Friends
Ashley and I have known each other since we were in Kindergarten, in 1985. Several months ago, she let me know that she and her husband, Kevin, were driving through NM on their way to CO for a family get-together. And a few weeks ago, she set the date of their arrival. I used the momentum of her first visit to our house to motivate myself to get done all the yearly cleaning stuff I do not enjoy doing. After two weeks of carpet cleaning, deep dusting, furniture rearranging (we brought in the piano and loft bed just in time to cause ruckus), leather conditioning, and so on, and so forth, I finished my final task about five minutes before they arrived. With a sigh of relief, I set out to enjoy the time we had together.
The first night, Thursday, I walked Ashley, Kevin, their dog Murphy, and Rusty out to our Overlook. I figured it would be a good way for Rusty to meet Murphy, since the former is not a good friend to small dogs. The walk helped to breed some familiarity in the dogs, but Rusty still had a hard time overcoming his bullying ways back on his own turf. Ashley and Kevin, however, seemed to enjoy the cool chill of evening and morning in our high elevation air. The wide open spaces and lack of crowding present a stark difference to the L.A. area they are used to.
On Friday, we set out to one of our favorite hikes in the nearby mountains.
The temperature was comfortable, the wild strawberries were delicious, and the enormous canyon at the bottom is always breath-taking.
We returned home from the hike for a quick lunch, and then it was time that Ashley and Kevin needed to head on to their next pit stop on the way to Durango. They were off to the Great Sand Dunes in Southern CO to camp for a night. In passing, they mentioned that we should consider heading up there for the night for a quick camping trip. Hmm... I loved the idea. Scott, who was feeling a little wiped out already, wasn't so sure he and Adrianna were up for it. With a little convincing of Scott, we decided to let Ashley and Kevin get a head start and pick out a camp site, and we planned to join them after Adrianna's nap.
After they left, I spent the next two hours gathering up all the items we had agreed upon. Scott rested, I pulled things from the attic, the garage, the grocery store, and Scott's parents' house. I raced back in time to find Scott getting up, to wake up Adrianna, and to get on the road to CO.
The campsite was beautiful. This is the view we had from there.
Scott and I have not been camping since we have been married. We got a tent for our wedding, got some sleeping bags last year, and have not yet used either one! Breaking in the tent took a little manuervering.
But, thankfully, we arrived in time to set up camp before enjoying an incredible sunset.
We enjoyed s'mores on the campfire, the fun camping bathrooms in the repurposed railroad car, and conversation until the sun was long set.
Taking a picture of Ashley, taking a picture of Kevin, who was taking a picture
The Prius advertisement :)
Adrianna missed out on quite a bit of sleep; she slept from 10:00 pm to 6:00 am, instead of her usual 11-12 hours. So, we had a tired child on Saturday morning!
We retrieved all of our belongings, set up less than 12 hours before (!), and we set out to the sand dunes. We arrived a little after 8:00 am, which was nice, because we wanted to enjoy the dunes before the sun started scorching us in the hot sand!
We tried our White Sands sand sled on the dunes, only to discover that the CO Sand Dunes are far different than the NM ones! Apparently CO's sand is not made for sledding. :)
We tired ourselves trudging through the sands, up a few hills, and then went back to the sandy stream. Because the stream is filled with the dune sand, it is the perfect consistency for building sandcastles, moats, etc. We let Adrianna dirty herself to her heart's content.
We said our goodbyes and drove home. We arrived home tired, but happy.
The first night, Thursday, I walked Ashley, Kevin, their dog Murphy, and Rusty out to our Overlook. I figured it would be a good way for Rusty to meet Murphy, since the former is not a good friend to small dogs. The walk helped to breed some familiarity in the dogs, but Rusty still had a hard time overcoming his bullying ways back on his own turf. Ashley and Kevin, however, seemed to enjoy the cool chill of evening and morning in our high elevation air. The wide open spaces and lack of crowding present a stark difference to the L.A. area they are used to.
On Friday, we set out to one of our favorite hikes in the nearby mountains.
The temperature was comfortable, the wild strawberries were delicious, and the enormous canyon at the bottom is always breath-taking.
We returned home from the hike for a quick lunch, and then it was time that Ashley and Kevin needed to head on to their next pit stop on the way to Durango. They were off to the Great Sand Dunes in Southern CO to camp for a night. In passing, they mentioned that we should consider heading up there for the night for a quick camping trip. Hmm... I loved the idea. Scott, who was feeling a little wiped out already, wasn't so sure he and Adrianna were up for it. With a little convincing of Scott, we decided to let Ashley and Kevin get a head start and pick out a camp site, and we planned to join them after Adrianna's nap.After they left, I spent the next two hours gathering up all the items we had agreed upon. Scott rested, I pulled things from the attic, the garage, the grocery store, and Scott's parents' house. I raced back in time to find Scott getting up, to wake up Adrianna, and to get on the road to CO.
The campsite was beautiful. This is the view we had from there.
Scott and I have not been camping since we have been married. We got a tent for our wedding, got some sleeping bags last year, and have not yet used either one! Breaking in the tent took a little manuervering.
But, thankfully, we arrived in time to set up camp before enjoying an incredible sunset.
We enjoyed s'mores on the campfire, the fun camping bathrooms in the repurposed railroad car, and conversation until the sun was long set.
Taking a picture of Ashley, taking a picture of Kevin, who was taking a picture
The Prius advertisement :)Adrianna missed out on quite a bit of sleep; she slept from 10:00 pm to 6:00 am, instead of her usual 11-12 hours. So, we had a tired child on Saturday morning!
We retrieved all of our belongings, set up less than 12 hours before (!), and we set out to the sand dunes. We arrived a little after 8:00 am, which was nice, because we wanted to enjoy the dunes before the sun started scorching us in the hot sand!
We tried our White Sands sand sled on the dunes, only to discover that the CO Sand Dunes are far different than the NM ones! Apparently CO's sand is not made for sledding. :)
We tired ourselves trudging through the sands, up a few hills, and then went back to the sandy stream. Because the stream is filled with the dune sand, it is the perfect consistency for building sandcastles, moats, etc. We let Adrianna dirty herself to her heart's content.
We said our goodbyes and drove home. We arrived home tired, but happy.
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