I lost my pants in Texas -Part 2

We decided to stop, walk around the park a little and dip in the water and relax for a while. It was wonderful to get out of the car and rest for a few hours. It was a great combination of hot and cold water that was built out by the local people and it was free to use for everyone. There were multiple pools built with the rocks from the river. Some of the pools were warmer where the spring came in and it got cooler as we got more into the river and the hot spring got mixed with the river water. The water felt wonderful and the environment was beautiful. We had some wonderful conversations with people who were local to the area and some who were just visiting. It was a nice break from driving. If we could have, we definitely would have stayed longer.

After our relaxing hot spring adventure, it was time to get back on the road. We drove a few more hours and by this time, we ate a lot of our snacks and it was getting to be later afternoon. We were getting hungry and wanted a nice, cooked meal and another break. We were close to our next state destination and soon we crossed the Snake River into Idaho. We had relied on our phones and signs on the road to find places to eat and rest.

We found a wonderful place to have dinner with an amazing view of the canyon below. After dinner, we walked around a little to stretch our legs, in the path next to the restaurant by the snake river. We saw a poster about a waterfall close by and decided to go and see it. We just found out about the waterfall being close to us in the last minute and hurried up to make it there before it got dark. We literally just got there in time, dusk was already settling in. After we spent a few minutes admiring the view and we saw the beautiful waterfall it was getting pretty dark, so we decided it was time to hit the road again. I think seeing some beautiful places on the way helped us keep our sanity. It was nice to see the waterfall and have a nice meal before getting in the car to continue and drive again. I think those moments kept our motivation and sanity.

Driving in the dark was a better experience when we had the moon helping us. We were lucky in a way that many nights we had a full moon or close to a full moon giving us some help to see the road. In rural America it can get quite dark.

One night when we got to Utah the rain was coming down really heavy, it was dark and around 11pm. We both decided we were exhausted and could not keep going anymore. We found a hotel close by and spent the night. We woke up the next day to the most beautiful scenery that I had seen. We were surrounded by snowy mountains. I remember that both of us were glued to the beds. My son looked like a burrito covered with bedding. We did not want to get up yet knew we had to get on the road and keep going.

Colorado was also beautiful. There were lots of Mountains and roads that scared us in the middle of the night in the snow and freezing cold. We were not prepared for the cold and the snow in the middle of the night. It was one of the scariest moments of my life. We ended up in the top of the Colorado mountains in the middle of the night. It was dipping below 20 degrees Fahrenheit and we had no winter clothes, no place to stop. Visibility was almost zero. Luckily after a while we come across an area where there was light and a place to put the snow chains on. I had never put one of those things on before and I was sure glad that my son was with me. It took a little time, and it was cold out and we did not have gloves. We did not have a lot of choices but to keep going. Luckily, we were doing OK on gas. We stopped every time and filled up just as the tank got to half. We did not want to be stranded anywhere.

New Mexico was a pretty quick part of our trip compared to other places. We just cut through the corner of the state before we ended up in Texas. It was certainly getting warmer and the scenery was changing. The climate is more dry.

Read the third and final part of the story here

GK — Edited by Erika Halloran

2/28/2021 — edited 4/1/2021

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You can find the story below in an audio file on my website: