a DAY in the life: July 2019

Day 1-

After an early morning loading up, we headed out. 13 1/2 hours and 6 or 7 (maybe 8) pitstops, we made it to Walsenburg CO where we checked into our B&B and had an amazing dinner outside on the patio! Chase ate every bite of a HUGE slice of Prime Rib. We spent the night (allllll night) listening to the trains blow through town.

Day2-

We got up early and went down to a local coffee/souvenir shop. The boys shopped while Zak and I enjoyed coffee. We went back to the B&B and had a nice home cooked breakfast, loaded up and headed out. We stopped in Creed on the way and shopped, had ice cream and Zak had MORE coffee. The town was covered in falling Cottonwood seeds. At first it was pretty. Looked like falling snow. Then it just got annoying (little did we know we would battle it the whole trip. Zak even having a near death experience our last day when he inhaled a large seed.) We love Creed!

We arrived in Lake City around 3:30, Zak got his fishing license in town and we checked into the Inn. The Inn was still as beautiful as ever. The boys immediately went to their "happy place", the creek, to build a dam. It's what they've been looking forward to for the last year. The stream was flowing much faster this year due to the harsh winter but they didn't care! We had pizza at a local Saloon and came back to the Inn to to watch a few fireworks the owners son had. We met all of the people at the Inn and knew we were in for a good week full of great people! The boys made friends with some kids staying at the apartments next to us and went down to the water to play a game of baseball with the snow covered mountains as their back drop.

Unfortunately, the town has had a lot of devastation from the harsh winter. It's covered in white sandbags to help with flooding from the avalanches that happened. In April, the town was declared a State of Disaster. They said there were over 50 avalanches around the secluded little town. One was said to be a mile wild. One of the avalanches took down the Sherrifs home with him and his daughters in it. After two hours, they were all found and recovered. The avalanches closed down roads and byways even closing down the Alpine Loop.

Day 3-

Today we rented a Razor. After an awesome breakfast and devotion, we started out to the American Basin where we heard there was snow! The drive up was so nice and beautiful. When we reached the American Basin, they were right, there was SNOW! Lots of it!!!! The boys even got to sled an throw a few snowballs but then, we got caught in an ice storm. Zak loved it. The boys and I were miserable. All I could think was, "we have to drive out of this with no cover!" We made it back into town quicker than we did going out looking at all the sights. We did stop when we saw a HUGE moose in the fields. He was spectacular! After drying out and a tiny rest, we went up Wagner Gulch to Carson, an old mining town almost to the Continental divide. It was tight and rocky and STRAIGHT UP getting there. I won't lie, I HATED IT! I begged Zak to turn around (maybe even cried) but he couldn't there was just no place. Thankfully it was a beautiful stop in Carson and getting back down was much easier. Aside from the couple of trucks and jeeps we ran into and had trouble passing. They literally had to drive up the mountain side to let us pass. Almost all the way down, a man came running out to tell us there was a bear. After a few minutes of looking we spotted him...RIGHT next to us. He wasn't a bit bothered by us and just carried on crossing the street right in front of us. We heard a few stories of bears getting into cars when we were there. Apparently they open door handles! Pretty cool to say we were so close! We had to get the Razor back into town and honestly I'd had enough adventure! We dropped it off and went to Cannible Grill to sit outside for dinner. The boys played and Zak tried a local beer flight he really enjoyed. Ice cream for dessert and then playing and smores at the Inn.

What an amazing change a year can make!

Day 4-

Our 14th Anniversary and a restful day! Chase and I started out the morning coloring on the patio. It was in the 30s so we didn't last long. We went inside and finished up then played Texas Monopoly, Chase style! We had another yummy breakfast and heard another great devotion about the "bs" (busy and stuff) that really made you think. We went to Sweetys Zoo where mom painted while the boys played and played and played (and ended up painting as well). We spent some time after shopping in town, having lunch and playing at the park on the giant rock. On the way back to the Inn the boys talked us into playing PuttPutt. Two mule deers even joined us. The boys went fishing when we got back and I got to have a NAP! For dinner we went to a nice restaurant in town called Elevation and had dinner to celebrate 14 years! What an awesome day and way to spend our anniversary. 14 years ago I had no idea what life would bring when I married Zak but I never imagined we'd be celebrating #14 in one of the most amazing places on earth with two of the most awesome kids around!

Day 5-

Today started with a devotion that REALLY touched my heart. After breakfast we went on a family hike up Williams Creek. We thought we made it to the end after about a mile, only to see another hicker who told us you had to cross a pretty long tree stump across a rushing stream to keep going. Chase was not really having it so we decided to head back. Which was fine because the hike was really nice and so beautiful. After that trail we continued to explore, stopping at a few other very small trails and walking paths. We had a snack at the bakery and went back to the Inn where Zak went fly fishing. We had an early dinner and Zak kicked some butt at Bingo wining the box of cookies he had his eye on and 8$!

Day6-

Look at that view we got to wake up to every single day! SO awesome! We spent the day out at Deer Lakes fishing....WITH A MOOSE! Right in the Water! The view was spectacular the boys had fun and Zak caught his first fish Fly Fishing, a Brookie. He was little but so pretty and Zak was sooooo excited! After a while the weather turned dark and thunder rolled in. Zak was a bit worried about getting caught in the rain on the winding rides so we headed back. Colt's reel wasn't working well when we were out there so when we got back into town we stopped and got him a new one. (Plus a few other souvenirs.) We headed to Lake San Cristabol by the Inn to try our luck with more fishing. We didn't have much luck. It was very windy and Zak spent most of his time pulling he boys lines out of the rocks. It was fun none the less. After dinner in town at Lake City Cafe, we came back to hang out with the volunteers and other guests at the Inn. One of my favorite parts of the trip was getting to know the people around us. We met some wonderful wonderful people. Chase even helped build a fire for smores and put the fire out at the end of the night. While Colt played one last game of baseball with new friends he met with snow covered mountains as their backdrop.

Day7-

Last year when we decided to go to Colorado for a vacation, we had NO IDEA what we would find. What we found was our happy place. Deciding to come back for a second year in a row wasn't hard. Knowing that it might be the last year David and Rosie run the Inn is what's hard. They have made this place into something not easily found anywhere else in the world. Today was suppose to be the day we left but we decided to extend our stay one more night. We think it's our best decision yet!

Today we had such a great "extra" day. It was full of lots of laughs and a few tears (poor Chase hates goodbyes!). After breakfast we drove the very curvy drive into Gunnison. We stopped at a really cool taxaderminy shop we found last year and the boys were in HEAVEN! After we walked down Main Street stopping for smoothies. We came back to Lake City and hung out. For dinner the boys requested their favorite pizza again and ice cream for dessert, of course! After ice cream they played at the park for a while and went back to the Inn to make a fire and smores. We sat and chatted with all of the people we met through the week and took in the view, praying it wouldn't be the last time we were there!