the distance

The road took us to the Big Spring Canyon Overlook and then to Elephant Hill.

Wooden Shoe

Canyonlands is well-known for its hiking and 4 x 4 trails. Much of the park is not accessible otherwise. Also, dogs are not allowed on the trails, so we were stuck doing a driving tour on the main park roads, which do not require a 4 x 4 vehicle.

At the end of our day, we decided to do the Cave Spring Trail and left the pups in the car since it was cool enough by then. The trail is also only 0.6 miles, so I felt okay leaving them for a short period. 

The trail starts off by leading you past a historic cowboy camp. 

Followed by a wall decorated in prehistoric petroglyphs.

Then the fun part, you have to climb two wooden ladders to access the rest of the trail. 

After which, you are treated to some stunning views. 

We rounded our way back to the end of the loop and were met by this furry guy. 

Then it was back to the car and another one and a half hour drive to Moab proper. As we were driving, we came across this arch along the road. I can't recall the name of it though. 

We finally reached our cottage and headed out for a late dinner at Devran's Mediterranean. Raisin Bread and I were both so hungry that we ate about two baskets of pita bread and shared the haydari appetizer (yogurt with walnuts, dill and mint). 

For my entree, I had the honey-marinated lamb chops. 

It was a long but satisfying day. We still had to run to the grocery store before we headed back to the cottage for the night. Can you say exhausted?


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