Maiden Voyage + Moya = MOYAGE!!!!!
It all began with a big dream and a bigger desire to get out of New Mexico. Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t a bad place to live; there are fantastic sunsets and everything is within a thirty minute drive, but when you live in a Volkswagen Vanagon, the summer heat can get to you. After two years of working without a vacation, my significant other, Jeremy and I hit the road chasing cooler weather and new adventures.
We left Albuquerque on Monday, June 11th after we cashed our last paychecks from Turtle Mountain Brewing Company, one of the best breweries in the greater Albuquerque area. We headed north on I-25 to Santa Fe where I spent my last night in the state of New Mexico with my best friend Stephanie Alm. We had tacos and beer and sang show tunes until midnight. At nine the next morning we were on the road headed for our new life.
Highway 84 took us north through the Santa Fe and Carson National Forests where we said goodbye to the landscape we knew so well and don’t want to see again for awhile; after seeing the desert on fire last year, we couldn’t bear to see it again. As we journeyed, dust plateaus and tumbleweeds gave way for the lush green mountains of the San Juan forest. Mother Nature laid a beautiful blanket of road before us and we ran with it. Highway 84 came to a fork in Pagosa Springs Colorado and we turned west on Highway 160 toward Durango. The Rocky Mountains were nothing but breathtaking with their massive cliffs and lush valleys and water; I only suppose that it’s hilarious to watch two people from the desert when they see water.
We arrived in Durango around three in the afternoon, parked Moya to rest and started wandering downtown. As a snowboard enthusiast, I’ve been to Durango quite a few times but somehow it looked different when it wasn’t covered in snow.
After walking a few blocks and eyeing some menus of local restaurants, I was determined to find Steamworks Brewery. A U-turn and a few blocks back in the opposite direction I found our destination on Eighth just off of Main Street, which happened to be across the street from where we parked.
Taking up temporary residence at the bar we sank a few beers and noshed on a smoked salmon flatbread appetizer. The two I.P.A.s were a little too malty for Jeremy but the Colorado Kolsh was delightfully refreshing and smooth. Everything was great, although it was painful for Jeremy and me to pay full price for a beer since growing accustomed to paying a dollar a pint at TMBC when we worked there; nevertheless, we enjoyed our break.
We also met a very nice guy named Josh, or 3JVJ as his friends call him, who offered to let us stay at his place. With thanks, we declined because we wanted to stay at a campsite. A few miles out of the city limits we came to Hermosa where we veered off Highway 550 and followed mountain roads, as directed by the gas station attendant, and found free camping. We set up shop, cooked dinner, and enjoyed our night in the Rocky Mountains.
We awoke with a chill that was more than welcome; anything is better than being woken up at seven in the morning by the New Mexico sun in a puddle of sweat, especially when half of the puddle was made by someone else. No matter how much you may love someone, it still isn’t pleasant to wake up in their body juice. We made hash browns and oatmeal with dried fruit for breakfast and walked down the path to the forest map to decide whether or not we wanted to stay for a while. After a nice walk and some deliberation we decided to hightail it to Washington. We had just enough money to get us there so we packed up and headed out.
We left around ten in the morning and the Rocky Mountains that surround 550 were nothing less than glorious in the cool light of the morning. We knew Moya, our van, would have some trouble going up steep hills so we made sure to prepare for it before we left New Mexico.
As prepared as we were for the uphill battles, we really undershot our level of preparedness for the downhill coasters. We felt like we were in a soap box derby in San Francisco. The drive was terrifyingly breathtaking. Narrow roads, steep cliffs, and no guardrails combined with steep inclines makes for one hell of a ride in a VW that wants to go speeds she should never reach. We stopped for a photo opportunity and to fill up on gas in Silverton Colorado, which again I’d been to before but still looked different to me without snow.
More twisted mountain roads took us further into the Rockies and to our lunch destination, Ouray Brewing. One of the regulars from TMBC, Chris Ksanznak, told us we had to stop and have a beer there and we are glad we did! I had a wonderfully smooth red that had hints of caramel and Jeremy had another IPA which was again too malty but still good. The best part about this bar, besides the open air, rooftop patio is the swings at the bar. Yes, you read that correctly; there were wooden swings that hung from industrial-sized cables, like the ones on ski lifts. It was the coolest thing we had ever seen and the other couple at the bar agreed. Forgetting what a change in altitude can do to sobriety caused us to walk around the town for awhile before we could get back on the road. To save some money we had a picnic in Moya instead of paying for food and then got back on the road. The plan was to make it to Highline Lake and spend the night and then try to make it through Utah in a day. Moya had different plans. Read the rest of this entry »
