Article Index "The Story Of GoatWorld (Part V)" Article Index

Welcome To GoatWorld.Com From Missouri to Colorado isn't exactly an overnight trip when you're rolling a three ring circus down the highway, but once we headed north out of Boise City, OK and saw that Welcome to Colorado sign, we knew we were almost home. Of course the pelting rain just before we got into Colorado should have been an omen or blessing, depending how you look at it!

For the entire trip, we had driven highway 160 all the way through. We arrived in Springfield, CO and saw that from there, 160 again headed west. Heck, the guy at the gas station told us it was a good road and it should only take a few hours to get to Trinidad. Yeah right. Maybe if the wind is at our tail and not coming in from the west. It was all we could do for the next few hours to manage driving much above 30 miles per hour! A terrible headwind blew the entire way.

Slowly but surely we arrived at Walsenburg, CO at the base of La Veta Pass. Funny how I had dreaded the pass and had kept thinking the whole trip of steep mountain grades and snow. For my truck and trailer it turned out to be a breeze. For my wife in the U-Haul on the other hand, it was a slow climb and frayed nerves. But she made it and I was there waiting for her on the other side, frequently hailing truckers on my CB radio; "hey driver, you see a U-Haul chugging up the mountain?" They'd reply, "Sure do good buddy. She ain't exactly on fire but the way that U-Haul is smokin', it might not be long." So I waited and finally there she was in my rear view mirror, lip curled, clenched fist raised at me in disgust.

Just a few hours later, we rolled into Monte Vista and the San Luis Valley. A quaint little place where out in the middle of nowhere means "out in the middle of nowhere" and there was a goatmom eagerly beckoning to her new found kids and full time goat-farmhand. It didn't take me more than 5 minutes to know why she needed help...the goats had pretty much overrun the place and needed to be fenced in. Not a problem. That was why I came. To really take the next and more physical step in building GoatWorld.

I think I mentioned that we had just gone to war in Iraq? That first week we watched in amazement as U.S. troops worked their way forward to Baghdad. We also watched in shock as the reports of tornados ripped through Missouri - not far from where we had lived! And it was during these first few weeks that my wife and I lived in a medium size camper trailer, just happy to be there.

Now in just a few weeks, the winds of fortune would drastically change our outlook on the whole deal. And I'm talking some pretty gale force winds! While the troops in Iraq were hunkered down to wait out sandstorms, I swear we were doing the same as the spring winds tore across the San Luis Valley. I know some of you have been in dust storms...you spend every minute of the day trying to keep from choking on dust...you spend almost every minute of the night trying to ignore that dust smell. It's awful. And just an aside to those who know their geography; those Great Sand Dunes in the east part of the valley are created by those perpetuous dust storms.

Unfortunately things were not meant to be for us in Monte Vista for reasons I won't delve into, but the outcome was that we had a few choices; move back to Missouri. Nay! Move somewhere else in the valley. Nay! Look around to the north. We chose to look north and spent another couple of months as Colorado vagabonds living in this and that motel. Oh goody. What fun. I always wanted to live in a motel like I did before with a rock band on the road to hopeful dreams of stardom (another story for anopther chapter!) One thing I can say though: if you really want to get to know someone including yourself, pack into a Motel 6 together for a few weeks...if you're still friends after a a few weeks, "it will work!"

Colorado Springs had a certain allure for us both and it was from there in a motel that we would discover our next home to be: a place located further west in the mountains at nearly 10,000 feet. Florissant, CO. And how ironic. There is a Florissant, MO (just outside of St. Louis). Colorado's Florissant was named by a guy who hailed from Florissant, MO. So in a way, it was almost like living back in Missouri except we would soon find out that they were only similar in name!

Higher Ground

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18-March-2024
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