Visiting Colorado

We successfully made it to and from Colorado. Thanks for all the great road trip entertainment ideas. Julia was pretty content in the car, as long as I almost-constantly supplied her with various books, toys, snacks, and movies on the portable DVD player. I think we watched "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" a dozen times - and "Antarctic Antics" at least that many as well. (I do love the Scholastic Video Collection...but maybe not that much.) She did have a hard time the last two hours. But you can stand anything for a few hours when home is your destination!

We loved spending time with Grandpa Gene and Jenny and Salida, then Dad, Mom, Rudi, and Emy in Durango. But instead of writing all about our trip (which sounds exhausting right now, plus I have already done so in my journal) I made one of these fun wordles:

Oh, here are a few things I wanted to detail briefly:

-Julia LOVED the river. She would've splashed in the cold water all day.
-Julia LOVED the dogs. I thought she'd be scared of them, being bigger than her and all. But, as you can see from the pictures, she was crazy about them. (James and Danielle, I think she's ready to give Cocoa a second chance!) After the first day, the dogs were actually avoiding Julia! I guess she was a little too enthusiastic for them and they ran whenever the toddled toward them. It was hilarious to see the poor girl chasing them through the house and yard!
-Hiking Mount Shavano: We've had a goal to hike one of the famous Colorado Fourteeners (mountains that peak at or above 14,000 ft) with Julia this summer. Mt. Shavano is just outside of Salida, so we picked this 9.5 miler. We knew it would be a challenge, but we weren't aware of just how steep the trail would be! Part of it was shaded in a gorgeous forest, but it was like climbing up a rocky staircase. Above treeline, the trail was just as steep, but dusty and full of loose rocks. And the "trail" at the last stretch to the peak was composed of huge boulders, and even steeper than before. It really was very challenging. I can't remember the last time I had that feeling of discouragement on a hike ("How will we EVER get down this mountain?"). It was incredible and fun, but difficult most of all. Anyway, we were nearly to the top when we stopped to rest and let an upset Julia stretch her legs. We decided it was best to head down, since the climb to the top was very technical for baby backpacking. We were content, having made it up to 14,000 feet at least, and ready to start down. I don't know what was harder-the downhill or up. Let's just say we left that mountian after 5 and 1/2 hours with spaghetti legs. And walking up or down a staircase is still a little painful for me.

P.S. Jonny just came home with some interesting specifics about the hike. 4,600 ft elevation gain over 4.5 miles=20% grade. I guess that confirms the steepness. Oh, and don't worry, we kept a close eye on Julia for any signs of high altitude sickness. She was just fine.