Silverton & Ouray

For the last full day we drove the Durango-Silverton-Ouray route through the mountains. It was so green compared to the orange and rust colors of Canyonlands.

The road was crazy curvy and really narrow at times!We stopped at the cute towns of Silverton & Ouray and checked out some of the stores and sights. There was also a motorcycle rally that weekend.

A steam train runs from Durango to Silverton.

It was such a fun trip and was so glad to be able to spend such an extra long weekend with Lisa & Erik!

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Canyonlands & Mesa Verde

We hiked the 6 miles round trip trail to Chesler Viewpoint had some outstanding views.

After the hike we drove about 2 ½ hours to Mesa Verde and caught a tour of the Cliff Palace.

The Four Corners & Canyonlands

The ranger at the Aztec ruins inspired us to go to Canyonlands with a detour at the Four Corners.

The drive leading up to our camp site took us on top of mesa and through so many different landscapes. Our red Nissan Sentry got hit by a rock when we passed a trunk on a gravel road. Two cracks traveled almost halfway through the windshield. That was the only hiccup to the road trip.

We set up camp and blew up our pool floaties as our camping pad which worked fairly well for $2 a pop.



We took a couple short walks near by to admire the bright sunset.

Kokopelli’s Cave B&B

Manager, Gayle and Terrell, guided us to the amazing 300+ acre property on top of a cliff. The cave was originally meant to be an office for a geologist but later turned into a B&B.

We explored the property and were awed by the beauty and privacy of the place. Each step brought us to more and more amazing views. A sunset, some lightning and even a sunrise!

The managers encouraged us to feed the ring-tailed cats and chipmunks who came to visit us. They had containers of cat food for them.

Durango Road Trip

Lisa and Erik both got to Durango earlier in the day and picked me up from the airport a little before midnight. Erik had endured a 36-hour Amtrak/Grayhound journey to get there. During the day they bought our trip food which included many of my guilty pleasures: Little Debbie oatmeal pies, Spaghetti-O’s and Velveeta Mac & Cheese!

We woke up early the next day and headed to Farmington, New Mexico. We checked out some Aztec (not of Mexico) ruins.



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Kim & Brian Tie the Knot at the Hide Out

We spent an amazing weekend celebrating Kim and Brian's wedding at the Hide Out located in the Sierras near Kirkwood. Congrats you two!!

The entire weekend was so much fun and the location was stunning. We camped on the property with several other friends.


The 30+ person hot tub built into the granite rocks.



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Happy Birthday to Me

To take care of wedding stuff we made another trip up to Tahoe around my birthday. Once again it was a super fun weekend. Sharon, our wedding coordinator, filled our bellies and got us boozed up for our tasting, giving us a healthy start to our weekend. We took the tunnel tour at the Cal Neva which was pretty interesting but we didn't see any ghosts.



There was also a mini cooper rally going on during our stay.

Led Zepagain happened to be playing at the casino next door and we were glad we checked it out. They were a fun band and great to watch. We even left the casino with a little extra money in our pockets after a successful run on the craps table.

For my birthday, Kevin took me to Soule Domain, a nice restaurant inside a log cabin. Everything was delicious and we split a two giant scoops of vanilla ice cream at the end of the meal.

During the weekend we also had a chance to take the happy hour cruise on Lake Tahoe.

For my actual birthday I came home to an ice cream cake.

A week later I got another surprise from Kevin, an iPad!!