Where have we been?!?  

Sorry for the long delay in posting.  It has been a wonderful and traumatic month.  This post is rather long, as there is much to catch up on.  It also has a crap ton of pictures since I now have pictures!  Without further ado: a post.  :)

It is a very special place, the place where a person grows up. I was lucky enough to grow up here in Sunny CO!  (That’s right, CO ranks up there with AZ, NV, CA and FL in terms of sunny days every year.)

As you read in our last post, we came into CO from the Southwest and went straight to Durango, which is where I went to college and still have a couple friends.  I have always said that Durango in the summer is my favorite place on the planet.  And driving into it I was reminded why.  Colorado is so pretty, with a really great “feel” that is unique to this state.

 I lived in Durango for about 4 or 5 years.  Those were the years that taught me how to at least act like an adult: paying bills (though sometimes late), cooking dinner (though mostly letting others cook for me), holding a job (though maybe calling in sick a few too many times hungover).  I made wonderful friends, fell in love a couple times, tubed down the river, snowboarded once or twice, frequented the bars, hiked, walked, rafted, explored, studied, and basically loved everything about Durango.

I remember each spring when the weather warmed, and all the casts from ski/boarding injuries had been removed, it seemed as if everyone came out of hibernating at once.  Boys took their shirts off, the girls started shaving and getting ready for their Teva lines.  The tourists started coming in for rafting rather than going to Purgatory.  I enjoyed the Spring, but the Summer there has always been my favorite.  Like most of CO, in the summer, it rains in the afternoon and is sunny and warm otherwise.  Perfect!

Our time in Durango was wonderful!  If you haven’t already, please read about it in Matt’s wonderful post Rocky Mt. High.  But since my hard drive was broken there were no pictures with Matt’s post.  Here are some for your viewing enjoyment:

Leaving Durango, we passed through and boondocked in the beautiful Pagosa Springs.  We also stopped at Great Sand Dunes National Park, where Matt climbed to the top of the Sand Dunes (about 800′ up sand!). I made it about 1/2 way up, crawling on all 4’s the last bit of the way. Content at the half way point, the dogs and I sat and waited for the triumphant return of the King of the Dunes! (The last picture below is Matt at the top.)

We planned to spend some time in Penrose with my Uncle Paul, Aunt Valerie and my cousins Whitney and Jeremy.  However, since we are the Queen and King of last minute, when I called to let him know we were on our way he explained that he was out of town for the next week or 2.  Bummer!  We’ll have to try again another time.

So upward we went to Colorado Springs, the location of my rearing from about 6 or 7  till I moved to Durango at about 17.  The timing worked out perfectly for us to spend one evening and next day with one of the girls that was a part of my young life in Colorado Springs.  Cori and I met in the 7th Grade as Cheerleaders and became quick friends.  Along with Darcey (who we will see in MT) and Jenny we were a very close group of friends.  There were more in our clique, but those were the 3 I was closest to.  Anyways, I digress.  It is always wonderful to see Cori, her husband Andy and their 2 boys.  Cori was one of my Bridesmaids, and they were all able to come out to our wedding last year, but in the chaos of weddings I didn’t get as much time with them as I would have liked.  Even though they were heading out of town, it was really great to have a day with Cori, Andy and their boys.

A quick note on friendship: I feel that many of my friends are cut from the same cloth as me.  To butcher an Aristotle quote, my true friends and I are one soul in 2 bodies.  (Yes, I realize that makes me have many souls and doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but you get my drift!)  Our households may have been drastically different and our lives may go in different directions but being around a good friend is good for my soul.  This trip has been full of that feeling for me.  From Leslie, Pam (not pictured) and Whitney in Durango, to Cori, Caroline, Kelsey and of course Lindsey in Denver.  I have been amazed upon seeing these friends (some of whom I have not seen for over 10 years) that I didn’t realize how much I missed them until I saw them again.  Thanks to Facebook for at least some semblance of contact with these wonderful women!

From Cori’s we drove over to my Aunt Paula and Uncle Gary Hanson’s house.  They are “hill people” so we weren’t able to park in front of their house.  We did however find a small flat spot at the top of their hill that we could walk to and from each day we were there.  It was really fantastic visiting them because they have had some big changes.  1. My cousin Haydn has had a baby with his lovely girlfriend Danielle.  Baby Ryker is about the cutest thing ever made.  I loved meeting him, holding him, kissing him, talking to him, looking at him, basically all things him.  2. My cousin Angie and her husband Isaac are back for the summer from Ireland.  After marrying last year they moved to Ireland, where Isaac is from, and plays basketball.  You can read about her adventures from an inverted prospective on her blog.  :) The 3rd reason the trip was so nice is that their former exchange student/son Gus was there visiting.  While Gus was living with them years ago they all bonded and he is now a permanent part of their family.  My cousins consider him a brother, which makes him my cousin.  :) It was great to see him.

From Colorado Springs we ventured up in elevation.  My Uncle Gary (and family and friends) are building a cabin in Alma, CO.  The highest incorporated town in the US. We went up to help and get to know Alma.  There wasn’t a whole lot of work that Matt and I could help with, but we did what we could over the weekend with my Uncle Gary.  We also were able to borrow his truck and go into Alma to experience their Festival in the Clouds.  The festival was very cool.  A stage for performances, booths and “street food”.  We may have been the only “our of towners” there because it seemed like everyone knew EVERYONE and nobody knew us.  Everyone was very friendly though and we had a good time.

Then the afternoon rains came and Matt and I decided to pop over to Brekenridge.  It’s close, just over Hoosier Pass.  There we stumbled into their beer festival.  How I wished I was a beer drinker!  I’m not though, so I got a pretzel and we were on our way.  While eating the pretzel I wasn’t looking where I was going and tripped.  I didn’t hit the ground, but my ankle rolled and was sore for about a week after.

Anyways, we lazed about a little in Alma, then decided to go for a hike.  Alma is surrounded by three 14ers, though we had no plans to climb one, I did think that if EVER I was going to, starting at 11k feet was the way to go!  Instead we just climbed the “littler” mountain in front of one of the 14ers.  It was such an amazing hike with breathtaking views.

Our next stop was Glenwood Springs.  Caroline, a roommate of mine from Ft. Lewis, is  living there and it was wonderful to see her and meet her family.  Also, just outside of Glenwood was a hike I wanted to do. As a child I had hiked up to Hanging Lake and I remember it being the most beautiful lake I had ever seen.

I also remember doing this hike with my Nana and Bompa and several younger cousins so I thought the hike would be pretty easy.  It’s not that easy, and the parking lot is a mess.  But once you get up there the view is spectacular!  It was definitely worth the trip up to see the lake and the falls.

We left the Glenwood area and made our way toward Denver.  After a stop in Black Hawk (so Huno could get in some poker time), we found ourselves in Denver with my BFF Lindsey!

I am going to cut it off here and make Denver another post.  Sorry to keep you in suspense, I’m sure some of you will not be able to sleep well until you know the details of our time in Denver.

xoxo

Mt. Mama Breezy!

 PS. I’d like to apologize again for our blog lag.  I had been in a deep depression about losing my pictures and had made that my only thoughts since the Great Hard Drive Crash of 2011.  Again, I’m sorry for ignoring you and not keeping you up to date with our whereabouts and our adventures.