Yesterday, I got back from vacation to Colorado with my family. Though I had absolutely no idea what we were doing or where we were going, I still had fun. :)
The trip started off like many others before it have. We woke up early in the morning, piled up in the car and picked up my grandmother from my mom’s side. We do this because she goes to visit some relatives that live in Lahoma, Oklahoma (near Enid, if you know where that is) while we go on our vacations (I don’t exactly know how she’s related, to them, though >_<. I think it’s her sister, but I really have no idea).
After the drop-off, we were in Panhandle country. If you’ve never had the displeasure of driving through the area between roughly the Rocky Mountains and the north-south line that crosses through Oklahoma City, then thank the heavens. This part of God’s Creation is the most flat, dull, hot, boring land you will ever see in your life. Avoid it if at all possible.
After about a day and three quarters of driving, we arrived in Durango, Colorado, which would be the proverbial “base camp” of our expedition. We left on Saturday and arrived in Durango sometime in the evening on Sunday. We pitched a tent (yes, we camped), made plans for the next day, and went to sleep.
On Monday things started getting a little bit hairy (no pun intended). We were scheduled to ride the Durango and Silverton Narrow-Gauge Railway that morning at 9:45. But, there was a little kink in the plan. We decided to bring the dog along with us on vacation (my mom got a Pomeranian recently), and no pets were allowed on the train. So we had to find a kennel and quick. After a couple of calls we found one, but we had to get him some kind of shot, so we rushed to the local vet, got the shot, and then went to the kennel. We arrived at the train and boarded.
Now, the train. It was fun… the ride up. If you ever want to go ride it, then I’d recommend you just ride the train one way and get back a different way (they offer a bus ride back). The ride is through some amazing scenery, but it’s loooong. We left at 9:45 AM and returned to Durango at 7:05 PM. That’s a shitlong ride. My suggestion is if you have an even number of people with you that half ride up in the train and half in the car, and then switch at Silverton (though, if that’s “legal”, I’m not sure >_>). We took a crapload of pics on the ride, and I’ll try to get some of those up on the Interwebs sometime and give a link or something.
For the next few days, we drove around the “San Juan Skyway” which is a scenic loop through Southwest Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. There’s really not much to actually right about here, seeing as how you can’t really show Nature’s beauty through text (well, I suppose you could, but I’m no such writer). Like I said though, there’ll be pics up sometime in the future and you can see for yourself. :p
After the long trek through the Skyway, we went to the Four Corners of USA, which was pretty neat. On the return, we stopped at this Italian restaurant in Cortez, Colorado called “Lotsa Pasta” (I forget the name of the pizza portion of the restaurant). It was amazing! If you’re ever going through Cortez, be sure to stop by and be sure to purchase the bread sticks!!! Damn, those things were amazing.
After Cortez, we were back to Durango, where we began the return trip home. I would say that the trip was pretty awesome except for one fact: I had a sinus infection. It really sucked. Headaches, running nose, coughing. Glad I’m going to the doctor for that. >_>
Basically, that was my trip.