Day 1 – Here’s where the fun begins!

June 28th: the day our family embarked upon what felt like an endless road trip to Colorful Colorado. Well, it only felt like a million miles. In reality, it was a 795-mile, 12-hour & 40-minute road trip, crossing through 3 states. Of course, Texas, the Sunshine State (New Mexico), and finally to arrive into Colorado.

OUR DAY AT A GLANCE

Jump to a section!

1. Departure from Texas
2. Stops Along The Way
3. Sights and Views
4. Arrival in Colorado

Departing at around 11:30 AM, it was estimated that we would arrive at 12 o’clock! Let me explain… We originally planned to depart between 7-8 AM and were preparing for our trip from a week or two before. My father and I booked all our hotels and park passes and tickets and whatnot, but packing our bags and all our items into our car took just a little longer than we thought.

Once we were packed up, we headed off, hitting the road to start our long drive. However, it wasn’t a long drive. Let’s just say it was a really really long drive from there. Looking at the remaining drive time, it felt that we might never get close to Colorado, but driving through Liberty Hill and the hill country was pleasant and familiar. Spotting marketplaces, restaurants, and other typical city buildings, we were enjoying the “endless” ride.

On this “voyage”, we took a total of 4 stops along the way, but hilariously all of them were in Texas! I will describe each of the 4 stops here:

Stop #1 – Lampasas, TX – HEB: Taking a quick stop in Lampasas, TX, we relaxed and refueled in HEB. Once we exited the suburb, things didn’t get any more interesting from there. For miles and miles, you could only see lengthy patches of empty, grassy fields, except for occasional farmlands. Nearby local towns along the way would excite us since we could see different parts of Texas and unique rural buildings.

Stop #2 – Merkel, TX – Allsups: Nature’s call! For a quick restroom break, we stopped at an Allsups gas station in Merkel, TX. My dad refueled the car and my mom, my sister, and I went inside to use the restroom and check out the shop. We didn’t stick around too long though. Our hotel in Colorado was still a whopping 9 hours away! Back on the highway we go!

Stop #3 – Amarillo, TX – CEFCO: 4 BORING HOURS LATER… Gas was running out and so was the fuel of our bodies: FOOD! Even though we had a couple snacks in the car, it was really time to have dinner. Pulling over at CEFCO in Amarillo, TX, once again my father refueled the car and after everyone was done using the restroom, washing their hands, and checking out the store inside, we went outside and found a picnic table conveniently located on the pavement opposite our car, which was at the pump. It felt so relaxing while eating the delicious food my mom had packed the night before we left. For dessert, my sister had brought a whole box of Pocky sticks, and she chose the strawberry pack to eat at that time. Washing our hands again and getting back into the car, it was time to drive another FIVE hours to Colorado.

Stop #4 – Texline: – Allsups/Valero: Needing to stop for gas one last time to ensure that we had enough to easily make it to Alamosa, Colorado, the city where our hotel was located, we stopped at Allsups/Valero in Texline, TX. I thought the name Texline is pretty cool because the city literally borders the state of New Mexico, which is technically the Texas Border Line, hence Tex-Line: Texline, TX. After refueling the car and refreshing ourselves, we drove off into the darkness, crossing the New Mexico border in less than 5 minutes. Google Maps gave us a greeting by saying “Welcome to New Mexico!”. The whole family cheered. We were so close to Colorado! Only 3 more hours to go!

One thing I love about road trips is the views. Just look out the window and you might spot something cool. I had so many things to take pictures of! It’ll take a couple pages to describe the sights we saw, and like they say, a picture is worth a thousand words! So here’s a slideshow of sights and views on the way to Colorado:

Once Google Maps said, “Welcome to Colorado!”, the environment inside our car changed. What was a sleepy and bored family turned into a family ready to jump out of the car, excited to arrive! Only 40 more minutes. That might seem short but for us, being in the car all day, any extra minute felt like an extra hour, especially because it was almost midnight. My dad and I were in the front, and I don’t know how hard it was for my dad to drive so late at night being so tired because I kept on dozing off and coming back awake every 5-10 minutes.

Time passed, and the clock ticked on. 20 minutes. 10 minutes. 5 minutes. 3 minutes. 2 minutes. THE FINAL MINUTE. No sound was sweeter at that time than the sweet sound of Google Maps going “You have arrived. Your destination is on the right.”! The endless drive finally ended. From 11:00 AM to 12:37 AM: 13 hours and 37 minutes, we finally made it to Colourful Colorado!

When I got out of the car with my dad to get our check-in into our hotel and get our card, I noticed the temperature change and the cool night air of Alamosa, CO. I think we may have ruined somebody’s sleep because we didn’t notice the bell on the door, so my dad had to call the hotel, waking up the front desk clerk. He came out like a zombie waking up from his sleep and let us inside. A few more minutes and we had the card to our room. Grabbing our bags and taking my mom and sister inside with us, we climbed up the stairs into our room.

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