Road Trip: May 20 - June 20, 2025

How time flies.

It’s been a year since I’ve posted anything on this blog.

I’ve taken a couple of fun road trips this past year, and started writing about them, but never finished and never posted. So, let’s begin with Road Trip #1 of 2025.

West of Cheyenne WY on I-80

May 20 – June 20, 2025 (32 days) | 3,463 miles

The scattered rain and chilly morning felt refreshing as I crossed into Wyoming, but only briefly. The winds soon arrived. I’ve never been to Wyoming when it hasn’t been windy. Does it ever stop?

Zipping along I-80 while gusts clocked in around 30 mph, I practically blew through Rock Springs and Laramie before landing in Cheyenne for my first overnight stop. 

Bella 

I had ambitious plans: The Cheyenne Botanical Gardens, the State Capitol Building, Curt Gowdy State Park, and of course, finding some good BBQ, but the wind and rain thwarted everything. I stayed holed up in my hotel room instead, watching TV and eating my entire stash of road trip snacks for dinner.

The next morning, I dropped down into Colorado and stopped to stretch my legs at PoudreTrail in Greeley. It was a pretty place for birdwatching, except for a suspicious-looking guy hanging around. I kept my knife handy, stayed close to the parking lot, and made it a very short nature walk.

Bella! 

I finally arrived at my best friend Christy’s house and went straight in for a hug with her dog. Priorities. I adore that little fluff ball. I hadn’t seen Bella (or Christy) since January 2024, when I dog-sat while Christy went on a cruise. Of course, that’s when Colorado had some of its worst weather with temperatures plunging into the negative. There’s nothing like bundling up a tiny dog to take outside to poop while an arctic blast freezes us both in mid step. I felt so bad for taking her out in such horrific conditions, that I figured she could poop on Christy's carpet, and I'd clean it up later. But being the good girl that she is, she never did.

A Royal Evening with Dr. Hawass and Christy

Anyway... Christy and I had tickets for a lecture the following evening to hear Dr. Zahi Hawass speak, a big name in Egyptian archaeology, and often touted as a “real-life Indiana Jones”. We were thrilled, but sadly, our Royal Evening with the renowned Dr. Hawass was less than royal.

Our tickets were a painful $239 each. The “upgrade” got us maybe five rows closer, but we could’ve seen and heard just fine from the cheap seats. He flipped through his PowerPoint photos so quick that I missed half of them, and the images I did see, I had no idea what they were of because he was either talking too fast (in his heavy Egyptian accent that I had trouble understanding) or wasn’t taking the time to explain them at all.

The book signing afterward was chaotic, and the books themselves were pricey. Neither of us bought any books, but we stood in line anyway just to meet him. Except, he wasn’t doing a meet-and-greet. Just signing. There was a preshow VIP meet-and-greet lasting between 30-45 minutes, but those tickets were about $795 each!

Riding the carousel at the Denver Zoo

The line moved speedy-quick and when it was our turn, we were swiftly ushered behind Dr. Hawass for a photo (taken with my cellphone) while he continued signing books for the couple who had gone before us. Not once did he look up to say hello or even acknowledge us. I kept waiting, but nope. The photos were taken before I realized what was happening, resulting in a series of blurry images where I’m looking everywhere except at the camera. #ugh.

Day 4 of my road trip started with a visit to the Denver Zoo with Christy. Somewhere along our 4+ mile walk through the zoo, we rode a carousel. I’ve ridden carousels before, but not in years. Probably not since I was a kid but riding one was on my 56 x 57 list – 56 things I wanted to do before my 57^th birthday. I was able to get that activity checked off. Thanks Christy!

The next morning, I said goodbye to my friend and pointed my truck south on I-83, but I didn’t get very far.

Castlewood Canyon
State Park

Less than a ½ hour after leaving Christy's house, I pulled into Castlewood Canyon State Park in Franktown, a spontaneous stop that turned out to be a highlight. The park protects more than 2,000 acres of Colorado’s Black Forest region with elevations ranging from 6,200 to 6,600 feet.

I wasn’t dressed for hiking, but it didn’t stop me from wandering. I took a short walk along the East Canyon Trail and then along a paved path. About 100 bird species have been recorded in the park, and while I didn’t see that many, I was able to check off two new birds in my bird book - a Pygmy Nuthatch, and a Plumbeous Vireo.

Castlewood delayed my original plan to visit Garden of the Gods, but I headed there next anyway. I arrived about 1 pm and immediately regretted it. The place was packed. My weather app claimed it was only 73 degrees, but it felt much hotter. I decided Garden of the Gods deserved a better visit with me in a better mood, so I kept driving.

That night I stayed in a less than luxurious Super 8 motel in Trinidad near Colorado’s southern border. I fell asleep fully expecting my truck to be stolen or broken into during the night, but the next morning, she was still there, as was all my stuff that I'd crammed inside of her.

Maxwell NWR, New Mexico

I was back on the road by 7:20 am, heading further south, but with no real destination in mind. About an hour later, I made another impromptu stop at Maxwell National Wildlife Refuge in Maxwell, New Mexico. I added another new bird to my list – a Lark Bunting – along with sightings of Horned Larks, Eastern Kingbirds, and a Northern Mockingbird, which I’d seen only once before.

By lunchtime, I was craving Mexican food. In Las Vegas, NM, I searched and searched, but most places were closed as it was Sunday of Memorial Day weekend or looked sketchy enough that I wasn’t willing to risk food poisoning (or perhaps a kidnapping by a cartel). I finally settled on a small, local diner where it was immediately clear I was an outsider.

Two Swallows Tattoo

People who arrived after me were served first. My club sandwich came out minus the fries, which they’d apparently run out of and had to make a new batch, but other plates had fries, so who knows? The food was mediocre, and the service sucked. Nearly everyone who worked there or who came in to eat, looked like parolees, and after working law enforcement for 26 ½ years, that made me a bit uncomfortable. I paid the bill, ate quickly, although I had a long wait before my fries finally arrived, and headed back to my truck, once again expecting it to be gone.

I usually seek out mom-and-pop diners when I travel, preferring to support local establishments over fast-food chains, but in hindsight, McDonalds might have been the better choice.

Originally, I planned to head west to Santa Fe to check out the art scene, then down to Alburquerque for more sightseeing, and then eventually to Bosque del Apache NWR for more birdwatching, but I had a calling. A calling to turn southeast and head towards Roswell. 

I’d passed through this part of New Mexico during the pandemic, but never actually made it as far as Roswell. Everything was closed back then, including the International UFO Museum and Research Center. This time though, it was open.

The International UFO Museum and Research Center, Roswell, NM

Believe in aliens and UFOs or not, the museum is worth a stop. If you’re skeptical, take time to read through the volumes of witness accounts about the 1947 “weather balloon” crash and stories of alien abductions. You might still leave unconvinced, or you might start looking at the sky a little differently like I did (and still do).

My tattoo

After the museum, I wandered through the town in 80+ degree heat, buying postcards and souvenirs, but there was one souvenir I wanted, and had been wanting for a few years. One that was a little more permanent.

I had a design in mind when I walked into Two Swallows Tattoo, but after flipping through their flash art, I chose something completely different. Jessie, my tattoo artist, has been an artist her whole life, but tattooing for only about five years. I couldn’t be happier with her work.

And yes – I got a UFO tattoo in Roswell, a town famous for a UFO crash. Does anyone else find that as amusing as me? If that’s not a better souvenir than a refrigerator magnet (although I bought one of those too), I don’t know what is. I still laugh every time I look at it, and I suppose a return trip to Roswell to attend Alien Con is inevitable, if not just to get another tattoo.

From Roswell, the miles started stacking up. I spent a night in Alamogordo, NM then crossed into Arizona for lunch in Tombstone at the Longhorn Restaurant. It was 101 degrees, far too hot for a walkabout in the desert. The Courthouse Museum was about all I could manage.

Next stop: Tucson, where I stayed two nights at My Place Hotel – a great base for exploring Saguaro National Park. I’d never seen saguaro cacti in bloom before, and it was stunning (see photos below). Even better, I added two new birds to my list: a White-winged Dove and a Pyrrhuloxia, a gray toned cardinal found only in the Chihuahuan and Sonoran deserts.

Mom

On Day 10 of my road trip, I arrived in San Diego, where I quietly celebrated my mom’s 80^th birthday. We visited La Jolla Cove, Santee Lakes, Balboa Park, and a few other touristy areas that neither of us had been to in a while. She even tried sushi for the first time. She didn’t like it though. What was to be a short visit with my mom turned into nearly three weeks before I finally began my journey home.

Traveling is my jam. 

I’m always grateful for the miles, the detours, the exciting sights along the way, even for the wind and rain, because they add to the story of my life, a story that only a road trip can deliver. 

Probably not the best story to come out of this trip, however, was after I got home, I accidentally deleted about 200 of my photos before I’d uploaded them! #ugh!

To see more of my photos visit me on Instagram or visit my Facebook page. And, as always, thank you for sharing in my journey. 

A White-winged Dove on a Saguaro

Saguaro cactus in bloom

Northern Mockingbird, Maxwell NWR, New Mexico