Day 4 - Amarillo By (Evening) - Sorry, George Strait!

After spending the night at the Econolodge in Pueblo (NOT RECOMMENDED!), we get up and go to Cracker Barrel for breakfast.  We had planned to drive to Amarillo to stay for a couple nights in the Texas Panhandle.  Tammy had wanted to go for a walk along the Pueblo riverwalk but the boys did not seem too interested, so we decided to drive on to Texas for what we thought was going to be a 5-hour drive (it's a good thing we did).  The drive south through Colorado was beautiful with the Rocky Mountains always on the horizon to the west.  We even got a good look at Pike's Peak along the way.  Then you cross into New Mexico for a while and you head through the famous Raton Pass as you're heading toward Texas.  As we were coming down and almost out of the Raton Pass, there was a lot of road construction.  We were just about to reach the exit where we were to change roads when we hit a huge pothole.  Wham!  And we punctured a tire. 

This was NOT GOOD!

Our little Mazda 3 that we were driving had these low-profile tires which do not give much when you hit a pothole on the interstate.  So we take the next exit which was only .7 miles away and we pull off into a service station.  We call Enterprise to inform them of our dilemma but they were going to be no help as the closest place they could help us was 90 miles away.  It is near lunchtime on Saturday of the 4th of July weekend.  Most of the nearby Tire Dealers were closed.  And those that were open, many did not have the 18" tire that we were needing.  We were stressing!  So, the boys and I put on the spare (which was a life lesson for them as I had never done that with them before)

We were thinking we were going to have to drive several hundred miles on that spare when we had one more idea.  There was a nearby tire store called Cunnico Tire there in Raton.  We had called them before but no answer.  So, we decided to just drive by there just to see if anyone was there.  As luck would have it, it was a little three-man shop and they were open for another 20 minutes.  I ask if they have the size tire that we need and they did not have the exact tire, but one that would work!  Thank goodness!

The boys and I outside the tire store that "bailed us out"

So we gladly purchase a tire (which Enterprise will reimburse us for) and go to a nearby Pizza place for lunch.  Crisis averted.  We then head on to Texas bound for Amarillo.  And yes, I made Tate the DJ play George Strait's classic song, "Amarillo by Morning". We had booked an Air BnB in Amarillo and we got there around 5:00.  Tammy had to get a walk in, so we found a local park and she walked and the boys got some long toss throwing in at the same time.  After a long and stressful day, we rested well that night.

Day 3 - Head for the Rockies

On Friday, we leave Denver and head west to go take in some of the sights in the Rocky Mountains.  We did not have a whole lot of time to see some of the best places so I decided to go to Red Rocks and then make the hour-long drive to Mount Evans and drive on the highest paved road in North America knowing we could enjoy some beautiful scenery on the way.  We were not disappointed.  Red Rocks and the famous Red Rocks Amphitheater were impressive.  The huge Red Rock formations were beautiful to see and almost made us feel like we were on another planet.

The view of Denver from Red Rocks

Trey and Tate at the appropriately named Red Rocks

The famous Amphitheater where many famous acts have performed since the 1930s

Mount Evans is one of the Rockies' "14ers" which rises to 14,000 feet above sea level, so we got to see some marvelous views.

It is about 14 miles of continuous winding roads to get to the peak of Mount Evans.  It even rises above the tree line and the views as well as the fact that there are no guard rails on the sides of the road are breathtaking!

A view of the road - "No guardrails!"

A lake view on the way up.

Tammy and I at the top!

Trey and Tate at the summit.

We even saw some Mountain Goats (That is orange paint on the little one - not sure how it got on there)

So, after our time in the Mountains, we had to head South toward Texas.  We drive a few hours and get a room in Pueblo, Colorado for the night.  Little did we know what fun times we were going to have on Saturday!