It was going to be a big event... Kevin was introducing me to Durango...his Durango...
Kevin went to undergrad in Colorado and during his time there he managed to experience every aspect this amazing town. Though small in size, Durango packs a bigger punch than any town I think I've ever been exposed to... and though I've traveled there before, this time it punched me right in the gut... no seriously, I have the bruises to prove it.
I couldn't have had a better tour guide, for between his own knowledge and the knowledge of his diverse group of friends, I managed to squeeze more activity in to these four June days than an ADHD child on his first day at summer camp.
We left Wednesday night and drove through the night - me taking the first shift and Kevin taking the second. I tried to get some rest as the sun rose over the Arizona landscape... but who can sleep through a sunrise like that!?
Three hours of half-ass sleep later, we arrived in Durango and stopped in at Kenny's place. Kenny immediately introduced me to his Wii (Not even sure I'm spelling that right) - a video game system which I had only heard of. We played Mario Cart. But the virtual experiences were not enough for the Durango dudes, so Kevin and Kenny quickly loaded up "Old Trusty" (Kenny's Nissan) with Kenny's raft and we headed for the river.
Though there are no pictures of this experience, I can assure you that I swam! Dressed comfortably in my wet suit, I didn't have time to think before the cold Colorado water hit me. I had gone overboard backwards and all I could envision was my head hitting a rock. That didn't happen thankfully and my head emerged quickly - my first sight - Kevin reaching for me to pull me back in... or was he reaching for the beer cooler top that had also jumped ship!!? I struggled to get back in the boat, stopping first to swim after the wool hat I had been wearing (not mine) so that it could be thrown to its owner in the boat. Then I was blocked from raft entrance by the cooler. I finally got back in the boat though and quickly announced, "That was incredible!!"
On Friday a group of guys met at Pete's house to load up
for our ski down Cinnamon Mountain. Now this isn't your average ski-lift ski. No, we'd be "earning our turns" as the guys call it. The boys put skins on their skis (a friction causing strip that aids in climbing the mountain with skis on) and I strapped "fun sized" mini-skis to my pack and donned a pair of snowshoes up the hill.At the top, we took a break for a moment, eyed our prize (an incredible view) and headed down the mountain. The boys, in their normal-sized
skies, did an unsurprisingly fine job carving turns down the mountain. I on the other hand looked like a newborn giraffe on roller skates struggling to maintain my balance on my new set of foreign skis.
It wasn't pretty but I made it down. Marley, who had accompanied us to the top had an expression of "It's about time you made it!"
So then we went home and slept.
We'll, you'd think so right?
Ha ha -
We actually met up with Kevin's friend Cory who probably
bikes 20 + miles a day and headed up yet another mountain on our bikes. Yes, these pictures were taken the same day...talk about a change of wardrobe!! Needless to say I was a bit tired by the end of our day, but very thrilled with everything I had seen and done.The remainder of our trip involved more white water rafting (no man overboard this time), more bike riding,
a bit too much drinking, some camping outside of town... and even a visit with Grandpa, Grandma and Aunt Marylin (who has a house in Durango).Durango - it's Colorado's best little town with some pretty big adventures!
