We began on August 28 with a drive to Durango, CO. We had not driven through this part of New Mexico before and it looks like it would be well worth a return to visit Chaco Canyon and a few other areas of northwest NM. Durango is a nice little mountain town offset by locals who have a love/hate relationship with the tourism that helps keep it afloat. We had a decent dinner at Carver Brewery, which boasted some excellent beers, boring menu, and terrible service. The next morning we went to the Narrow Gauge Railway Museum, which was very cool. Nigel crawled around on a few trains wishing he had packed his conductor hat and whistle. Definitely worth a weekend trip back to actually ride the train. We picked up some last minute camping supplies and hit the road to Mesa Verde.
Mesa Verde is a magical, eerie place. The Anasazi lived on the mesa for 700 years, first in pit houses, later pueblos, and finally elaborate cliff apartments. Around 1300, they disappeared. There is plenty of speculation on why they left, but no definitive theories have stuck. I first visited the national park with my family and the Schaefers in the '80s and I remember being mystified while climbing through the ruins and scaling ladders down sheer cliffs. Although this trip was equally intriguing, we also learned that 30 foot ladders are not the best idea for a two-year-old. We ended up exploring several of the mesa-top dwelling and looking at the cliff dwellings from a distance, but the full immersion will have to wait several years. Although we were there the weekend before Labor Day, the park seemed deserted. In fact, the closest neighbors in the campground were deer.
The next morning, we packed up the tent and drove west into Utah and north up to Moab. After hitting up a local playground, we had a kick ass lunch of sliders and salad at the Slick Rock Cafe, where everyone seems to wear bandannas. Maybe that's a Moab thing. We set up camp at Dead Horse Point, an amazing state park that overlooks the the northern edge of Canyonlands National Park. The views were completely amazing, especially at sunset and early in the morning. Quite an amazing place and it makes me want to return to explore the park and the canyons themselves. Nigel got his fair share of rock climbing in and perfected his rock jumping.
Of course, right next door to Canyonlands is Arches National Park, which we were also blown away by. Although we only did a drive-by tour with a couple of short hikes, it is still a massively impressive area that is quite humbling. Again, an area I would like to explore more thoroughly, preferably on foot.
The following day was spent with an easy drive to Salt Lake City where we laid around by the pool and attempted to decipher the accents of a group of Alabama truckers. Then we drove to Reno where daddy lost $150 and Nigel won enough tickets at Circus Circus to get a garbage truck. He also learned all about Reno Face.
After Reno and a quick drive down the Sierras, we finally made it to our destination. Nigel immediately went to work on his piano-playing underwear singing. Below are some pictures of pre-wedding activities, the rehearsal dinner at the Dream Inn, and the wedding itself. I didn't do a stellar job of taking pictures of the wedding, but here are a few good ones. Hopefully, we'll have a wedding album link in a few days, which I can post here. It was a spectacular party and everyone had loads of fun. Nigel performed as ring bearer with zero stage fright (shocker).
Although exhausted from a day of partying and toddler wrangling, we took a trip up to Half Moon Bay the next day for a barbeque at our friends Tim and Heather's house. Several college friends were there including Marcus and his wife Rose and John and Michelle. Everybody had kids! It's strange growing up...
On Labor Day, Grandma Corky drove down. Layna and her husband Dominic came by to visit with their son Oliver, and then we took a trip to San Jose to visit more friends and more kiddos at Hilary and Kerry's house. We saw Lauren, Amy, Irene, Todd, and all of their kids as well. Nigel had a blast riding around their little motorized car... at 2 mph.
The bulk of our drive back consisted of a Motel 6 in Bakersfield, a lunch in Kingman, and a nice night in Flagstaff. In Flag, we went to a great New Mexican restaurant called Cafe Ole'. Killer patio, great margaritas, and GREEN CHILE!!! It's really unbelievable how we are absolutely hooked on it and it really hit the spot, warding off withdrawals. We had a great time swimming in the pool at the motel, as well. And, of course, more trains in Flagstaff.
The next morning, we packed up to go to what has become one of our favorite spots of all time, Oak Creek Canyon and Slide Rock Park. The weather went south after we set up camp, thwarting our swimming plans, so we holed up in the tent for a little while before headin out in the downpour to the DQ. There, we feasted on Blizzards and Nigel had his first ice cream cone. True camping! The deluge only lasted about two hours and made for some neat, small waterfalls cascading down the giant red rocks. The next morning, we packed up early at hit Slide Rock by 9:30 a.m. A little early for swimming in the frigid water, but the sun was cooperating and the rocks warmed up nicely. A few slides down the chutes and some rock jumping and we were feeling great! The water proved too cold for Nigel, so he relaxed and ate snacks while mom and dad played.
A great trip and Nigel was a champion traveler. Thanks for all the fun times! It was truly wonderful to see everybody.
