A brief vacation

For 12 years or more I’ve made the drive up to Lubbock to see Joshua Carpenter during his spring break. A journey made more imperative due to his absorption in video games. In the past we would hit the road to New Mexico to dig for minerals, sled down sand hills and hike in snow at 11,000 feet. Time was not on my side as I only had 4 days available to see him. Good enough to disconnect him from the Xbox. This week he was in the doghouse as usual with his mom Andrea so it took a certain amount of cajoling to get her to agree to take him overnight to Raton where we were to meet up with Rob Graham whom I’ve known for 31 years; having met at the Univ. of Texas in 1979.

The drive consumed 6 hours, leaving a couple of hours to find a suitable hiking site. This was a bust, even after crossing over the mountains to Colorado. It seemed every bit of land was off limits. In the end we resigned ourselves to exploring a parcel of open woodland behind a hotel only to retreat when coming upon a transient camp. Rob arrived later at the Best Western with the news that Sugarite State Park was outside the city; the only direction we didn’t take. While Josh was enthralled with the boob tube Rob and I ventured out for a spot of beer only to find one bar open on this St. Patrick's Day. A noisy atmosphere with a band and a couple of beers. This is the hotspot of Raton. Seems like there's nothing else to do here except drink your life away.

In the morning we ventured out to make the most with what little time we had. At the visitor center we were greeted and given hiking advice by the park’s law enforcement officer; a female that paused between instructions to spit a wad of saliva into her dip bottle. Whatever works!

With ice still on the fringes of the lake this area at 5000ft was still in the throes winter dormancy. Josh brought his unicycle and was as adept on the snowy, icy trail as he was on asphalt. My 10 year old Catahoula/boxer mix felt like a puppy again; bounding in the snow and sniffing throughout the dead grass for traces of rodents. An hour later we parted way as Rob returned to his home in Grand Junction.

Joshua's dyed his hair red in deference to his cousin Tristan who is a hemophiliac.