Wednesday night – animas

Another day in paradise here.. we woe ealiesh, went for a short run.. then piled in th car and were out of the house by 9L30.. amazing for this group of 6..
First stop woas ‘Mild and Wild’ a river rafting company in Durango.. Ciane, Jac, Raya and I signed up to do 3 hours of the lower Animas river in a raft.. while Gabe and Max signed up to do the same stretch in inflatable kayaks.

I couldn’t bring a camera in.. but gabe had his gopro and got a few shots of us warming up..

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we had a good 3 hours on the river. we got plenty wet..bt not as wet as max and gabe in the kayaks. Our gude Phil was realy nice and had tons of good local stories and geology info ..   It was a great experience .

 

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After boating, we dropped off the kids down town and went out to meet John and Bonnie.. our good friend Amy’s folks. Amy was with us on The Colony  and grew up here in Durango

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We had a good visit with the Wests. they are such nice peopl.. we swapped stories of kids, dogs, toys. travel etc.. it was great seeing where Amy grew up and meet her family..

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It was also really good to be able to go through her baby pictures 🙂 .. what a cutey !

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 from there Diane and I went back into town and found the kids.. then we went up to see Rusty and Suzanna .. they currently  live in an 1880’s caboose.. bbut they’ve outgrown it and are in the porcoess of movig into… gt this.. ad 1880’s tran station !.. It was great seeing the caboose. it was beutifull.. but pretty tight for two grownups and a large dog.. (Chumley) .

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It was great to see that Rusty had a samstone there..

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In playing with Chumley a sad thing happened.. my sam bracelet.. the one I’ve warn every day since a few days after sam died.. broke.. I was stunned for a second.. then I remembered. we can’t control anything.. that is the real lesson of Sam’ death.. I petted chumley and put the broken band in my pocket.. I will see about tieing  it back together. ,..

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From tehre we went to a great dinner with Rusty and Suzanna and the rest of us..   the food was great.. as was the silverware . IMG_3133 IMG_3137

 

OK.. to tired to keep writing.. more tomorrow

what a wonderful vacation !

 

nite all nite sam !

-me

 

Tuesday night – right turn

Woke today with what I think is altitude sickness .. headache so sharp and interesting that it was almost fun… moved a little slowly through the day but popped advil and drank water.. The pain is still there like a smoldering fuse.. but I can think over it.. let’s see what tomorrow holds

ice pick in the brain aside, today was another wonderful day in paradise.. we did something different today…. we turned right… Left out of the driveway takes us the 30 miles down to durango and civilization .. Today we took a right up the mountain and the 19mile roller coaster to silverton… another gorgeoues day.. here’s the view a mile from our house..

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Diane drove the tricky 19 miles up over the pass… the road got pretty crazy over 10,000 feet.. sheer drops on one side and mountain on the other.. slow but beautiful going.

we pulled in to Silverton to find it was a bit of an amusement park.. it had made itself into  a nice caricature of the mining town it once was. .. buildings with painted fascades all holding trendy jewlery stores and bars.. We were very happy to find our way tot he really excellent silverton museum. It was a real treacure.. a great mix of history of the place..

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most of the stuff related to mining in one for or another..

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but there were soem other cool things thrown in like these antique science teaching devices like this wimshurst generator

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and these ladies who used to run the towns telephones from this console.

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and these scenes from the jail.. icluding the jailer’s family’s apartment

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We then wandered around Silverton looing at the stores.. and checking out the people..   a little honytonk.. but sweet..

 

 

 

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We then remounted an headed 23 miles further notrh to Ourey.. what an amazing drive.. it was white knuckles the whole way (diane drive).. sheer drops that made the the drive to silverton look like Kansas.. it was spectacular and terrifying .

Ourey suited us much better than Silverton.. it was a real (albeit  touristed ) town.. with the most spectacular setting you could imagine for a town..

 

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A nice guy in one of the shops showed us how to get to cascade falls.. just near town..  Max and gabe climbed way up and piut a samstone in the plume of the falls..   just as they dd, the wond picked up the water and splashed them playfully.. .. sam ????

I even went in.

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then cam the long twisty drive home.. also scary, also beutiful. we were glad to see our driveway.. only 30 miles.. but about 2 hours of driving !

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Our freindly cows were waiting  for us in our driveway when we returned..

 

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we just finished a nice dinner.. I’m heading to the hot tub.. then sleep..

more tomorrow.. hopefully free of altitude sickness. wish me luck !

nite all nite sam

-me

Monday night – castle rock

 

Great mix of things today..    we began with a really nice 3 hour hike up Castle Rock.. it’s only a few miles south of here   The clouds were starting to gatehr for rain.. but we decided to try to beat the weather..w hich we almost didi .

.. (btw.. I want to apologize.. I’m having some trouble with my iphone camera.. some of these pictures are even worse than usual)

 

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the trail started through aspens..

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We found tons of mushrooms.. including what we think was aminita

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eventually we came across a really cool old cabin on elbert creek IMG_2568

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Inside were emeergency provisions for anyone who hppened to get caught there in bad weather.. nice !

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We found a cool old frame and put a samstone in it .. IMG_2576

We left the cabin and headed up into a beautiful meadow full of wild flowers..

 

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The trail here aren’t marked all that well.. we came to a fork.. and as yogi berra said.. we took it.. we headed up hill in the hopes of finding the top .. IMG_2582

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The whole place made us feel like ‘The Sound of Music’..cabin, mountain , flowers.. check !

 

 

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we just needed singing .. IMG_2587

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raya ended up with flowers in her braid

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we kept climbing..

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and eventiually came to the top.. the views were amaing.. it was a sheer drop on three sides.. IMG_2606

 

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we ate a quick lunch becasue the clouds were coming in fast.. and we didn’t want to be up there in lightning.. the lightening here is pretty scary.. yesterday we saw it nearly hit thee horses in a field..

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Uh-oh.. thunder.. we packed quickly.. then began our one true mission. to lunch a samstone from the top.. we had 10 feet of surgical rubber tubing and a sling that max and gabe had made,

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loading the samstone IMG_2644

 

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GO !!!.. it was out of sight !IMG_2650

a few more pics then it started to rain .

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we started to run.. not because of the rain.. but because we wanted to be off there if it started to lightening..   IMG_2674

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i was rainign pretty hard .. s we slipped through the mud.. it was a hoot !IMG_2679

then it turned to hail.. and it HURT !.. it was still fun though .

 

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we made it back to the cabin.. the hail on the roof was an amazing sound. IMG_2693

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ut was then when we niticed Sam spelled backwards in nails.. cool !

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The hail and rain stopped.. then we made our way down the trail to the car.. three hours exactly.. not bad..

 

from there we headed down the road and stopped at a local honey place.. the highlight there was samples of tasty honey wine (mead) and a view of a see through bee hive..

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meet the queen..   here she is laying eggs IMG_2752

 

we then stopped across the street at a very nice organic meet, cheese and egg place.. it turns out their son is currently in Jericho VT.. He’s in the biathlon program for the Vt National Guard..very small world as ever..

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we then headed home.. it was raining hard.. for a while which was actally nice.. then we slowly made our way back outside. the boys set up a throwing tomahawk target.. abe had brought it in his luggage .. wonder what that looked like in x-ray ? IMG_2761

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 Gabe and I started making a glider out of styrofoam.. it needs work.. bt first test flights were encouraging. (ish)

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Then a lovely dinner of burritos, corn, salad, mead, max grilled beef..   and cake !

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later max tstd out his fire baton that he made from stuff at the hardare store.. it was amazing.. more pictures/movies from that tomorrow..

right now.. i need to sleep..

nite all, nite sam.. we miss you as always.. on these trips

-me

Sunday night – Mesa verde

 

Jusyt back from a great day in southwestern Colorado.. We woke early to find our yard overrun by a whole bunch of cows !.. We ent for a short run down their path and explored our neighborhood. 1 other house wihtin running distance.. and it appears empty.  glad we escaped the crowds below .. . Yoo certainly can feel the 8000 feet or so in your lungs as you run !~

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We packed a lunch and headed south to Mesa Verde.. the largest Puebla native american dwellings.. it was about an hou and a half away..

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The enterance to the museum was beautiful.. and just off the road.. what we didn’t know is that we had a 20 mile drive.. about 40 minutes .. to get to the ruins.. IMG_2335

 

As we climbed the mesa, we drove on cliffs that were a few days drop on one side or the other.. we stopped frequently to unclamp our hands from the steering wheel, door handles, etc.. and to take in the incredible views.. IMG_2338

 

 

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There had been 3 bog fires here in the bask 20 years or so.. and the whole area still bore the scars.. the signs and rangeds explained that it’s an unavoidable part of living here.. but it made for soem mzing scenery

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We stopped at the museum and had a picnic.. then went inside.. and heard a lecture on the place.. it was pretty good ! (I confess.. I feel instantly asleep 🙂 IMG_2368

 

Behind the museum was Sprucetree house.. one of the easier accessed pueblas.. We wa;led down to explore it.. so many cool facts.. these were inhabit ted mostly in the mid 1200’s.. in a tome wehere this part of Colorado actually had significantly more folks living in it than it does today

 

The pueblos are amazing structures.. built in the sandstone at the site of seep springs.. places where groundwater dripped out at an interface between the porous sandstone and not so porous shale..

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It was amazing being able to walk up intyo somehting that was 8000 years old like that IMG_2378

 

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We even got to climb down into one of the covered ceremonial ‘kivas’IMG_2388

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It was cool seeing soem of the everyday fixtures still intact like these grinding stones.. for grinding grain. IMG_2399

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we then got back in the car and started driving to cliff palace.. the biggest puebla in the area.. on the way we tool the mesa loop and saw sme more cool stuff.. including some wildlife.. like this culture ..

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and this dessert fox.. can you see him ? He was actually pretty big..

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we stopped at a few smaller sites including this pit house from 600 CE

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And several other beitiful vistas with and without pueblas..

 

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All day we could hear the cicadas heres one of their empty  shells. IMG_2433

Ne;eive it or not.. these are all different cliff houses..

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Then we got to Cliff Palace.. what a magnification place !IMG_2465

 

Franky was our guide for the hour tour.. we had to go up and down soem steep stairs and ladders to get too and from the site. IMG_2468

 

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It really was remarkable.. based on carbon dating.. they are pretty sure most of the building happened between 1260 and 1270.. the place probably held about 150 folks.. IMG_2474

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it was 5 by the time we were finished and we were hot, dry, tired and happy.. max drve the treacherous way back to the highway.. we stopped to take a picture of ‘knife’s edge’ a cool geologic formation.

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This guy was standing guard there.

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by the time we got back to durango, it was time to eat.. so we grabbed good chniese from a place callde ‘Mays’.. id recommend it.. then came home..

We’re now watching the persied meteor shower… we sat in the hot tub and watched the things streak across hthe sky.. it was amazin and memorable..

now I’m too tired to type.. so I’ll end here..

more tomorrow

nite all

 

nite all. nite sam

-me