Our little get-away

Oh yes...we had a wonderful family vacation in Colorado last week! It was our first "family" vacation where we took Gavin with us to enjoy the pleasures of not working, eating what you want, spending money, etc for nine days. We still did it the cheapest way possible...we road-tripped to Creede, CO where my parents spend over half of their summer in their RV. This made it possible for Cody and I both to enjoy four-wheeling, fishing, hiking, etc. and still have someone watch Gavin while we did things he couldn't do. KUDOS, lots of them, to my wonderful mom who was more than happy to hang out with Gavin while we were out and about and for letting him sleep in their camper.

As short and as quickly as I can...

We left on Thursday afternoon (around 3ish). We had another travel buddy...Khris Franklin...who literally drove up, put his bags in our car and got back on the road to go with us. Crazy guy! Picked Gavin up from daycare and ready to go to Colorado!!

 We made it to Dalhart before we stopped to sleep in a bed. Gavin isn't the greatest sleeper in the car so we knew we would probably have to stop for the night. Friday we made it to Creede around 1pm. We took it easy of course...getting unpacked, let Gavin take a decent nap & showed Franklin the town. Saturday we got up and rode four-wheelers up to Rat Creek so the guys could do some fly-fishing. I relaxed and took pictures.

 It pretty much rains every afternoon there. So once they finished fishing we rode up to the top of the Continental Divide Trail to catch some amazing views while we could. Seeing views like this really never gets old to me. It's beautiful.

I was a little worried that night about how Gavin would sleep. He slept on a small cot at the foot of my parents bed in their camper. Khris, Cody and I slept in a different motor home (thanks to an amazing friend of theirs for letting us use it while he was gone!). But as usual...he was a great sleeper the entire trip and the cot worked out perfectly.

Sunday we slept in a little and then went to a different spot to be able to fish in the Rio Grande river. I'm pretty sure Cody thoroughly enjoyed this! It's so serene listening to the water. Once again...I relaxed and took pictures!

Sunday night we drove up to a really neat place and Cody cooked fajitas for us and Joe and Shan. Really fun times...like me trying to keep two drinks from spilling in the back seat while Cody was maneuvering my dads truck up steep rocks. Still laughing! We didn't camp because all of Colorado is under a fire ban and we didn't care to freeze all night. So we stayed up there until the sun went down and then slept in our warm, comfy beds! By the way...we saw a moose on the way up there!

 This lovely couple deserves a huge CONGRATULATIONS on getting engaged!! We love you Joe and Shannon!!

Monday...the boys went golfing that afternoon. So mom, Gavin and I went into town and shopped around. Mom took Gavin into town every morning and he got to play on the school playground and feed the chipmunks. At the campground he would take Snickers (my parent's dog) for a walk and go see the water wheel. He asked a lot to ride the four-wheeler - so my dad took him around for a short ride just about everyday.

Tuesday we rode the four-wheelers again up North of Creede where all the old mines are. Short history...Creede is an old silver mining town that was booming with a population of about 10,000 in 1892. All of the mines have been shut down for a while now - but you can still see several of them in the tour around the town. We actually rode up to a working site where they are doing new drilling for silver and gold at Equity Mine...of course the new technology isn't quite as amazing as the old technology they had. Amazing what people could do in the 1800's! Anyway...we got to go to Last Chance Mine where there is a guy who bought the land and has been working to restore it so that the public will one day be able to go inside the old mine.

That evening we all drove over to Lake City to celebrate with Joe and Shannon on their engagement and eat some great food provided by her family. We had to buy Gavin a new shirt once we got there because he got car sick on the way (a very easy thing to do as this road is VERY snake-ish). After dinner we went to a concert and hung out with the whole family. Gavin LOVES Joe-n-Shannon!

Wednesday was Independence Day! Creede has an amazing parade every year so I was super excited to be able to take Gavin to it. He learned very quickly how to wave and say "hi" to get candy and beads! He had a blast and kept asking about going to the parade several days after!

Wednesday was a great day...we cooked hot dogs and brats for lunch and then hamburgers for dinner. Happy 4th!!

Thursday we went full throttle and rode 14-miles up to Wheeler Geological Area, hiked up to Half-Moon Pass (about 6 miles round trip) and rode back out (another 14 miles). We never got wet!! Okay maybe a few sprinkles here and there...but not the downpour that we could see all around us! This is probably one of my favorite places to come to. It's amazing...google it if you want to find out more about it. Franklin had a grand 'ole time hiking up and around it. Can you see him?? :)

Needless to say...after that hike my poor body was TIRED. Last time I did this was pre-kid and somewhat in-shape days. My legs screamed at me for a few days!!

Friday we took it pretty easy. I went with my parents and took Gavin for a nice four-wheeler ride up to Love Lake. He did great...held on tight! He rode with me for a while and then he rode with Nana and Poppy for a while. We stopped and took some pictures in the aspen trees. Once we got to the lake he thoroughly enjoyed throwing rocks in the water and scaring all the fish away!!

AND...Saturday we left out back "home to Texas" as Gavin said. We stopped in Amarillo to sleep and then made it home on Sunday afternoon. Overall...Gavin did great in the car and we had a wonderful vacation.

Once again...a HUGE thanks to my parents for hosting us and helping out with little man.