Camping in Silverton

We made it to Silverton last weekend for our first camping adventure with Sarah. We stayed at Molas Lake Campground right outside of Silverton and it was gorgeous. Our campsite was right on the lake. It was a bit chilly with the wind coming off the water but still a great spot. We enjoyed lunch in the camper once Kirk had it set up followed by a visit from the local duck family. A mama and her babies waddled up to the site with no problem to enjoy pieces of hoagie buns and bagels. We had to cut them off at some point so we still had food for breakfast and lunch the next day.


After lunch we piled into the truck, knowing Sarah would not take a nap in the camper, and headed off to drive around Silverton. The town is small and unique with a true old western flavor. Once out of town we started up a dirt road that eventually turned into a 4 wheeling adventure up to Animas Forks. We found out after the trip that Animas Forks was an old west ghost town. Spooooky. When we got up there, Sarah was out for the count. So I stayed back in the truck while Kirk toured around the old mining village. He took amazing pictures.

After the Animas Forks tour, Sarah was starting to wake up in time for us to go back to Silverton and walk around the town. First stop, Rocky Mountain Funnel Cakes for Sarah’s first taste of the yummiest funnel cake. We also made a stop at Silverton Brewery to pick up a growler of IPA for Kirk and I to enjoy during dinner and at home.
We had a yummy dinner of spaghetti followed by more duck visits, a campfire and smores. Again, it was Sarah’s first taste of the smore goodness. She was a fan of the marshmallow and chocolate separate. We let her spin out of control and then it was time to settle down for the evening. I ended up sleeping with her which was not that bad other than I did find out how much of a kicker my daughter is when sleeping. We had a great morning with duck and chipmunk visits before packing up to head back home. Sarah talks about camping a bunch and wants to see the “duckies”. She was a trooper and loved every minute of it which was great!

We started Mom and Tot tumbling class this week. The local dance/gymnastics gym offers the class once a week for the little ones to fine tune their motor skills and burn calories. Sarah loved the trampoline, balance beam and bar. We are excited to return next week.

11 Years!

We celebrated our 11th year wedding anniversary on Saturday. One of Sarah’s day care teachers came over to take care of her while we enjoyed an amazing dinner at Ken and Sue’s in Durango.

Kirk took Friday off so that we could escape for the majority of the day in the San Juan Mountains near Durango Mountain Resort. We had intended on hiking Engineer Mountain (suppose to be Flattop Mountain, which is on the edge of town in Anchorage, but on steroids). “Intended” is the key word and we found hitting the EASY button wasn’t the best approach. After taking a trail that was advertised to be more of a gentle incline with less traffic, we found that we should have just followed the crowd on the more popular trail. We ended up at the base of Engineer but not without a couple of hours of bush wacking and climbing straight up vs. the gentle incline. It was a good workout and left the muscles sore the next day. But once we were at the top near the base, the view was amazing. It was also too late for us to attempt the summit and make it back to Farmington in time to pick up Sarah from daycare. So we vowed that we would return in the next couple of weeks to conquer.

We are making plans for our maiden voyage in the pop up camper trailer this coming weekend. “Intended” destination: Silverton. Wish us luck!

Another Tri!

I attempted my second triathlon on Saturday in Durango. I participated in the Durango Rec Center sprint triathlon - 500 yard swim, 13 mile road bike and 5k run. The bike was along a country road with tall red mountains on both sides and endless pasture/ranches. I told Kirk that if we choose Durango for a retirement location, I want to live on this road! The run was along the Animas River trail. It was neat to have the Narrow Gauge train come through with tourists that were cheering us on during the run. The only hitches along the race were monster calf muscle cramps in both legs as I was coming into the final stretch of the bike (it felt like someone was pulling the muscle out of my leg) and feeling like I had heavy lead legs coming off the bike and transitioning to the run. The lead leg feeling happened last time so I was expecting it but man ol'man, I felt like I was running in extreme slow motion. But the sunshine was in abundance, the vibes were good and I finished about the same time as the last triathlon. So no overall improvement to brag about but not bad considering my preparation for this race wasn't hard core. Plus I took my time during the transitions to make sure my energy gel and fluid intake were better than the last time.

Tri the Rim Results (April 2009)
Swim (includes time to swim, get out of pool and run to transition area entrance): 13:54
T1: 1:23
Bike: 48:35
T2: 0:24
Run: 30:17
Overall: 1:34:33

Durango Rec Center Results (Aug 2009)
Swim (includes time to swim, get out of pool and run to transition area entrance): 13:37
T1: 2:09
Bike: 49:25
T2: 1:01
Run: 28:06
Overall: 1:34:18

I don't have pictures from the event because while I was racing, Kirk and Sarah were enjoying the leizure pool and slides at the rec center. Family fun for all!

Vegas Baby!

Kirk and I enjoyed a long weekend in Vegas while Sarah stayed home with Kirk’s parents. We flew out early Thursday and returned Sunday morning. The forecast for Vegas during our mini-vaca called for 115 deg F highs with extreme heat warnings. So we stayed in air conditioned buildings for the most part.

Our flight to/from Vegas took us over the Grand Canyon in an area that allowed aircraft below 15,000 ft. The views were amazing from the air. We flew into Henderson Executive Airport in Vegas which is the premier spot for business and celebrity travel. The treatment upon landing and taxing to the fuel dock was top notch. We were both in heaven after flying 2.5 hours.

We stayed at Treasure Island, now re-branded as “TI”. The entire hotel was recently remodeled so the rooms were nice. We had a great view of the strip overlooking the Mirage, Venetian, Caesars Palace and could see a bit of the Bellagio water fountain show in the afternoons/evenings.

We had a great time eating well, shopping up a storm (I heart the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale!), hitting the nightclubs and attending The Fray’s concert at the Palms. Jack’s Mannequin opened up for The Fray and they were great. The Fray’s show was fantastic and though our seats were up at the top level, the venue was designed so that every seat in the house had a close, great view. (we were surprised how well the picture turned out)

When we arrived on Thursday, we called to get our names on the guest list for Tao, the hot nightclub at the Venetian. I guess being on the guest list meant your wait outside was shorter. We still had to pay to get in but we were convince that was because we weren’t dressed like the rest of the hip, Vegas crowd in the short dresses, platform stilettos and in True Religion from top to bottom. We enjoyed people watching as we nursed our beers and walked through the club. The main dance area was huge with several small tables on the perimeter roped off with velvet rope. We couldn’t tell who the people were in the roped off areas. But one table definitely appeared to be occupied by either NFL or NBA players. These guys were huge! The music was loud playing the typical “inst, inst, inst” techno stuff with the occasional tribute to MJ (can we give it a rest already?). There were girls in minimal lingerie dancing on elevated areas around the main dance floor along with other topless women in small tubs “dancing”. It was interesting to watch and neat to say we went but after being there for about an hour, Kirk and I were done. We realized that we felt old and the nightclub scene wasn’t our thing anymore since we were thirty something and married with a kid.

On Saturday we decided to take it easy and catch a movie. What better place to watch "The Hangover" than in Vegas. Kirk and I haven't laughed that hard in quite some time. It's a definite must see. I laughed so hard that I cried many times throughout the show.

Some other highlights of the trip included: a great dinner at Emeril Lagasse’s steak restaurant Delmonico at the Venetian on night one (we dressed up for dinner and it was great!), the great finds at other shops, seeing the B-52’s singer Fred Schneider at the Forum Shops in Caesars Palace, the little person dressed as Elvis singing “Sexy Back” on the strip, but mainly walking hand in hand with each other and enjoying three days with no schedules (except for making the concert and any dinner reservations reasonably on time).

First Tea Party

Sarah was able to enjoy her first tea party during the 4th of July weekend with her cousins, grandma, aunt and I. Grandma Darlene (aka Gaga - Kirk's mom) and her sister Deree brought antique bone china tea cups and saucers, special cakes, white lacy gloves, hats and tea for the girls. Sarah drank her juice but we called it tea for fun. The little cakes were a hit and it took just about the entirety of the tea party for Sarah to warm up to wearing her hat. The gloves never made it on. We had a great time watching the girls be girls!

4th of July Weekend

We had a great time over the July 4th weekend. We spent 5 days with Kirk’s family in Delta, CO and attended the Cherry/Porterfield (Kirk’s mom’s side) family reunion. It was great visiting with everyone including those we haven’t seen since our wedding almost 11 years ago. Sarah had a blast with her cousins Ann Marie and Maura along with their doggies Sophie and Angel. She still talks about the doggies to this day. Kirk was able to get on the Gunnison with his dad and cousin for fishing too! It was a blast.

We were able to finally retrieve the Cessna after it being out of commission with the annual and prop refurbish. We got it just in time for our Vegas trip this weekend without the kiddo.

Kirk and the boys - cousins Matt and Chris.

Water fight! There were many squirt gun fights during the weekend with Ann Marie, Maura, daddy and cousin Chris.

Maura reading "Robert the Rose Horse" to Sarah. Sarah enjoying peas right out of the garden. Sarah was able to pick the first cherry tomato from Papa's garden. Playing with the doggies.

Sinus Upate

I went to an ENT/allergy doctor in Durango for a second opinion. His thoughts - no surgery. Instead, let's do allergy testing come late fall to determine what gets me in the spring. From that we can start allergy treatments. If I start to develop a cold or sinus problem, then it's steroid time along with a major saline flush with this Nalgene type bottle he gave me. That's going to be fun. Then if it gets worse, we will try an antibiotic flush. (never knew that existed) If allergies are the culprit the surgery won't do any good. So I think for now, the surgery option is being put on the shelf alongside my tuck and new boobs. :-)