Don't mess with her!!!!
Shona and I are setting off on the original Santa Fe Trail. We will be heading East while most "Conestoga's" will be going West. Should mean no traffic and good travel time!
Santa Fe wraps up the final item on the "to do" list and it is with a bit of trepidation on Shona's part that we return home. Her last memory of Maine was this:
I assured her it should be better and it was with a heavy heart that we say:
But in only a brief 2500 more miles she would be able to do this once again:
She was onboard with the plan and we were off!!
We were literally and physically retracing the original Santa Fe Trail in reverse. It was in 1821 that Captain Becknell laid the route through the Raton Pass. This route cut hundreds of miles off the Colorado inland and down route to Santa Fe. It was later that it was further refined and became a toll road for west-bound wagons. Toll was $1.50 and Richard Wootton became a very wealthy man!! At an elevation of 7500 feet it is notorious for early and heavy snow. Today would be just a pretty drive through the Pass. We then would travel into Colorado and outside Colorado Springs hit one of the worst thunderstorms I have ever witnessed. Located at the southern end of the Rocky Mountains, the intensity and close proximity of the lightning was terrifying!!
We were literally and physically retracing the original Santa Fe Trail in reverse. It was in 1821 that Captain Becknell laid the route through the Raton Pass. This route cut hundreds of miles off the Colorado inland and down route to Santa Fe. It was later that it was further refined and became a toll road for west-bound wagons. Toll was $1.50 and Richard Wootton became a very wealthy man!! At an elevation of 7500 feet it is notorious for early and heavy snow. Today would be just a pretty drive through the Pass. We then would travel into Colorado and outside Colorado Springs hit one of the worst thunderstorms I have ever witnessed. Located at the southern end of the Rocky Mountains, the intensity and close proximity of the lightning was terrifying!!
After a 400 mile travel day we were ready to chill for the night. We were in Limon, CO and spent the night in our first KOA since leaving in April. Adequate but definitely not the nicest place. Much of the eastern Colorado plateau is constructing huge wind farms and this campsite was filled with long term contractors doing the installations. It was just a quick overnight and we would be off by daybreak!