Out of the hundreds of photos taken on our incredible trip to the mountains, this one appeals to my aesthetic the most closely. I'm a wide open vista gal.
Don't get me wrong. I loved our trip through the mountains. We drove to Durango from Creede, Colorado, which was incredible. Then we drove up the million dollar highway to Ouray which was white knuckles crazy beautiful. Whenever we were super high and/or the roads were weaving, I had to drive or else I was so anxious I couldn't enjoy anything. I have low tolerance for girls who get all squeamish around bees, spiders, bugs, etc. and then here I was having serious issues on this trip over heights?! I don't remember heights bothering me before. I thought driving would help me face my fears, but when I drove I felt calmer, so maybe to really face my fears, I would have let Lindsey drive. I could have gotten photos that way too. Anyway, we did share driving throughout the trip and I did get some photos, but there is no way to really capture how amazing the views were on this vacation. And I love the plains and prairies of Kansas and east Colorado as much as the mountains. (Our route) (Photos) On Sunday, driving route 86 from Castle Rock to Limon, Colorado was the perfect antidote to what was a very trying Saturday afternoon. Audrey was sick off and on the entire time and Saturday was particularly brutal. She's been having problems since Memorial Day so we felt it best to get her home and get her checked out (again). My disappointment at ending our trip a few days early was only eclipsed by worry. Luckily, she is too young and didn't really understand all that she missed in Denver.
Highlights/Surprises:
- A bear coming onto our porch the first night and breaking into our cooler for soft drinks. Scary at the time, but in retrospect, not that threatening and a great story for my nephews.
- Driving up Pool Table road with Lindsey to a valley that was the most remote, peaceful, quietest place I've ever been. Truly awesome.
- I finally got a chance to learn/play play Bananagrams.
- Having family that can vacation together.
- Audrey throwing rocks in the creek by the old mine in Creede.
- Audrey drew a rainbow completely on her own with the colors in the correct order. What?! She also wrote the word CAT! Unaided. I promise people, I am not pushing this stuff. Most days, I feel like I'm behind the curve.
- Grand Junction. Who would have thought? We stayed on historic main street, which was loaded with locally owned quality restaurants, shops, and public art. We could walk to it all from our hotel, which had a kick butt little swimming pool that the three of us were able to enjoy privately.
- Dinner at Blue Creek Lodge with live music. The lodge is less than 1/2 mile from the cabin where we stay. After dessert (homemade cherry pie) we met a couple who work at the place during summers. The rest of the year they live in New Mexico and the husband teaches art at a high school on the Navaho reservation. They were so great to talk to and their daughter and Audrey had a blast together.
- When I told Audrey we were going to Applebee’s she said, “Mommy, bees don’t eat apples, they eat honey.” That was funny enough to me to make up for the fact that Crapplebee's was our only option in Salina, Kansas on a Sunday night at 8pm.
- Turning onto McCausland and Audrey exclaiming, "I'm excited!" It felt good to be home.
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