July 22, 2020
Thought on waking up: Let’s get going, I miss my family
Thought on going to sleep: Ahh a soft comfy bed
Craving: Pizza – Craving satisfied!
The way back home
Today’s goal was simple. Get home safely and soon. We would need a few stops along the way for food and fuel and we lose an hour due to the time zone change. 12 driving hours plus all those bonus hours would make for a long day and a challenge to get home before midnight.
We packed our camp. With our new lower altitude and forest canopy over the campsite our gear was dry on waking up. This was a far cry from our conditions on the hike which were usually cold and wet, and a welcome gift for achieving a lower altitude. Dry gear is definitely welcome on the last day. Its never fun to have to pack wet tents and sleeping bags and have to pull them back out at home. Other than a quick dusting they will be ready to repack and be held at the ready for the next backpacking trip.
The last thing we did before hopping in the truck was to give thanks and pray for safe passage home. With the last of the packing done, prayer service out of the way, we did a final camp scrub. It paid off, I found a tent stake that I had lost. We loaded up the truck and were on our way. On the mind was home and pizza. On the way out we saw a pizzeria in Pagosa Springs Mountain Pizza and Taproom. This sounded as good as any and they had a nice large outdoor patio. In this pandemic age of social distancing this would be a good and safe place to hang out.
One of their unique features is a self-serve wall full of taps that you can select and pour your own beer from. They give you a bracelet that activates the wall and you can pour any many and as much as you like. They keep your tab at the register. This was a great way to sample a variety of local beers. I settled on a favorite. Three Barrel Brewing Company Burnt Toast. It is an outstanding beer. I love me some burnt toast. After we left, we went to the local bottle shop where I promptly sold them out of the 2 six-packs of this tasty concoction they had on hand.
Back in Kansas
With lunch down we commenced the long drive. We poor time because the 2 lane highway was full of trucks and RV’s, but we saved by getting exceptional fuel economy heading down range for most of Colorado. We filled up and crossed back in to Kansas and arrived in Dodge City about 9:30 that evening. We started looking for our food options. Not much was open other than fast food. Out of the corner of our eye we spied a Taco Truck. Several members of the group spoke Spanish and so we went there and got hooked up with a 5 taco platter. Each taco with a separate meat. Precocious and combustible with the roasted Serrano chili’s on the side, this gave us all the fire we needed to make it the rest of the way home.
The pizza, liquor store run and taco truck took a bit longer than I’d have liked but I finally dropped the guys off around 12:30 and got back home around 1 am. Everyone was sleeping. My oldest daughter was on the couch waiting my return but woke up when she heard me come through the door. I found that incredibly thoughtful and an awfully sweet gesture on her part. We have hiked the Flint Hills Nature Trail together so she understands what true foot tired is like. I didn’t want to get too close being a smelly hiker who hasn’t showered in 8 days so I promptly went down the hall to visit my wife and my youngest???
I missed her so, but dare not wake a sleeping baby. Snuggles and Kisses will have to wait till tomorrow.
I quickly showered and crawled safely in to our soft bed where my wife was waiting. Happily I closed my eyes with my arms around her. This was a good trip.
