In early August, we took a very brief trip up to Durango Colorado. Grandmommy and Grandbobby had a cabin up there and we’ve been there several times. The kids had been there once before, in 2012. Sadly, the time had come to sell the house and we went with Min to help load furniture, clean out the cabin, and say goodbye.
The kids were super troopers for the drive, both directions. We left at 7am Saturday morning, met up with Min in DFW about 10am and hit the road heading north. A lunch and playground break in Mineral Wells and dinner in Amarillo preceded Caden getting sick and loosing his cookies several times. We finally made it to Santa Rosa, New Mexico about 10pm — 15 hours later. Sunday we had lunch in Albuquerque before driving up to Durango that afternoon. We were all worn out by the time we got there. Apparently we are unable to make a stop less than two hours long if it includes a meal … either an optional stop or Caden feeling sick or a run to the pharmacy were necessary. Caden seemed over whatever stomach bug he had by Monday afternoon.
While we were in town, we made a point of visiting the traditional restaurants we could — May Palace, Lady Falkenberg’s, and HomeSlice pizza. We also enjoyed relaxing at the cabin for a few days.
Min also treated us to a ride on the train! Like last time, Keller rode with Min and the kids on the way up and I met them in Silverton. Then I went down on the train while Keller drove back to start work. This was Caden’s first time on the train and he loved it. He loves everything to do with trains right now, so he had a blast. Both kids did great and enjoyed the entire ride. (2012 train day — look how little they are!)
On the drive up to Silverton I stopped at Moras Pass and took this panoramic photo. The landscape is so incredible.
One afternoon we took the kids up the mountain to Durango Mountain Resort for the alpine slide. The alpine slide is a long sled track that is open in the summer. We bought four tickets and each took a kid down the slide. The kids were their typical selves — Kamy laughed the entire way down and Caden was Mr. Stoic. They both enjoyed it though and Kamy even asked to go back the next day.
We made a point of taking a lot of photos, especially with the kids in “traditional” places. Min has photos of Keller as a little boy sitting on the rocks out front, standing between the trees, and in the window, so these hold a special place in her heart. Here are my favorites from our trip.
Just to keep things interesting, Kamy was sick on the way back home! I think she had the same stomach bug that Caden had, though she handled it better than he did and used the bucket as needed. Poor girl. We had to detour through Santa Fe to make the trailer lights work correctly, but we stayed in Santa Rosa as a midway point on the way back too. Then Saturday we drove the rest of the way to DFW and unloaded everything at GM and GB’s house until 11:30pm that night. The kids, once again, were fabulous and played happily inside with Grandmommy despite the late hour. Sunday morning we drove home.
It was a productive and worthwhile trip, despite the short duration (8 days total, 4 days of driving). We loved spending time up there and will always cherish those memories. Thanks GM and GB!
