Journey to Denver for Christmas

We departed Smithville, TX on Wednesday December 18th for a roadtrip to Thornton, Colorado to visit the Teague Clan for the holidays. From Smithville to their home is a 14 hour drive, so we planned on three days to get there.

Day one we departed around 9:30 AM and headed northwest through Austin towards the Panhandle region of Texas. We chose highways less traveled and passed through some small rural towns and villages arriving in Childress, TX for the night. The Panhandle is a narrow, straight region in the northernmost part of Texas. It's part of the same grassland that extends from the Great Plains of the Central United States. The Panhandle remains a top producer of fed beef, cotton and sorghum, as well as dairy, corn and wheat.

Thursday, December 19th we continued heading northwest to the the town of Texline near the corner of the Panhandle with Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma. We crossed into New Mexico and continued through the northeast corner to the town of Raton. We picked up Interstate 25, US 85 and started north into Colorado. through Trinidad and ultimately Pueblo, Colorado for the second night.

Pueblo is a city of 111,000 people and is located about 4,692 feet above sea level. The Historic Arkansas Riverwalk is an urban development, with boat rides, public art, restaurants and events. The project commemorates the river’s original location before it was diverted in the wake of a 1921 flood. El Pueblo History Museum has a recreated 1840s trading post and artifacts tracing the city’s past. To the west, Lake Pueblo State Park is a popular fishing, boating and camping spot. Pueblo has always been a major part of Colorado history. At Pueblo’s start it was just a small fort; however, it was instrumental in bringing the railroad to Colorado.

We visited the Riverwalk area of the city to enjoy a short walk along the water then enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Angelo's before returning to the Hampton Inn for the night.

The Riverwalk decorated for the Holidays

Friday morning after breakfast at the hotel we departed for Erik's home in Thornton, CO by way of a circuitous route up through the Rocky Mountains. We drove past Colorado Springs and headed west to Woodland Park, CO just 7 miles from the Continental Divide at 8,481 feet of elevation. From there we headed up CO67 to a remote region near Deckers, an unincorporated community along the South Platte River in Douglas County, Colorado. We had to use 4-wheel drive to navigate the dirt road covered with ice up the 15% grade where we discovered the Sprucewood Inn along the way to Sedalia, CO for a quick lunch.

This was a unique inn remotely located in the mountains above the Denver Metro area with some colorful characters who like the remoteness of the region away from the busy city life. The inn is frequented by bikers and fishermen alike.

We finally arrived at the kids' place around 4:30 PM after inadvertently transiting through downtown Denver during rush hour on a Friday! Well, that was a mistake and definitely not a do-over.

Finally arrived to see the grandkids next to their Christmas tree.