For those of you who may be interested, but haven't yet made your hotel reservations in Raton, I'd suggest you make your them now (see below for the details). I spoke with the hotel today and they still have seven rooms available at the reduced rate which will be available until March 31st.
I will provide detailed Route Instruction prior to the drive, but here are the preliminary details:
WHO?: Any and all club members. We don’t care what you may be driving, but a Lotus would be more…uhhh…appropriate!
WHAT?: A two-day drive on Lotus friendly roads in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico. Total distance about five hundred miles from the starting point and back.
WHERE?: A loop starting in Colorado Springs along scenic back roads down to Penrose, west through Canon City to Texas Creek and then south through the Wet Mountains to Westcliffe. Further south to Walsenburg then west to La Veta and around the Spanish Peaks (one of the top 10 scenic roads in Colorado) to Trinidad and over Raton Pass to our hotel in Raton NM. The next day we will travel east for a short drive to the Capulin Volcano National Monument where we will stop for a couple of hours to tour the volcano. From there we will travel back to Trinidad on back roads and pick up I-25 north to Colorado City through the San Isabel Forest to Wetmore and points north to home. Preliminary Route Maps are attached below.
Day #1: Black Bear Coffee to Best Western Plus Raton Hotel - Google Maps
Day #2: Raton to Home Google Maps
WHEN?: We will depart from our Starting Point on the south side of Colorado Springs at 9:30 AM on Saturday. May 16th, and complete the drive on the afternoon of Sunday, the 17th. This is the weekend AFTER Mother’s Day and BEFORE the Memorial Day weekend.
DETAILS:
1. We have a block of 15 rooms reserved for us at the Best Western Plus in Raton at a negotiated rate of $170.99 (add about another $20 for taxes, hub caps, mud flaps and anything else they can think of) which they will hold for us until March 31st. If you wish to make a reservation, call the hotel DIRECTLY at (575) 445-8501 and identify yourself as a member of Lotus Colorado. DO NOT make your reservation through any other means or you won’t get the reduced rate for your room. They will take your credit card at that time but won’t charge it until you arrive. You can cancel your reservation at no charge any time until 6 PM on the night of our arrival.
2. Details on the route for gas stops, picnic lunch locations and other details are still in progress and will be provided when they are finalized.
Finally, if you are interested in participating, please respond to Mike Ingilito so I will have an idea about our numbers when I work with a restaurant in Raton for our dinner the evening of May 16th.