$100 and I had a long weekend and we decided to head west.
We took off Thursday after work and headed to Salida. We had to hurry as the dog's favorite store, Gone To The Dogs, closes at 6PM. But we made it, and she was able to pick out some treats for the trip.
We successfully pulled off our first stealth camp in downtown Salida. Maybe three blocks from Benson's.
Hit Moonlight first. I overheard a gal who has been working there for years talking about her housing situation. She rents a room in Pueblo, two hours away, and stays there a few nights a week. The other nights she sleeps in her car in Salida. I'm waiting for the mountain town way of life to come crashing down any day now. If the nearest affordable housing is two hours away, you aren't going to be able to have restaurants and bars for very long.
After that it was more of our favorites - Tres Litros and Benson's.
Up early the next morning to hit the road. Highway 50 is currently closed a little bit before Montrose, so we took the back way around Black Canyon into Hotchkiss and over to Delta. Beautiful drive. Even found a brewery in Delta, Stoik Brewing.
We hit Fruita for a late lunch at Hot Tomato and then headed out to Rabbit Valley. It was a scorcher all weekend - temps in the mid 90s. It's always hot out there, but as it's been a chilly and rainy spring in COS we were not ready. Especially the dog. So one of us stayed with her all weekend at the van, with the other out riding or running.
I had a nice run down to the river and back through a canyon on Saturday morning, then $100 took the bike out. Hung out for a bit, then headed out to 18 Road for a while. Got in some good riding there on Saturday evening and found a nice place to camp. On Sunday morning the dog and I got in a good hour hike before $100 and I started to tag team. I ran for an hour, then she biked for an hour, then I biked for an hour, and she rode again. Then we headed in to Copper Club Brewing for some tasty 18 Road IPA.
After some beers, we drove over to the James M. Robb state park so $100 could get some fishing in. She caught two fish! Which brought her total number of fish ever caught to three.
At this point it had been a while since either of us had seen a shower. Luckily we had a reservation at the Monument RV resort. RV parks aren't my thing but the shower was worth it. Had a few brews while chatting with our neighbors and then we turned in.