A Whole Lotta Blinkin' Goin' On

We left Raton for Durango at about 8:30 Sunday morning but planned several stops and side trips along the way. We were curious to see how long the actual drive would take - Dad said 8 hours but Google Maps said 5 1/2. Normally, I trust Dad's travel instincts but Google Maps seemed so sure... Anyway, we drove to Taos, did some shopping and ate lunch, and then took a side trip through a scenic drive. We came at a perfect time -- the temperature during the day has been about 60 (colder in the upper elevations) with a very light breeze and almost no clouds. The aspens are a brilliant gold and look so beautiful against the dark pines and spruces. We have seen at least 100 antelope and almost that many deer and even passed a coyote trotting along the road. We stopped at a pottery shop high up in the mountains and took a tour; Mom bought a coffee mug and I wish I had bought one, too. We realized we had made too many stops, though, when it became apparent that we were not going to make it to Durango before dark (Dad-1, Google Maps-0).


Greg took this with my zoom lens

As I said, we had seen lots of antelope in New Mexico and were seeing more and more deer as we neared Colorado. This became a problem as we were driving that last leg from Pagosa Springs to Durango. Just before Pagosa Springs, we passed a car that had struck a deer. The deer was dead and the car didn't look much better; the entire front end was crushed. I was driving with Greg riding shotgun so we were both trying to watch the sides of the road. In Pagosa Springs, we saw an approaching car stop and a car in front of us stopped, as well. I tried to see what had happened and we realized that at least three deer had darted into the road. It was so dark that we could barely see them as they ran between the headlights. Ten minutes later, as we were leaving Pagosa Springs, a deer ran right at our car. Greg saw it just as I did and I hit the brakes and pulled off on the shoulder. The deer turned and missed us by what seemed like 6 inches. I thought the driver behind me had hit it but he managed to miss it, too. After the second close call, I felt like crawling the rest of the way. We noticed an oncoming car blinking his brights. Greg asked if I had my brights on and I said no but then a second car flashed his brights. Mom said that she thought they were trying to alert us to something so I slowed down to look and, sure enough, there was a deer standing on the road on my side. I stopped and he moved and we went on. As the next car approached us, the driver behind me blinked his lights at them. We decided that this was a friendly service expected while driving in the area. [This inspired Mom to name tonight's blog - notice that I am not the only one in my family who enjoys a bad pun.]

Our financial arrangement is that Mom and I are splitting gas, food, and lodging and Greg is paying for anything special he wants to do. For now, Mom is paying for the hotel room each night and I am paying for everything else. On the last day, we add up our expenses and whoever has paid less will pay the other to make things even. We stopped to eat in Taos and had the following conversation:
Mom: Oh no, I left my purse in the car.
Me: Do you need it? I'll be paying.
Mom: Oh that's right. I can't get used to you paying for everything.
Greg: Don't worry, Grandmom - it gets easier.
[He should know]

We have already taken close to 100 photos. I'll pick out a couple to put on each day. Here's a couple from our drive yesterday (I took the one of Greg and Greg took the one of the aspens and the river)