Visiting Friends in Pueblo

Friday and Saturday, July 13 &14, 2012—Pueblo, Colorado

I arrived at David’s and Jim’s house at 11:30.  David was preparing sandwiches for us (sliced meats, sliced avocado, mustard, and lettuce) and used the multigrain bread that I brought.  We sat outside on their deck with the view of the mountains to eat them.

We spent the afternoon at their home visiting.  Then in the evening we went to the nearby Pueblo Raptor and Nature Center for dinner.  There is a restaurant called the Coyote Grill facing the Arkansas River.  We sat in a covered outside area facing the river with a singer performing nearby—nice songs at a level that allowed us to enjoy them but to still be able to talk.  I wasn’t very hungry.  I just had chicken tortilla soup which was delicious.  After dinner, we walked down the river through the nature center and back to the car.  We had dessert back at home.

Saturday morning after having cereal for breakfast, we headed to La Junta.  On the way there, we had a detour in Fowler which we could see was related to a parade that was about to start.  We parked the car and walked to Main Street and joined the crowds.  Settlers came to the area from Missouri, so the celebration, which included a carnival, an all-school reunion, etc., is called Missouri Days.  The parade was interesting—lots of old cars, Shriners, politicians, church groups, a bagpipe band, etc.  Lots of candy was being thrown to the kids.  And while we watched, we were given free bottles of cold water to drink and frozen tubes of flavored ice to eat.  

When the parade ended, we continued toward La Junta.  Our goal was to see Bent's Old Fort.  It is a fantastic place to visit.  It is an adobe complex built on the north side of the Arkansas River after the Louisiana Purchase, because that river was the new border between the U.S. and Mexico.  It was a privately built fort for the purpose of commerce between the Americans and the Native Americans in the area.  At the start of the Mexican War in 1946 when the US had admitted Texas as a state, U.S. soldiers came there, too.  Anyway, the building has been restored to exact specifications which had been noted on paper.  Each room is furnished with unbelievable amounts of authentic items that would have been there in the 1800s—barrels of gunpowder and rifle pellets in one area, shop goods in a store, a saloon with a pool table and bar, living quarters, etc.  I was just amazed at the authenticity of it all. 

We ate a late lunch/early dinner back in Pueblo West at a Mexican restaurant.  I had a pork burrito with green chile and avocado which was spicy and good. 

In the early evening, we drove into Pueblo to see the Union Ave. Historic District, a restored area between the train station and downtown where all the buildings have been filled with shops, restaurants, and bars.  We also walked along the Pueblo Riverwalk, a portion of the Arkansas River in the downtown area that they have made to be similar to the one in San Antonio.  It’s about the same width and has a couple of restaurants along it.  There are Venetian-style gondolas for rides as well as flat-bottomed boats like in San Antonio.  It looked nice and was attracting people.

In the evening, we just had a glass of wine and ate dessert—pastry covered with ice cream and strawberries.  It was a perfect way to end the day.