Alamosa, Colorado

I think this is an interesting little card.  On the front and back is a chart showing the distance from Alamosa to other towns in the U.S.  I just did something I've wanted to do for a long, long time.  I went to Mapquest so I could see where Alamosa, Colorado is.  I also wanted to know where Sanford, Colorado is.  Sanford is where my Mother's family was from and Alamosa was nearby.  In the restaurant in Mexico, I would say to visitors from Colorad that my family was from Sanford, they would look at me with unknowing looks.  Nobody had ever heard of Sanford.  So, I would say, we also were from Alamosa, Colorado.  They never heard of that either.  Well, Alamosa is now a town of 9,000 people.  I can imagine how many it was when they were there.  And, Sanford is much, much smaller, but nearby.  Alamosa is about 200 miles south of Denver almost to the New Mexico border and Sanford is even south of Alamosa.  Pretty wild territory in those days I think.  When I was a kid, my great great Grandmother on Mother's side was still alive and living in Sanford. Many summers when I was very young, we would pile a bunch of family into an old car, and head out route 66 to go to Hillsborough, Kansas to visit my father's family.  On the way we would stop in Sanford.  The only thing I remember about the Sanford stop was being on a farm, I guess my Great, Great Grandmother's farm and being absolutely transfixed by the fact that a man could take the teet of a cow and spray milk right into a cat's mouth.  Yep, that's all I remember.  I do remember the trips though.  Always so hot almost unbearable.  Always an aunt next to you sweating like a pig.  No air conditioner on the car, just one of those swamp coolers you attached to the window.  I think they made it worse.  And, finally, I remember the fried chicken in a cooler.  When you are poor and go on a trip, you take your food with you.  Talk about miserable.  Although, I really don't remember enough to know if I was miserable or not.