Road Trip: October 2, 2011 Part 3

Dear Husband,

I am starting to forget what day it is.  This is a good thing.  In Durango, you arranged for us to rent a basement apartment from a local couple off of Craigslist.  Maybe it’s my free spirit, maybe it’s because I know you pick the best places, but I’m never ever skeptical about these things.   Our digs for the next few days are just off of the main street.  We couldn't find it for the life of us!  When Ron came out waiving, we drove through a long gravel driveway to the back of the house. 

Ron, the man who owns the place, is a cowboy kind of guy.  His truck outside reads the name of his local business- something about asphalt repair.  I guess that answers our question about what do people do for a living here.  He wears worn boots and jeans that show the outline of his wallet in his pocket.  We walked down a staircase on the back of the house, and I could hear water rushing really close to us, but it was too dark to see anything.  Ron brought us down to the apartment and he and his 2 fat-as-all-get-out Boston Terriers showed us around.  We smiled as he demonstrated how to work the TVs with lengthy explanation.  The apartment is a living room, kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom.  There are small iron heaters with wooden logs in each room.  So cozy.  So perfect.  You pick the best places.   

Ron left us saying we could stay an extra night, or 6 months if we want.  If he only knew how much we wanted to accept that offer!

After we unpacked, we walked about a mile to Steamworks Brewing Co. for dinner and drinks.  We had some of the best beer ever- you a kloch, and I had a Lizard Head Red.  They had a huge chalkboard with every beer listed, its alcohol content (PS I would need this at another brewery we visit), and about 10 other stats on each beer that made no sense to  me.  Let's be honest, I picked my beer like I pick my horses- the one with the best name.

We split pizza and salad and somehow we left the apartment without a camera.  We chatted with our waitress about life in our dream town- she and her husband have been in Durango for 10 years.  She doesn't look a day over 25.

On our walk home, we ran across a drunk man stumbling down the sidewalk.  We laughed.  Why did we laugh?!  We couldn't figure out how to get around him- he took up the whole sidelwalk, and you had the bright idea to sprint past him and run all the way home.  I followed laughing the whole way.   

 

You have bewitched my heart, Mr. Carroll.  This is the best trip of my life.

Road Trip: October 2, 2011 Part 2

Dear Husband,

You don't let me drive up here.  Every time I ask, you always say “It’s tough driving up here”.  I haven’t seen any wolverines jump across the road or any falling boulders.  No avalanches either, but I just smile because I know you actually just want me to read to you.   

When I was working at the church book store last month, a Goggle-esque woman strolled in to return 3 books to the library.  When I asked how she liked them, she told me she has been reading to her husband for 50 years whenever they drive somewhere.  He hates reading, like someone I know, and she found that he loves for her to read to him.  They finished those 3 books in 2 weeks.

I love that she was gracious enough to let us steal her tradition.

We chose Unbroken as our Road Trip book.  It lays out the life of an Olympic runner who was drafted into World War II.  I read it out loud to you, and just when I think you’re not listening, you shout “that’s insane!” and I love it so much.  It speaks to my bookworm heart.   

On the road from Santa Fe across the border of Colorado, we didn’t read as much- the views are too pretty to miss and I start to recognize pieces of this road.   

We drove this route every summer when I was a kid going from NM to Goggle’s house in Pagosa Springs.  I told you I thought we were coming up on a huge cave to the left, and sure enough, it showed up in the next few miles.  I was about 10 the last time I saw that, I think.  I can’t believe I remembered where that was.   

 We drove up as close as we could to the echo ampitheatre, but they make you pay to drive up to it now.  Pretty lame the way they take things and try to figure out how to make money off of it.  Gross.

When we crossed the border of Colorado/New Mexico, we couldn't wait to get out of the car.  So we did.

We rolled into Pagosa Springs around 5:00.  The sun was just tipping over the mountains and we could smell the sulfur springs.  On the main street, we saw the theatre I remember going to as a kid when we spent summer days at Goggle’s.   We passed the library I volunteered at, the golf course, and finally arrived at her house.  It looks the same, though they painted the entire thing a very dark chocolate brown.  

 

The people who bought it use it as a vacation home, so no one was there.  We walked around the back to the green of the 15^th hole where we took pictures of the back deck where I used to wait for my dad as he played through that hole.  I told you stories about the golf course, her back yard, and everything I remembered there.  I cried.  Duh.

From Pagosa, we were on our way to Durango.  Your favorite part.  The whole 50 miles there, we talked about the summer you spent working at Kanakuk in Durango, all of your favorite places, and where we would go when we got there.  It was the most incredible drive I have seen so far.  I have no words for it.