Telluride.....Kayaking

When Irv and I kayak here in Illinois on the Fox River....it is calm water. There are no waves, it's pretty straight and there are certainly no rapids. When Irv, Matt and I kayaked on the San Miguel River in Colorado, it wasn't always calm, it was wavy because of the rock walls and there were rapids! We had a blast!! I don't know if I'll ever be able to kayak the Fox River again.

We drove quite a ways to get to the river. The rock walls actually kind of hung over the road in spots with signs that said, "Watch for falling rock!" Yikes!

It was a very, very long dirt road, and poor Adam was so full of dust it was awful.

Once again Matt was a wonderful instructor and made sure to tell us what to do if we tipped over or if we lost our paddle. Matt is learning how to kayak in rough water. He goes and practices tipping over so he can practice flipping back up again.

Irv really enjoyed the day. When we came upon rough water, he always picked the toughest route.A friend of Matt's loaned us these awesome inflatable kayaks. The only thing I didn't like is that anytime you hit a little wave, your butt got wet! Then the water stayed there in the little seat so you were sitting in a puddle the whole day!

I took my hat off for this picture, but I was covered from head to toe with my sun screen pants and jacket and I globbed on the sunscreen many, many times while we were out there. We were actually close to the desert and it was darn hot and very sunny.

I followed Matt along one of these walls and almost got dumped. The water was moving really fast and I tried to use my paddle to keep myself from smashing into the wall. It was actually pretty funny once I realized I wasn't going for a swim!

If you enlarge this photo you will be able to see a couple of cars that flew off the side of the cliff. One is right about in the center, and then if you look at that tree on the left, you can kind of see the one that is wrapped around the tree. The road was way, way up there. There were actually three cars but you can't see the other one in this picture. Matt said that they are able to retrieve the bodies of the people in the cars, but often times they can't get the cars out.....and THAT is why I HATE those creepy mountain roads that don't have any guard rails!!!

This is where we took out. We had already left Matt's SUV there, so we just had to load everything up and then drive back to where we put in to get Adam.

I was perfectly happy on the way back to take some shots of the river from the road, but Matt decided that we needed better pictures. So he climbed out on some ridiculous little ledge...scaring the hell out of me...to get this picture.

and last but not least....this little lizard was so funny. He would NOT let me take his picture. Every time I would get close he would run around to the other side of the rock. I told Matt to try and I stood in front of the lizard watching him. Matt came up from behind him. I think the lizard was entranced with my pink outfit and he never saw Matt behind him. Matt took about six pictures, each time getting closer and closer until he could almost touch the little guy. We were laughing so hard.

It was another great day in Colorado. Next time we visit...we will definitely kayak again!

Vacation Time....

It looks like our vacation in Colorado is back on! With the $400 repair work on my car and limited funds, our trip was uncertain. Then I cried and stamped my feet a bit and told Irv, "But I have to go on vacation!!!!" and now our trip is back on. I'm kidding......sort of. :)

I know that spending money right now isn't a very smart thing to do with the economy the way it is right now. We don't have a financial safety net to catch us if we fall...but each year I count on that trip. I count on it for time away, time with Irv, time with nature and time with Matt.

When our kids were little we rarely took vacations. We went to the Dells once or twice and were given a family trip to Disneyworld as a gift from Irv's employer at the time. Those were the only vacations we had back then. In more recent years, we have been to Colorado a couple of times and last year we went to Virginia to visit Michael and Bernadette.

I love packing up the car and getting in and just driving off. It's such an awesome feeling. I would definitely be one of those people that could hop in a car and drive around for months...wherever the road took me.

This year the road will take us back to Colorado, but this time to Telluride where we have never been. Telluride is a small town in the San Juan Mountains, surrounded by 13, 000 foot peaks.

I know a lot of people hate driving anywhere, but to me it is a wonderful part of the trip. I find it such a special time where Irv and I have hours (24 of them each way this trip) to just chat and plan and dream. I know Irv...the non-morning person, loves listening to me, the morning lover, chattering at 5:00 a.m.

The scenery is great for part of the trip and awful for part of it...I won't mention that big long state that starts with an N and ends with an A that is so flat and ho-hum where all you see are cattle...because I don't want to offend anyone. I'm sure it's a wonderful state. Most of northern Illinois isn't too pretty either. I just like the change of scene, no matter what it is.

I told Matt to find enough to keep us busy for 5 full days, and so far I know we will be kayaking down the beautiful San Miguel River that flows through town and visiting one of hot springs in the area, and I am sure we will be horseback riding in the mountains as well.

Ah.......vacation dreaming.