Upon leaving Amarillo I felt excited for something new: a change in scenery! On the way out of town we decided to stop by the Palo Duro Canyon National Park. I hadn’t been there since I was 16, and I was glad to find it mostly unchanged. I would like to see the new “Rim view housing” knocked off the edge of the canyon rim, though. Or at least put up a painting that looks like the canyon directly in front of those people’s back porches. Honestly, it’s a national park. Go live somewhere else so that I can pretend you don’t exist.
A few hours later we were out of Texas and into New Mexico, granted only for a short stretch. We passed by Mt. Capulan, an extinct volcano. I had visited, even climbed down into the cone, when I was 16…again, this was a very old brain cell that was dusted off. I didn’t realize it would be on our route but it was a pleasant surprise to see it again. No time for a detour down memory lane though; onward and upward!
We drove into Denver around 6:00pm, dropped our belongings off at the Hampton Inn, and drove into the city to pick up our friend Deepak for dinner. Before we left his house we got to see his daughter, Violet, just before she went to bed. Such a cute little lady! We took Deepak to the Wynkoop Brewery in downtown Denver. While sitting by a window that faced the street I spotted an unusual sight. On the opposite street corner stood a man with a leashed goat and llama. You heard me. Llama. I practically ran outside to meet them. The llama’s name is Dolly, and her owner explained to the many bystanders that he parades her around downtown to raise awareness about the local farmsteads being run out of business by big oil companies. His flyer explained it all in detail, but honestly I was too enamored with Dolly to read it closely. Dolly is both good and bad for business it seems.
After dinner and brews we left Wynkoop for Sweet Action Ice Cream shop. Deepak definitely won for best flavor choice. He ordered salted butterscotch, I ordered Stranahan’s Whiskey with pecan brittle, and Steve ordered the White Russian. The Dude would be proud, honey. Then it was time to drop off Deepak and fo to bed with the lovely sleep aid that is black-out curtains.
Oh my goodness, the llama is definitely a pet I have not considered before, but now I totally want one! I'm going to have to check to see if there's an Austin Llama Rescue nearby....
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I just told some friends in class about the llama thing, and we spent like 5 minutes talking about the name and wondering why he named it Dolly. Then someone who had been listening to our conversation said "umm, I think it's because of the Dalai Lama." oh, that makes sense.... :)
ReplyDeleteHaha! You nailed it! She was super sweet and very soft and fluffy. Want! <3
ReplyDeleteI love this day---I didn't know Steve had a problem with Crack Barrel! Hahaha :) The llama story is so cute and alarming.
ReplyDeleteOh, and these photos are fantastic! Mom and I used to take trips up to that part of Texas almost every summer---it's so nostalgic to see this landscape :)