the turquoise trail

{colorado} I crossed the state line into Colorado and continued a short drive into the state to Pagosa Springs for the night.  I was amazed by how quickly the landscape changed from adobe homes in the sandy desert to log cabins in the lush mountains!  The change in landscape and change in elevation brought with it a rather drastic change in temperature; the night was rather brisk and my first time experiencing single digits in quite a while.   Welcome to Colorado! Pagosa Springs is a hot springs and skiing resort-style town.  It has a very nice little downtown, a few hot springs and all the typical tourist amenities.  I spent my night at the local Walmart, then went into town the next morning for church.  I joined Mark and Sara & their three kids for a Mexican mothers day lunch afterwards, then they took me for a scenic Sunday drive.  We wound our way through the mountains to the east of Pagosa Springs, finding a waterfall and a few scenic ...

{texas cont'd} With mixed emotions, it was time to say my goodbyes in Houston and continue on with my trip.  I spent Friday night in Katy with Caitlyn & her family, where we stayed up wayyy too late sewing and chatting!  The next morning we all went out for brunch at a local cafe.  Through the course of conversation I mentioned that if Caitlyn wasn't up to anything she should just come to San Antonio with me.. so she did!  We went back to her place to quickly get her packed, then hit the road! We got into San Antonio mid-afternoon and went directly to the riverwalk to explore that area.  It's very quaint with lots of pretty little details; it was a busy day along the river but we enjoyed the sights regardless.  After a bit of a walk around, we decided to do the river cruise, which was a narrated half-hour ride along the canals. San Antonio Riverwalk Caitlyn made arrangements to meet some friends of hers for dinner, so after our river cruise we...

Week 1: My favourite part.. Getting to see old friends! Total miles.. 607 Day 1: Lynden, ON to Oshawa, ON 102 miles   It's finally starting to feel real!! I said my goodbyes and left home at 9:30 this morning... Stomach full of butterflies and a huge grin plastered on my face. From Hamilton I headed into Toronto to meet my roommate from college for lunch. I just barely got seated in the restaurant when the torrential downpour started. We had a delicious lunch and had much to get caught up on; by the time we finished up the rain had cleared! Impeccable timing if I do say so myself. I still had a bit of time, so we went for a walk along the harbour front before I headed out for my cousins place in Oshawa. In my wisdom I thought I would avoid the highway, but that backfired on me in the form of closed roads and plenty of traffic. It took me a solid hour to get myself out of that mess, but I finally arrived in Oshawa shortly before 6. Enjoyed a wonderful evening with the...

{Sunday October 12th} I got up around 8:30a this morning to a lovely view of the river. I had a shower, and then enjoyed a cup of tea looking over the water in a stellar leather armchair.  Shortly, it was time to get ready and get packed up again. We went downstairs to load the car (without dropping any keys) and met Maeve around 10:30a.  From Chris's apartment, it was a short drive over to Pearl and Tommy's where we met for church this morning. We had a lovely meeting, and met a man who had travelled well across Canada as a country singer in his youth.  We stayed at Pearl and Tommy's for a delicious roast lamb dinner, complete with all the fixings. It was awesome to have some lamb!   We spent the afternoon with them and Maeve, and then headed out shortly before 4p to go to a gospel meeting about an hour south of Belfast, on our way to Dublin.  We got as far as the motorway (barely 1km), before I knew something was wrong. I pulled over to the sid...

{Saturday, October 11th} Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge We got up at 7:30a again this morning to get ready for the day. We had yogurt and oatmeal for breakfast at the hostel, before continuing along the Causeway Coastal Route.  Our first stop was at the Carrick-a-Rede Ripe bridge. It didn't open until 9:30a, so we waited for about 20 minutes before we were able to go in. Once we got our tickets, it was a 1km walk to the bridge. It was the first time we paid full price for tickets! We walked along the cliffs edge over to the entry of the rope bridge. It's quite high, and the rope bridge sways and jumps as you cross it, high above the sea.  Once we crossed, there was a small island we could walk around.   Carnlough From there, we continued following the coastal route around the north-east corner of Northern Ireland. We passed through several small villages, and for most of the time we were driving right on the coast.  We stopped in Carnlough for...