Monday in Telluride was awesome for everyone but me! The kids were super excited about the new camp ground with all of the amenities. Our kids immediately made friends and were at the park right next to us all day. We are camping at Town Park in Telluride. The park has a swimming pool, baseball fields, 2 playgrounds, showers, bathrooms and is right on the edge of town. It takes us 25 minutes to walk leisurely to other side of town where the grocery store is located. There are also 2 skate/bmx parks and free wifi. Happiness was everywhere, except I was bored to death! Dispersed camping required that I was doing something all the time. I was busy. For every meal I was bringing things from the car to camp and back to the car when we finished eating. We played in the creek and we explored. We packed up for the park in Silverton. Here – I am sitting on my computer answering the emails that have been stacking up and working on schoolwork. I might as well be at home!
Telluride may not be my preferred camping style, but I love this town. Honestly, we are all in love. It is a Norm Rockford perfect town. You can walk everywhere and the cars actually stop for you! Dogs are everywhere walking off leash, but they aren’t the vicious dogs I encounter I Phoenix. These dogs go exactly where they are suppose to and show no interest in us. Even when we put our hand out hoping to make friends they ignore us and go about their business. My kids, dissatisfied with our dog (she is more of a lap dog then a play with me dog) found dogs at the park to throw sticks for and play with while the owners watched a local baseball game. There are trails everywhere and even a pedestrian path that you can bike or walk (or run) on. The town looks like a movie set. My whole family wants a part in this movie. Ava made friends with super sweet local girls (They have everything in common!!!) and this cemented her love for the town. Alas, we cannot afford this perfect little town
Our first night did not finish with a smile. We walked to the grocery store to buy wine only to find out they do not sell it there and I did not need to walk all the way across town. When it was time to go to sleep I discovered someone had spilled water all over my sleeping bag. I can’t remember what else happened, I just know I was pissy. The night was much colder than I remember it being in Silverton and the ground was much harder. I thought would sleep better because I was less concerned about bears in such a crowded area. WRONG!!! And bathrooms are great, but not when they are locked from 10pm until 5am and you have to poop at 2:30am! Unlike dispersed camping, we are right on top of our neighbors and there really isn’t any place to go…
Tuesday arrives and Norm and I get a nice easy run in. After our run we changed clothes and walked back to the grocery for breakfast items (stopping for coffee on the way). We made eggs and bacon and bought orange juice. After a steady diet of bars during the day, my family ate like they hadn’t seen food in years! We have only been making dinner and breakfast and lunch have been crackers, bars and fruit.
Telluride may not be my preferred camping style, but I love this town. Honestly, we are all in love. It is a Norm Rockford perfect town. You can walk everywhere and the cars actually stop for you! Dogs are everywhere walking off leash, but they aren’t the vicious dogs I encounter I Phoenix. These dogs go exactly where they are suppose to and show no interest in us. Even when we put our hand out hoping to make friends they ignore us and go about their business. My kids, dissatisfied with our dog (she is more of a lap dog then a play with me dog) found dogs at the park to throw sticks for and play with while the owners watched a local baseball game. There are trails everywhere and even a pedestrian path that you can bike or walk (or run) on. The town looks like a movie set. My whole family wants a part in this movie. Ava made friends with super sweet local girls (They have everything in common!!!) and this cemented her love for the town. Alas, we cannot afford this perfect little town
Our first night did not finish with a smile. We walked to the grocery store to buy wine only to find out they do not sell it there and I did not need to walk all the way across town. When it was time to go to sleep I discovered someone had spilled water all over my sleeping bag. I can’t remember what else happened, I just know I was pissy. The night was much colder than I remember it being in Silverton and the ground was much harder. I thought would sleep better because I was less concerned about bears in such a crowded area. WRONG!!! And bathrooms are great, but not when they are locked from 10pm until 5am and you have to poop at 2:30am! Unlike dispersed camping, we are right on top of our neighbors and there really isn’t any place to go…
Tuesday arrives and Norm and I get a nice easy run in. After our run we changed clothes and walked back to the grocery for breakfast items (stopping for coffee on the way). We made eggs and bacon and bought orange juice. After a steady diet of bars during the day, my family ate like they hadn’t seen food in years! We have only been making dinner and breakfast and lunch have been crackers, bars and fruit.
Eggs and bacon for the family!
Ava and I hiked a fun trail that runs along a waterfall. Ava pushed through her fears to sit on a ledge over looking the falls. It was so beautiful! Everywhere you turn here there is a beautiful waterfall! I took refuge the daily afternoon storm at the library. I ran into Ava’s friends – they were suppose to meet her at the park, but the storm is pretty bad today. We were able to exchange numbers so Ava could see them again. And it worked! They texted later in the evening and Ava took off to have fun. We have barely seen Sinjin as spends all his time at the park with a friend from camp or playing with the dogs from town. With 2 skate parks, the teenage boys are always gone. Norm and I were able to enjoy some time alone as we finished our dinner. We then took a walk around town and had some ice cream together. The kids didn’t get home until it was dark out (that is after 9pm in Colorado).
Hiking with Ava on Bear Creek Trail in Telluride
Wednesday morning Sinjin woke up and was completely done with camping. Lots of tears. I was on my way to get coffee with Norm so we took him with us and bought him a breakfast croissant at Baked in Telluride. Nothing like a flaky pastry in a warm bakery to improve one’s mood! There is a big storm coming in the afternoon so I was trying to get everyone out of camp to hike to snow fields. The hike was not enjoyed by all. Sinjin was pretty much miserable after 10 minutes. Ava was a trooper but after 2 hours and still not making it to the Wasatch Trail she was over it too. Luckily so was Enzo’s friend Joey. Ava and Joey headed back to camp and Enzo and I pushed on. Luckily, Enzo has my competitive gene and he wanted to rub it in the faces of the oethr kds that he made it to the top and they did not. We were rewarded by coming to the Wasatch trail in just a few minutes. Steep climbs were taking their toll on Enzo. I have been lucky to not really feel affected by the altitude but my family has not been as lucky. When Norm left us early to take Sinjin back to camp, he also took the day pack with he bladder full of water. Enzo was drinking a lot so I stopped drinking to make sure he could have my water if I needed. I knew I could deal with a little dehydration and I could drink out of the waterfall if I had necessary. I wasn’t sure if we were high enough up for the water to be ok and I didn’t want Enzo getting sick. (I am really a freshman camper and this trip is way over my head, but in all things I never think I can’t do something.) We pressed on, but eventually Enzo was worried that he would not have enough energy to make it down to camp and I was worried about the storm moving in so we headed back down. Enzo agreed to run down the trail with me and it took us no time to get back to Bear Creek Trail. He might be a trail runner after all… We did stop for a quick trip to climb into a waterfall. It was amazing! We could feel the cold water misting us. We also took the time to make a cairn out on rock close to the falls. We made it back to camp before the storm and starving! Enzo said to me “We should do things like this more often.” DUH!
Sinjin enjoys a pastry and catches up on the local news.
Cool find hiking in Telluride
Enzo and Me at the Waterfall by Wasatch Trail on Bear Creek Trail.
We hiked/scaled walls to get closer to this waterfall. So much fun!
The plan was to take refuge in the library for the afternoon, but first I had to get laundry to the awesome person in Telluride that does laundry. Sinjin really wanted to walk around town by himself. I carefully went over the map with him and made sure he understood where everything was located. We gave him some money and the map and off he went to town with a reluctant Ava. When I showed up at the library they were already there. The kids spent some time reading and I even let them use the computers. Leaving the library we all split into groups and did some shopping, coffee and treats and exploring town.
My view from the library.
We thought we would eat dinner out due to expected rain storms, but the weather cleared and we had an awesome evening. We decided to save our money for another night and had dinner at camp. I thought we would all lose weight, but we have been eating pretty well at camp. We bough a large camping stove that with a dutch oven and we use the cover for the dutch oven as a skillet. We can make anything!
The older boys went to Mountain Village for a free concert (I was jealous) and the little kids played with their friends. Norm and I spent the evening talking with another family and watching the softball games being played at the park.
We let the older boys go into town for the night. I asked Enzo to let me know when they were back. They didn’t – so at 12;15am I woke up worried about where they might be. I wasn’t sure if they had been eaten by a bear or thrown in jail… With Enzo, anything is possible. Good kid, but always up for adventure. I woke up Norm because obviously you wake up someone else to share your concern. He checked their tent (I guess I could have done that) and confirmed that they were home and asleep. I fell back asleep only to be woken up to a dog barking…for hours! Back asleep finally but not for long. Ava woke up crying and saying she had terrible ear pain and couldn’t hear. My phone said no ER in Telluride and the closest one is 65 miles away. I made Norm get her Tylenol from the car (because lets face it I am selfish and he is not) and she went back to sleep pretty quickly. But not me, because my feet were freezing. For the first time I was officially over this camping trip.
While the kids slept in Norm and I looked at other towns no too far (they have to have a skate park for the boys). Blessed be free wifi at camp! We looked at the price of hotels and vacation homes. I wanted a kitchen because we have all this food and I did not want to eat out. We found a condo in Pagosa Springs and rented it for 3 nights starting Friday. The Rise Festival is coming to Telluride so we have to leave the campground. The plan is to come back here on Monday and spend 3 more days in Telluride. Everyone is super excited about the condo. And there is a huge skate park. (But I now know that pretty much every town, regardless of size has a skate park in Colorado.)
The older boys went to Mountain Village for a free concert (I was jealous) and the little kids played with their friends. Norm and I spent the evening talking with another family and watching the softball games being played at the park.
We let the older boys go into town for the night. I asked Enzo to let me know when they were back. They didn’t – so at 12;15am I woke up worried about where they might be. I wasn’t sure if they had been eaten by a bear or thrown in jail… With Enzo, anything is possible. Good kid, but always up for adventure. I woke up Norm because obviously you wake up someone else to share your concern. He checked their tent (I guess I could have done that) and confirmed that they were home and asleep. I fell back asleep only to be woken up to a dog barking…for hours! Back asleep finally but not for long. Ava woke up crying and saying she had terrible ear pain and couldn’t hear. My phone said no ER in Telluride and the closest one is 65 miles away. I made Norm get her Tylenol from the car (because lets face it I am selfish and he is not) and she went back to sleep pretty quickly. But not me, because my feet were freezing. For the first time I was officially over this camping trip.
While the kids slept in Norm and I looked at other towns no too far (they have to have a skate park for the boys). Blessed be free wifi at camp! We looked at the price of hotels and vacation homes. I wanted a kitchen because we have all this food and I did not want to eat out. We found a condo in Pagosa Springs and rented it for 3 nights starting Friday. The Rise Festival is coming to Telluride so we have to leave the campground. The plan is to come back here on Monday and spend 3 more days in Telluride. Everyone is super excited about the condo. And there is a huge skate park. (But I now know that pretty much every town, regardless of size has a skate park in Colorado.)
Enzo at one of the skate parks in Telluride
This trip has not at all what I had planned for my running so I am okay with this detour. I am seriously starting to feel homeless. Wednesday I washed my feet in the creek at camp because they were smelly and later washed my face in library bathroom with anti-bacterial soap. At least it smelled like roses and not medicinal!
We are spending another rainy afternoon in the library. I was able to get a library card for $10 so we can check out books to take with us and bring back next week when we are in Telluride again. It looked like the weather would cooperate so we decided to have hamburgers at camp for Norm’s birthday. But as we were cooking it started to rain. And I mean rain hard! We took shelter in the tent and luckily it wasn’t long before we were eating our dinner. After dinner we went into town to get ice cream for dessert.
We are spending another rainy afternoon in the library. I was able to get a library card for $10 so we can check out books to take with us and bring back next week when we are in Telluride again. It looked like the weather would cooperate so we decided to have hamburgers at camp for Norm’s birthday. But as we were cooking it started to rain. And I mean rain hard! We took shelter in the tent and luckily it wasn’t long before we were eating our dinner. After dinner we went into town to get ice cream for dessert.
Norm's birthday gift - a Telluride coffee mug
Friday morning we woke up early to get packed up and out of camp. We were being kicked out by 8am due to the Rise Festival. What we found was that the boys never stacked their tent fully and now they were stuck inside. We had considered volunteering to stay, but the town was getting too crowded for me! And the kids had been real troopers, but were really looking forward to a little indoor living. After getting the car packed up and out of camp we left the car in free parking and went back to the other side of town for breakfast. We lingered waiting for the library to open so we could kill time until our laundry was done. I got a text from Enzo saying Jamil was in town and the Hardrock runners were coming through town. We headed over for a bit and talked to Jamil. We decided to grab food from the car and come back to the check in/out point for Hardrock to eat out lunch. Right as we were finishing lunch – a downpour! We took shelter under some trees and were joined by a homeless guy. We fed him some lunch and gave him some extra food to take with him. He was well spoken and seemed bright – I wonder if he is one of those who choses to be homeless. Although he was drinking very early in the day… I wish I had talked with him more, but he actually passed out after eating the lunch we gave him so…
This is what happens when you are in a rush and don't stake your tent properly!
Breakfast at Baked in Telluride. We loved this place!
Spectating at Hardrock in Telluride. A little bit of a cluster because they were also setting up for a music festival. And a big storm washed all the course markings in town away...
Laundry wasn’t finished until 5pm. But we got to spend the day encouraging Hardrock runners. (Why do we runners enjoy watching other runners walk through an aid station?) By 5:30pm we were on the road to Pagosa Springs. Beautiful views, but I was getting major car sick. I am amazed by all the campgrounds. If you live here, you could camp every weekend and never camp at the same place. Right outside of Pagosa Springs we were hit with a major storm! But we got two beautiful rainbows! The pictures won’t do justice, but the one rainbow was so bright it was neon and almost blinding. We could see where it reached from one side to the other. We have often wondered on this trip if the people who live here every get to use to the beauty or if they are constantly wowed like we are…
Double rainbows again!
Because the lightning was so bad I wouldn’t let Norm get the bags off the top of the car. Luckily we had clean laundry shoved in the car and we grabbed that! We ordered pizza and the rotation of showering began while we waited. Since I wasn’t camping and worried about having to make in quick decisions in the middle of the night I had more than one glass of wine. The night ended with everyone in bed, watching tv, and happy.
We loved this bumper sticker! And the library is quite awesome.
