306. Trinidad, Tres Animas County (CO01)

Oh, Colorado!

I am about 98% sure that this is the front of the courthouse. I am also about 98% sure that this is the least impressive facing. In fact, when I got to the courthouse I parked in front of some guy’s house and he came out while I was framing a shot. I told him not to worry because I was just photographing. He replied, “Yeah, it’s a great building. There are lots of great buildings around this town.” And he was not wrong. Trinidad is a funky town filled with older buildings and a funky little vibe. In certain ways, it reminds me of Austin, in others, it reminds me of Denton.

I don’t know if it’s a Colorado thing or a Trinidad thing, but I get the feeling a lot of Austinites would feel at home here and find parts of this place quite familiar in their own way. Heck, some of the some of the tree covered hillsides and hillside homes even reminded me of El Paso.

The cache itself was a virtual at the town visitor’s center (take notes, Raton). It was easy and peasy with just a hint of lemon squeezy, a war memorial (not pictured here). Part of me is a little disappointed that I didn’t claim the Earthcache in the pass, but this was the safer, if less interesting, option. Besides, a cache is a cache is a cache. While some may be better than others, they are all equal in our eyes (except for challenges that expressly forbid certain types of caches, but that’s a different kettle of fish altogether). Of course, my visit to Colorado was only temporary, primarily long enough to earn a souvenir. I shall return one day, though. I said I was only going to Mississippi for a souvenir and I can’t seem to stay out these days… Besides, this drive was about to be a bit longer than the previous one. I waved back over my shoulder as I went back up into the pass. The lush trees of Colorado turned into the bare hillsides of New Mexico again. The sun had begun its descent to the horizon so I, too, descended from this high point in the mountains to reach the slightly less high point of…