Upon departing Grand Junction, we had managed to convince Onyx to come with us. It proved to be an excellent decision. Because she is rad, and because she can drive like a badass down pot-hole ridden dirt roads in the mountains, and for many other reasons, including her ability to pound vodka with the best of them.
The next 2 weeks (and the two weeks after that) we did absolutely no working on any farms, and devoted ourselves to beer and fun. Which ended up being quite expensive, but well worth it. Stop 1: hotsprings on a secluded mountain near Steamboat. Only good can come from that.
The cabin at Strawberry Springs. Rented by the lovely Billy Mills, and Micah and Genevieve Davis. They spoiled us and let us in on this secret place in the mountains. For freeeeeee
Yup. Epic. And against the rules. Only 4 people allowed in this cabin. We fit 6. No biggie. They didn't find out and ream us out until the next day.
We drank a lot that night. This was only the beginning.
This is the hotsprings the next day. No pictures were taken the night before. And for good reason.
We decided to hike up a mountain for good measure. And to try and see moose. There were none.
None of us had any phone reception for the day and a half we were at Strawberry Springs. This posed a problem considering Bekah was flying into Denver that evening. She was not happy. She was convinced we were murdered.
Denver yo.
Ring power. Also known as the power of cheap margaritas. And all of these rings were promptly lost. Except the Tella Tubby, which is still in Heather's purse, and has no arms.
The margarita sexy stare. El Cuerpo.
Golden...I think. Bekah is definitely surfing a fish in the rain.
...and molesting a small boy. This is why we love her.
Moscow Mules with Aunt Melissa!
Family dinner. Which became a tattoo party, compliments of Melissa's geniousness.
Uncle Ken and Finnegan. We were not allowed to pet or touch Fin, cause he'd "bite the shit out of you."
You see that death stare? Pure evil.
Joe Jr.! Everyone was covered by the end.
Art.
Art balls.
Celebratory beers, margaritas, and burritos after a hard couple hours at the Contemporary Art Museum!
Pure unadulterated sister love!
The Denver fam hiking up mountains and shit
Rebekah discovering Fall leaves at the Celestial Seasonings factory
Getting ready for our tour. Very serious stuff.
Another tour! We found out Avery Brewing Company was only a few miles away in Boulder. It turns out Avery is super tiny and in a strip mall. I guess San Diego is like 1/3 of all their business. Yay SD beer drinkers! Keep on keeping on!
Heather drinking her mini beer very majestically
It is absolutely necessary to do the beer dance.
Bounced from Denver, to the Garden of the Gods. Ninjas live here.
I told ya. Ninjas.
Pretty gorgeous. And cold. Very cold.
Apparently some guy famous for taking amazing pictures here, died here because he got struck by lightening (if my memory serves me correctly). We were on the look-out for any sketch clouds that could possibly strike us dead.
Actually we were mostly thinking about the beer and warmth that our lovely van would soon provide us!
Heather. Bahahaha!
Giant Jenga, in a very small townie bar in a very small town.
The lovely lady that hosted us in said tiny town. She fed us vodka, then pizza at 3am.
Van life.
Terrifying road. On top of the world! Onyx's hometown in Colorado.
Marble Brewery in Santa Fe, NM.
Still Marble Brewery. We ended up spending a lot of time up on that balcony. Observing the adorable hoity toity town and people below!
Lots of beer!
Albuquerque, NM. Grungy as fuck compared to Santa Fe. But awesome and cheap! And full of strippers!
Onyx's last night with us. We are mourning.
One of said strippers.
Alley.
Walter White's house. We were not the only creepers there taking photos.
Free camping on BLM land in the middle of the New Mexico desert. We had to find the spot in the middle of the night, and we ended up in what looked like a deserted town, with some sign about a prison, and a creepy ass cemetery. We eventually found the spot. But not only was it the coldest night of the entire trip, we woke up to this hanging around 20 ft from the van. Yup.
The "deserted town" ended up being an old army base originally built to fight off American Indians. After they "neutralized the threat", it became a plethora of other things, including, until recently, a state prison. Now it's a museum. Oh, and I guess it was a hospital at one point and 1,500 people died in one year due to influenza. Can you say ghosts?
I see one.
The cemetery. This place is literally in the middle of nowhere.
Civilization! Kind of. Roswell, NM. Turns out the UFO didn't even crash here. The landing site is about 70 miles away.
One of the best van-made meals of the trip. Fishies! And perfectly cooked veggies. Top if off with a beer at a local park equipped with a mini zoo and a mini train. Perfection? I think so. (Except for all the bees and homeless people. But that's just local color.)
Aaaaand we arrive in Texas. Unfortunately. They wanted to charge an arm and a leg to let us into their cave. So we decided to walk around on the "scenic" trails instead. And drink beer. Illigally! Ha! And Devon managed to step on a huge red ant hill. Her ninja-like reflexes saved her foot. But the shoe was lost...
Trying to break into the cave
We are the Ballerinas of the (free portion of the) Cave!
