Day Eleven

I woke up early and although I was tempted to just keep sleeping, I wasn't going to have a chance for another Pagosa Springs run anytime soon, so I roused myself out of bed and went for a run along the river and in town. Then Dan and I packed and checked out.

We went to the grocery store, since that's always a necessity by about this point on a vacation, and then we stopped by Dan's new favorite breakfast spot so we could get strong coffee and talk to the ex-roadie again. Then we were out, headed east.











Going east from Pagosa Springs was new for us, and the mountain scenery and frequent towns made for a pleasant trip. It took most of the day to reach Trinidad, where we stopped for a bite to eat at the rest stop outside of town. We had been heating our leftover penne from the night before in foil on the dashboard so we could have a good meal, and Audrey...well, she was content to nibble the grass in front of an interesting rock on the premises. Look closely...











We later came across a sign that said "No Pets on Grass" and we had to give Audrey a little talking to. We could've been fined!

From Trinidad is a short distance to Raton, where we got a cabin at a place south of town where I once stayed for an outdoorswoman event.











Audrey thought it was a fine place to stay.




















Within half an hour we saw antelope and mule deer, and as the sun went down, jackrabbits came out and a storm started to move in.











That was when disaster struck, or at least a major frustration. Dan hadn't been hungry at dinner and laid down afterward. Within an hour he was complaining of feeling ill, like he might be getting a kidney stone. He wanted to go back to Raton and stay the night there.

It was a choice that made no sense to me. We were already unpacked and settled in. It was late, and there was no place in Raton to get a prescription called in before morning, if the pain got worse. Why uproot ourselves and spend three times the money on lodging just to be four miles closer to a doctor or a drugstore in the morning?

But Dan was antsy and nothing would do but that we go into town, so that's what we did. We're now set up in the Holiday Inn, which I'll admit is quite nice - a big improvement over when we stayed here a few years ago.

Still, I miss my cabin. I spent years wanting to return. I was going to run the dirt roads at sunrise and watch the deer and rabbits, and instead I'll have to get on a treadmill and watch the news.

If Dan isn't better in the morning, we'll have to head home so he can see a doctor in network. What we would pay for out of network would eat up our down payment on the house. So hopefully whatever is wrong will be better soon.