Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Weddings, Dwellings, and Mountains - DURANGO!

We headed to Durango Last week for a long weekend and Brian's cousin's wedding; and had a wonderful time with the WHOLE family.

We left after my Serpents Trail run Thursday and slowly made our way across the beautiful mountains; I always love the drive once we are out of Montrose BUT I get car sick so easy! We stopped in Silverton and enjoyed an ice cream cone as we strolled through town. Maddox said that "this town is old!" how right he was! I really could see Brian and I living here when we retire... we love the mountains and the snow and the small town!

Once we got into Durango we meandered through historic down town and made our way to the train museum. Maddox was fascinated with all the trains, life size and model, and wanted to bring grandma and papa back there when they got to town. When we drove into town there were signs up for the gem and mineral show, and Brian wondered if Josh would be there.... and guess who we ran into at the museum...yep Josh!! It was fun to see and visit with him for a minute! When done there we headed to the hotel and went for a swim.

Friday the whole family, Brian, the kids, Carrie, Rob, Myla, Amy, Cecil, Dillon, and I, headed to Mesa Verde. I had been when I was maybe a little older than Madison, and remember being fascinated... It was amazing! Our first stop was to Spruce Tree house and we climbed into the Kiva. Then we all went to Cliff Palace; this place was huge. I was really looking forward to learning more about it, but our tour got interrupted when a lady stumbled forward into our guide and passed out, he had to take care of her, and the rest of us were on our own. (I am frustrated because they specifically tell you not to bring any food or drink besides water, and the girl with her cracked open a soda!!! that tels you what kind of people they were). At Cliff Palace we got to see some art work that was inside one of the rooms, it was pretty amazing that the ruins and art work were preserved for SO many years!

Our next stop was to Balcony House, a much more treacherous trip, so Amy and Cecil took the younger kids back to the hotel while the rest of us continued... This tour was great, our guide was funny and very knowledgeable. He made Madison the Junior Ranger of the trip, complete with badge; she led the way along the paths, up the ladders, through the tunnels, doing a mighty fine job! To get into the Balcony House you have to climb a very tall ladder, but once you are up you are actually IN the run. To get out, you have to go through several tunnels, up another tall ladder, and traverse a cliff wall. Heights don't bother me but I was a little worried about the tunnels. The first was pretty big and tall enough to walk through, the second was a different story; you have to crawl through on your hands and knees but it is short and you can see the other side. So I waited till Rob got all the way through (so I could see the light on the other side)but watching him panicked me a bit; all the guys are big, broad shouldered men, so it was a tight squeeze. But I sucked it up and made it through with no problems! This is the one that I have the most vivid childhood memories of, probably because it is the most work to get in and out of. When we got home (to the hotel) the pool was calling out to us... of course we answered with a few cannon balls!

Saturday was the day of the wedding and Carrie's birthday; her one request was that we all go get an old time photo done. This turned out to be so fun! Maddox loved dressing up as a cowboy and even tolerated the pictures. By the time we wandered around town, and ate it was time for naps followed by dinner and heading to Bayfield for the wedding. It was a beautiful, short wedding with a long reception. The kids had fun on the bump and jump, and I just took in the beauty of the scenery.

Sunday we headed out and made a quick stop at Durango Mountain to do the Alpine slide. I love these! We all had a great time, especially Madison and Maddox! It was a good thing that we only got a single ride because it was starting to rain and they closed it down right after we we went. Then it was time to say good by to our Durango adventures and head home to the real world of laundry, cleaning, and work.



Learned? Glad we had the excuse of a wedding; a family vacation was long overdue!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Looks like you guys had a lot of fun. Glad you were able to see my hubby.- Rachel