As promised, I am filling all of you in on our weekend in the mountains.
Heath knows a coach that owns a small cabin in the mountains southwest of us....near the Spanish Peaks between Walsenburg and Trinidad. It is about a 3 hour drive, but to my surprise.....it went very fast and was beautifully scenic. We passed through several small/quaint towns and it was a very lovely drive.
I didn't take many photos on the way down, but this was an interesting formation of land. It reminded Heath of a gorilla.
We had some great directions but had some trouble figuring out the correct gate. We had a combo number and figured, we get the right combo....it will be the right gate. Well, there are three gates to the property but only one really takes you right to the cabin. So, after going down the wrong one (and the only gate we could get open) we finally decided we needed help. We went back to the water treatment plant we had passed coming in and found a helpful guy and who let us use a land line to call the owner of the cabin (we had no cell service at this point). We also got more specific information about the mountain man who watches over the property, Mr. Butch Quinn. We were able to locate the correct gate, but could not get the lock to open and that is when we went for help at Butch's house. We found that this was the right choice because he told us of trees across the trail. He loaded up his WD-40 and a chainsaw on his 4 wheeler and we were off to finally get to our destination.
On the other side of the gate, it didn't look like much of a trail for a car. It was and interesting path and Heath really enjoyed putting the Lexus to the hill climbing test. He was having a ball while Layne sat in the back seat "oh my, I'm not looking" is all she said over and over again. It was a very bumpy ride of about a mile and a half. We made three stops to clear out some trees that were blocking the way.
The cabin was a little bigger than we thought, two rooms, a bathroom and a loft. I am not sure when the family that owns it was last there, so we had to do some sweeping. We moved a few things around and unpacked.
Layne trying out her bed and Pedro resting a bit.
Sully made himself at home right away.
Baly found her spot on the rug.
We did take a little time to look around and check out our surroundings. It was really beautiful and remote.
This was the wonderful view from the front porch.
Some other photos of our exploring.
Layne trying to climb a tree, a tree that was a little too small.
This was the spot I enjoyed to go sit at in the morning and drink my coffee!! You can see behind us how it opens up into this huge valley and there were great rocks to sit on and just listen to nothing.
It was around 6ish when that was all done and time to start cooking. Butch had told us there was a NO FIRE warning out, so that meant that all cooking would be done on the stove we brought. We have never used the stove, but it performed wonderfully. We had some veggie burgers and sauteed veggies for dinner, it was great!!
After dinner we retired to the front porch, I had brought a conversation starter-type game and Layne asked us questions. It sparked some interesting talk and made us laugh a lot. Layne also spilled all the cards.
Just a silly picture of Heath.
Sleeping was OK, we had an air mattress that stayed up most of the night. I slept better after my short awakening at 6 am. I think we all got up finally at 9!!
We made breakfast and coffee and after eating I headed out to my favorite spot and just sat and enjoyed the silence. We went on a little hike but really just did nothing!! It is pretty hard to do but enjoyable if the surroundings are right. Layne enjoyed (I think) some significant time just snuggled up on the lounge chair and reading all morning.
Heath making breakfast....
Layne snuggled up on the porch and reading all morning.
That evening we played a little trivial pursuit (music specific questions) and then headed to bed. I didn't sleep great and the air mattress was not as good the secong night, but I slept enough.
I do have to mention that I think our dogs probably had the best time. This was more of a vacation for them!! They ran and explored and then just slept on the porch all day.....they were so happy. I was nervous for Pedro's life most of the weekend. He liked to sneak away but I was so scared a large bird (or something) might just snatch him up for a snack. He did survive the weekend!!
A few pictures of the dogs and how much they loved the cabin.
Roxy and Pedro resting on the porch.
Monday morning we took our time to eat breakfast, pack up and load the car. The dogs were a little reluctant to get in the car and Roxy jumped out to go lay back down on the porch.
I am not sure how much Layne enjoyed the weekend and we are all struggling with the beginning of the teen years. I know that being in a remote cabin with your parents isn't the greatest thing to do, but I hope some day she looks back on it with fond memories. We will keep trying and keep making her do stupid things that aren't cool!! That is what we are suppose to do.
"Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass ... it's about caring and loving your relatives and friends while you can touch and see them, and they are still among us."
Here is the last of the photos we took on our way out.
This was the only wildlife we saw all weekend....on our way back down the hill.
I think our weekend was good....it is always just so much work to pack everything up when going camping or staying in a rustic cabin. We probably always take too much also!! It was really great to get away and relax with nothing to do. I hope we are able to back again this summer.
