wanna see my vacation pictures: part i
It’s always so difficult to get people excited about seeing and hearing about someone else’s vacation. I know this and accept this. However, I still am going to drone on about the adventure we had in Durango, Colorado last week. To eliminate a little bit of boredom though I will break it up into several parts spread out over the next few days.
So we left town on Friday, August 25th after Mike got out of work. We didn’t leave as early as planned and didn’t arrive in Council Bluffs, Iowa to meet up with Mike’s sister, Sara, and her family that evening. The goal was to meet up with them and then caravan together from there all the way to Colorado over the next couple of days. We arrived to Des Moines that night and bribed the Evans to wait for us until we could drive the 2 hours to Council Bluffs the next morning. They agreed, and we finally reached the Evans gang around 9 a.m. From there we synchronized our watches and made sure walky-talkies were in good, working order and then continued our trek west together.
Frequent stops were made due to little ones needing potty breaks, lunch, gas stops, or brakes overheating. I saw this little guy (below) on one of our stops after hot brakes while driving up and down monstrous inclines/declines. I snuck off for a tee-tee and heard something scurry.
Finally by 4 p.m. on Sunday most parties had arrived to the lodge–43 total people were expected. Now when I say lodge I mean a large log cabin that can sleep up to 80 people, has a commercial-grade kitchen, and is as rustic and authentic as you’d expect a lodge in the mountains to be. It was chock full of activities and furniture to keep all the kids (and numerous teenagers) busy and entertained such as a ping pong table, pool table, foosball table, and fire pit. The owners of the cabin must also be pro-hunting because the walls were covered with animal heads including an elk, several deer, jackelope (a fictional rabit with antlers), and a cougar. Of course, Mike felt right at home.
Numerous hummingbird feeders were scattered around the perimeter of the house and provided lots of enjoyment for everyone. The birds weren’t shy about filling up on the sweet, sweet nectar in our presence. Aunty Sara was even bold enough to offer her finger as a perch and several of the critters excepted her invitation on numerous occasions.
Even though we had lots of events scheduled it was still nice to just sit around and hang out with the peops. Mike’s sisters and mom helped me brush up on my knitting skills which made it possible for me to finally start my sweater project that I bought the materials for last year. We all had projects and spent a lot of time knitting and chatting, and I loved every minute of that.
Ok, I think I’ve covered about all I can today. There are still lots of events that we did such as hiking, a trip to Mesa Verde, alpine sliding, playing The Werewolves of Millers Hollow. Check back tomorrow.
August 6th, 20084:59 pm at
Yay for pictures! People who aren’t excited about vacation pictures are just jealous that they weren’t there. I’m going to linky to you in a blog post. I like the way you softened me up and glazed over my facial splotches in the hummingbird picture.
How is your sweater coming along?
August 6th, 20085:18 pm at
You are more than welcome to linky back to me. I was actually tempted to do the same instead of actually posting any pictures myself. But I figured that would irritate a few of my loyal readers (::snicker::). I didn’t do much editing on the picture of you with Mr. (or Miss or Mrs.) Hummingbird other than run it through my own set of steps that I do to all my “pro” pictures. i suppose the brightening up helped to give the impression of smoother skin. Although you are full of it when you mention your fictional facial splotches. Did you see my lovely face while there…talk about blotchy and pimply?!? The dry, mountainy air does not agree with my skin or body (I so loved all those bloody noses, too).
August 6th, 20088:30 pm at
I am enjoying all the pictures. Hopefully I’ll get to post a few soon. I have been in workshops since arrival home. Then Young Women’s last night and now I’m off to the grocery store cuz we still don’t have milk!! Love the pics but I’m so horrified at how I look. Something must be done. Probably surgery.
August 7th, 20085:58 pm at
That cabin looks amazing. How long did the drive take you?
August 7th, 200810:03 pm at
It is funny how people from the west (I being one) find the humidity challenging and yet we don’t realize that the “dryness” causes its own irritations and discomforts. I realized this after 8 years of being in the midwest, we went back home and I just couldn’t drink enough water and put enough vaseline on my lips…. then in the night my nose felt like is was so dry and cracking and my family made fun of me for swabbing the inside of my nose with a q-tip full of vaseline…. I have to admit I slept better with a lubed up nose.
August 8th, 200812:57 am at
Jenni-
Yes, you need to get those pictures up immediately!! I understand your reasons though. It’s been busy here, too. My kids are restless after having 40+ entertaining them. They think it should still be like that. It’s exhausting!
Denise-
We really loved the lodge. It was super cheap, too–$10/night/person with a minimum of 10 people. That can’t be beat! The drive should’ve taken 21 hours according to Mapquest, but with stops it probably took closer to 24-25. It’s not bad though spread out over 2.5 days.
Sherdon-
I keep meaning to add your blog to my google reader so that I can keep up with you guys better. I did see how stunning those girls of yours are getting. I don’t blame you for wanting to invest in more guns. I presume Mike will feel the same one day.
The mountain dryness did bother the girls and me quite a bit. Annie and I were plagued with numerous bloody noses, and all of us had chapped lips and constant dry mouth. Bleh! We got the girls each their own water backpacks that they loved to wear nonstop. I think it may be wise for us all to constantly wear one of those things next time. We, too, figured out that lubing up the nostrils was a good idea right before bed. You get used to it after a while.
August 9th, 20085:12 pm at
Wish I knew how to knit. I love to crochet, so how much harder could it be? Always my last words before a complete disaster. I’d love to be able to do crafts with a bunch of women. You all are very blessed to have each other to enjoy life with.