Colorado...

was perfect!!
we left Friday after work, and drove all through the night to get to Colorado by Saturday morning. I started out the first shift, driving from Bryan all the way to Amarillo. It was 3:30-4am when we switched, and I immediately fell asleep! Matt had gotten some good rest while I was driving though, so he could be ready. I woke up about 7 and we were in Colorado, making our way west and about to buy groceries! We stopped in Alamosa to get groceries, stopped in South Fork to get fishing licenses, and stopped in Creede to eat lunch and kill time. We went to the Mining Museum in Creede and ate at the Old Firehouse restaurant. The weather was kind of rainy, but a nice mix of sun and clouds. About 2 oclock we headed up the mountain, stopping at Clear Creek Falls on our way. It is the most photographed waterfall in Colorado (so I hear) and it is absolutely gorgeous. We drove around and stopped at some scenic overlooks, before heading up to the Rio Grande Reservoir and Lost Trail Ranch where we were staying. We got to our cabin, unpacked, and settled in for the night.

Sunday, we decided to take it easy since we had so little sleep and not much time to adjust to the change in altitude: from 600 feet to 10,000+ feet in 16 hours! Not just wonderful on the body. We slept in, and decided to not hike but drive to where we were going to fish. It was rainy all day on and off, but we went to Ute Creek and Brewster Park to practice our fly fishing. We ate steaks and veggies grilled over the campfire, and made s'mores!

Monday, we thought we were acclimated enough to head up Lost Trail and pack our waders, fly rods, snacks, etc and fish Lost Trail Creek. I was dizzy most of the way up, because its 3 miles to good fishing and verrrry vertical! But we made it, and I caught 2 fish! Matt had some bites, too. I had worn my hiking boots that were about 8 years old, and they gave me a horrible blister on my left heel! We cooked our two fishies for dinner, and supplemented with some good ol' spaghetti.

Tuesday, we had planned on leaving to do our overnight backpacking trip. However, with my blister screaming at me every time I walked, we decided to go driving around instead. We headed to Lake City, a quaint little town tucked in a valley. From there, we headed up a four wheel drive road to Cinnamon Pass, which is 13,000+ feet! The road was one way, rocky, gravel/dirt, and a steep drop-off on our left side... whew! I was a bit nervous, but Matt did great driving and we lived. We made our way over the pass and into Silverton, an old mining town. We ate lunch here and got some awesome fudge! We kept on our way to Durango, and I think this is my new favorite town. It's so beautiful! It's small, but big enough. It's quaint, but modern enough. It's like a mixture of Fredericksburg Main Street with a larger-town feel and more conveniences. LOVE it. We went to Main St. and walked up and down going into shops and talking. It was getting late, and we still had a long way to go to be back by dark, so we hit the road and headed over to Wolf Creek Pass, and back through South Fork, and 'home'.

Wednesday, we woke up earlier than usual, and drove to the Squaw Creek trail head where we could hike up the trail and go fly fishing. This was a fun day! I got 3 fish and Matt got a few smaller ones. We were gone for quite a while! We also went to the Rio Grande, but nothing was biting. Bummer. We also picked some wild mountain raspberries and I made a cobbler that night with dinner. We taught a couple of the guys at the ranch how to play washers, and they liked it. We also taught them 42 and we ended up playing every night. They stayed to eat dinner with us; homemade enchiladas! A taste of Texas.

Thursday was interesting. It had rained all night and all morning. We slept in because you cant do anything in the middle of nowhere in Colorado in the rain. When it finally broke, we went to a nearby creek to fish. The water, which is usually crystal clear and beautiful, was brownish green from all the rain and runoff. We tried fishing, but the fish couldnt see anything! A big thunderstorm snuck up on us, so we had to sit under a rock/cave and wait it out so we didnt get soaked or struck by lightning! The rest of the day was lazy, spent reading and hanging out at the cabin. We played washers and Uno til midnight.

Friday was bittersweet; we knew we wanted to make the most of our last day there, but we also had to be responsible and pack up and clean everything. It was a bummer having to pack up and say goodbye on such a gorgeous day! It was about 65 degrees, and a cloudless, sunny sky. We woke up early to hike up Lost Trail again to fish. This fishing was a LOT more productive! Matt caught a 12 inch trout! We had lots of fun. The hike was about 6 miles roundtrip. When we got back to the cabin, I took the truck to look for and pick more raspberries so I could make one more cobbler! We packed up and played washers and horseshoes til it was time for dinner. This time, we had the guys over for dinner again and played 42 and Uno and Scattagories until about 2am! Needless to say, we were exhausted the next day which was....

Saturday! We woke up at 6am to try and clean and pack the truck and get dressed for our day. We headed out about 8am and were on our way to Santa Fe! We got there about 1pm and spent the afternoon in downtown Santa Fe shopping and eating. We had a nice la quinta hotel room, and took a nap before we went out again for dinner at my favorite restaurant, Maria's. It was a wonderful dinner and evening.

Sunday, we woke up to make the looooong drive back to Bryan, Tx! It was hotter and hotter the more we drove and we were getting terribly depressed thinking of how we went from 50 degrees to 105 degrees in a little over a day. But, we made it home safely and soundly, with great memories and pictures, and there's nothing to compain about because we had a perfect trip!

Colorado, we will be back as soon as possible!! Thanks for a fun time!