MARJI Weseloh Vacations

Fantastic Friday at Piedra Falls

2011-08-05T18:43:00.000-07:00

Friday dawned bright and clear. Matt started out with a refreshing and kind of intense bike ride around the lakes around the area. A doe and her two fawns walked right across the road in front of him. Upon his return the balloon was going up again and passed right overhead (giving a unique photo op).

We had homemade McGriddles for breakfast as we try to clean out the fridge (frozen waffles toasted with an egg, cheese and bacon in the middle). Yummy!

We made the journey to Piedra Falls to the end of County Road 637. It's the longest 8 miles that we've ever driven because it's so full of twists and turns. Oh - it's also one lane! We were the first people in the parking lot though a family was striking a campsite (they'd obviously stayed the night).

We were actually able to cross the Piedra River below the falls (for the first time). Again - it made for some photo opportunities that we've never had before.

We hiked up to the falls and had a lot of fun taking pictures from all different places and angles and poses. That's probably obvious from our photo gallery for the day...

We wrapped up the day with a couple of errands and activities (besides getting our stuff ready to go).
We made our pilgrimage to the Choke Cherry Tree and sampled the delicious comestibles therein. And of course had to buy some of them...yum yum and double yum.

We found a great recipe for homemade energy bars (the ones you eat - we're not splitting atoms or anything...). It was in the Prevention magazine. We made four batches in preparation for the family gathering next week in Flagstaff - we'll share them with everyone on our appointed meal day (Monday).
You start with a base of some cereal (rice, wheat, corn, muesli) and add a little flour. Then you can add two or three extras (they suggest a nut and a dried fruit). You glue it together with sugar/honey/brown sugar (your choice), egg whites, salt and optional vanilla or almond extract.

Here's the flavors we made...
- "It's Just Nuts" - Rice cereal with almonds, pecans and walnuts
- "Rooty Tooty Fruity" - Rice cereal with dried blueberries, tart red cherries, pineapple and mango
- "Cran Ban Coco" - Muesli with dried cranberries, banana chips and shredded coconut
- "Blue Cran Almond Joyful" - Rice cereal with almonds, dried blueberries and dried cranberries

Muddy Buddy Thursday on the Piedra River trail

2011-08-04T17:46:00.000-07:00

[Thursday photos]

We've continued to get the daily "monsoon" rainfall here in Pagosa Springs and in the high country to the north. This makes the hiking trails a little soggy to say the least.

Our chosen hike for today was the Piedra River - which is one that we've done before several times in varying degrees. Amy and Matt have hiked the whole thing from end to end (they says it's 11 miles) from the First Fork trailhead to the Piedra River trailhead. But typically we start at the Piedra River trailhead and do an "out and back" hike where we stop at some point in the middle and come back.

It's a fantastically diverse trail with something to please (and potentially make nervous) everyone. On this trail you get to...

walk right along the rushing rapids of the Piedra River - even dip your toes in if you are so inclined
hike hundreds of feet above the River on narrow cuts into the hillside
make your way across big wildflower meadows alive with insects and birds
walk/scamper over huge rocks
make your way through boulders as big as a house
cross rushing rivers on iron bridges that had to be helicoptered in
explore rock formations of all different colors and types
make your way through mushy marshy bits
tiptoe through thistle gardens
climb up to amazing heights and amazing views

Unlike some other hikes this one doesn't have any specific "reward" that awaits you (like a waterfall or lake or rock formation). But in its place it has all the wonderful nuggets mentioned above. You hike this trail just for the joy of discovering what's "just up ahead".

Even though they call it an easy hike - you need to have the proper footwear and clothing. As you make your way across the variety of terrain you'll encounter gravel, sand, mud, loose rocks, big rocks, grass, thistles, plants taller than you. There are several spots where it's "one lane" and you should be prepared to meet other hikers or allow faster folks to pass you by. You'll have to step up, down or off the trail to do this.

We got going about 8 AM and hit the trailhead about 8:30 or so.

But enough background stuff...we decide to hike Trail 596 from the Piedra River trailhead to what we're calling the "Switchbacks". It's a cliff where you wind your way down to a metal bridge that crosses the Weimenuche Creek (which empties into the Piedra River). It's the point at which Trail 595 branches off to the north. To get there you drop down into the Piedra River Valley and basically keep the river on your left.

As you drop into the valley you encounter almost all of the items I mention in the list above. Then you encounter a metal bridge where Williams Creek empties into the Piedra. That's a favorite turnaround point for many (a 3.5 mile round trip) so the trail beyond is less used (but still very visible).

We continued on past the first bridge across a marshy meadow and had some fun cliff-hugging bits that caused us to tread carefully on the narrow path. We encountered a healthy thistle forest that made us wish we wore long pants. Though the sun and beautiful mostly sunny sky made us happy we opted for the shorts. What's a few scratches between friends?

A stock trail called Trail 583 branches off to the north and parallels our 596 trail for a bit. The thistle blooms and butterflies and bees were particularly active along this stretch and provided plenty of photo opportunities.

The 596 and 583 trail have a "Y" and the 583 goes off to the left and crosses the Piedra River on a metal bridge. We opted for the 596 trail and came across some dramatic black rock formations and some more cliff-hugging.

Eventually we topped the ridge and found our switchbacks. We hiked out to the end of the promontory and snapped some photos to show that we reached our destination. It was also time to empty the shoes and try to dislodge some of the mud we'd picked up on the way. We're not sure but this looks like it's about 4.5 miles from the trailhead - so this definitely is our longest (though not most strenuous) hike of this trip.

With our footwear loads thusly lightened and a little rest - we headed back the way we came and checked out all the scenery that was in our rear-view mirror on the way in (figuratively speaking). Once again we were thankful that the Lord led us to make an early start - because the summer sun was kicking in by then (about noon). We met a lot of people coming into the trail (and passed some heading out).

We returned and had lunch - and looked out the window to see dark blue over that area. I hope everyone had their rain gear because I'm sure they were getting another downpour.

Wonderful Wednesday at Four Mile Falls

2011-08-03T19:09:00.000-07:00

[Wednesday pictures]

Wednesday brought a little different agenda with it. Instead of an early morning bike ride for Matt and a "whenever we get up" schedule we decided today to tackle the toughest hike on our list - Four Mile Falls. Amy opted out and so Matt and Isaac saddled up and left at 7 AM. The trailhead is about 22 miles north of town on some winding gravel roads so we knew it would take about 40 minutes to get there.

We were distracted by some dramatic mists and clouds over the lower parts of town and took a few pictures. Last night we had more rain in the early morning hours so everything was kind of drippy. And humidity was still high. No worries as the temperature was 50 degrees and it felt wonderful!

The Four Mile Falls trailhead is literally the end of the road for "Four Mile Road" also known as Forest Service Road 645. There is a horse trailer parking area and a car parking area - both with nice new unisex cement outhouses. Upon our arrival there were two horse trailers and several cars already there - so our fears of it being too muddy and wet (after yesterdays deluge) were unfounded.

There are actually two trailheads here - they form a large 12 mile loop. The Anderson Trail is a steep strenuous trail that climbs from about 9000 feet to 11600 feet - just 800 feet below the summit of Pagosa Peak. It sounds like something we may try someday if we're up to it. It's a "stock trail" and is recommended for people on horseback.

The other trail is Four Mile Trail. We're not sure how everything got the "Four Mile" name. There is a Four Mile Road, Four Mile Trail, Four Mile Lake and Four Mile Falls - all in different places. Our destination was Four Mile Falls - which is about 3 miles from the trail head. It's described as a moderate hike (on the Easy / Moderate / Strenuous scale). We chose our walking sticks from a nice collection that kind hikers had left behind. (and we're glad we did...they came in handy)

Let me tell you - it's a great hike and a fantastic workout. A lot of up-and-down and everything in between (rocky bits, meadows, flat dirt bits, water bits). Isaac said it's a life trail - lots of ups and downs (wise words from one so young...). Matt and Isaac were both hoping (upon our return from the falls) that that next hill would be the last hill (and it eventually was).

Overall the hike climbs about 600-700 feet to the base of the falls. So it's much more "up" on the way there than it is on the way back.

Even though the parking lot had vehicles in it - we only met one group of three guys (a dad and two boys) on their way out as we were coming in - we were probably 1/3 or 1/4 mile from the falls at that point. We did see a LOT of horse "nears" (if you've seen the movie Private Eyes you'll know what I mean) on the trail. Had to watch our step all the way. But never once did we see a horse. They don't recommend horses on the Four Mile Falls trail because beyond the falls the rest of the trail is too dangerous (steep rocky stuff) for them.

There were several small water crossings on the way in. The rainstorms come pretty much daily here in August - usually in the afternoon/evening hours (they call it the "monsoon" season). So there were muddy bits to avoid and/or enjoy (depending on your perspective).

We saw a lot of little ground-based birds on this hike - perhaps grouse or plover or some such (we're not birders...). Lots of mommy birds out with the kids. The mom would fly up and make lots of noise attempting to distract us from the kiddoes - who remained running on the ground.

We hiked this trail for the first time last year in early June. There was still snowdrifts on the trail and the water crossings were reasonably exciting. The falls itself was flowing heavily and had a huge ice/snow drift at it's base that the water ran into, through and out of.

This time - though it was a whole different story. There was no snow in evidence and all the water flows were down considerably. As you can tell from the pictures - we walked right up to the falls and could practically have taken a shower in it. It's still falling from 300 feet up the cliff but it takes several steps on its way down and creates a dramatic "weeping wall" in addition to the lower falls bit. It was a privilege to get so up close and personal to something that quite honestly was "raging" last June.

We're very glad we started early - because though it felt a bit chilly at the start - we warmed up quickly and the day did too. By the time we finished (11:30 AM) it was getting warm on the trail. We met several groups coming in as we were coming out.

We hit the road and got home by about 12:15 for lunch. A soak in the hot tub was very welcome after today's strenuous activities. After that Matt and Isaac watched the Kraftwerk Minimum-Maximum concert DVD. If you're a Kraftwerk fan you'll love it. If you are not - you will wonder just how nuts these Kraftwerk fans are.

Terrific Tuesday at Opal Lake and more

2011-08-02T19:38:00.000-07:00

A calm and sunny Tuesday morning greeted us. Matt was out biking and caught the hot air balloon just filling up and lifting off. (more pics)

We had a new destination in mind today - a hike to Opal Lake (full pics here). It's the first hike south of Pagosa Springs that we have attempted. The trail head is 20+ miles out of town and most of it on gravel roads. We headed out of town on Highway 84 (same one we came into town on) and saw the tents for the Archuleta County Fair (starts on August 4th) being set up. We turned left onto Blanco Basin road and twisted and turned for 10 miles. We followed (and were followed by) several semi trucks with hopper traillers up to the point where we crossed the Rio Blanco river. We passed by 7 trucks who were waiting to drop their loads at a ranch and continued on a forest road (660) to the Opal Lake Trailhead.

The description says that it starts out as a strenuous hike that ascends about 800 feet up to the meadow where the lake resides. Yes - strenuous is a good adjective. It was a well marked and well-travelled trail (there were many people coming and going). It was steep in some spots (tempered with flat stretches) and there were a couple of water crossings. Even a bit of trekking through the Riparian jungle - we felt like those adventurers in the jungle movies. Opal Lake is called that because of it's milky color. It is fed by some very mineral rich springs and the water really looks like a milky-blue opal - even when flowing out.

There is some kind of art show affiliated with the county fair. All week we've been seeing artists out in the wilderness painting. They've all got their easels and kits set up - grabbing their vision and version of this incredible landscape that God has assembled. We met someone who had finished his work (or perhaps was escaping the impending raindrops) as we were coming up to the second water crossing. He said the lake wasn't too much farther...yay.

This second water crossing was the most exciting. You had three choices. Ford the flowing water - which was only about 4-5 inches deep at the shallowest bits. Or walk across a 20 foot balance beam of a fallen tree. Or gingerly use a couple of smaller fallen logs that wobble a lot. Isaac went for the smaller fallen logs and also did the balance beam just to show us he could. Matt and Amy went for the fording the stream option - less risky.

Part of the hike was through an absolutely breathtaking stand of Aspen trees. They had to be 80-100 feet high and it felt like walking through a natural cathedral. The camera couldn't take it all in. We tried with the video camera and will try to get that video uploaded.

The wildflowers are fantastically in bloom and in full evidence on this hike. There were some delightful butterflies (or perhaps moths) that were enjoying the yellow blooms.

We finally arrived at the lake (which was not really large - but had great quantities of water flowing in and out.

Astonishingly someone had either rode or carried his mountain bike to the lake. He also had a big backpack. A true hiker/biker/camper. We're not worthy (but then we don't claim to be...).

We got a few photos at the lake and then it started to thunder a bit. So we started back. The best part of the return trip was the fact that we were descending. Boy are the fronts of my shins getting a workout! One of those nice collapsible but strong walking sticks is looking like it might be a good investment for the future...

Opal Lake - a definite addition to the list of great Pagosa hikes - as long as you feel energetic and have the proper footwear!

And God had a few more surprises in store for us...a thunderstorm that actually made it out of the mountains and down to the valley gave us a beautiful double rainbow! More rainbow pics.

Reservoir Hill and Ice Cave Ridge on this marvelous Monday

2011-08-01T18:07:00.000-07:00

[link to pictures]
Monday - the day despised by many a person - unless they are on VACATION! This morning we started out on our adventures a little later then we normally do - but we still didn't have to rush through anything. Which is good as some of us are still getting used to the exercise in altitude thing. LOL

We drove down by the San Juan River and hiked what is known to most locals as "the hill". We know it has reservoir hill. Basically - this hill is just shorter than many of the surrounding mountains. It is definitely bigger than hills I climb at home. (But may be the same as some farther west in the hill country). Isaac ran up the difficult #1 trail - twice - while waiting for his parents to switch back up the side of the hill on the easier #2 trail. Matt decided to stay with his wife, otherwise he often takes the 1. You climb up this side of the mountain/hill and work your way to the meadow. Then you decide do we keep climbing up to the San Juan overlook or head back down. We kept climbing and were rewarded with a view that is familiar to us - as we've done this hike before. It is still pretty breathtaking.
[fyi - we didn't take any pictures on the Reservoir Hill hike]

Instead of back tracking - we continued on towards trail number 14 and wound our way down the other side of the hill. In total - up and down - the hike is slighty more then 2 miles. Of course then once you go down the otherside - you have the hike back to your car. We've done this trail in snow, spring thaw and now summer dry. You see different things every time.

After a quick meeting at the Wyndham office and lunch in the condo, we were feeling like we wanted to do a little more. The vote came in and hiking up Ice Cave Ridge won out. If you've been here before, you know this trail has two claims to fame. . .fissures (big holes) in the ground where ice and snow collect over the winter, and gorgeous mountain views at the top.

At the trailhead we met 2 couples returning from their Ice Cave Ridge hike. They happen to be from San Antonio. As greetings were exchanged and of course the comments about enjoying the non-heat here in PS, they told us to try the left fork in the trail up by one of the largest fissures. You end up climbing about 10-15 minutes farther, but the view is so worth it. It's right at the end of the bluff. We were able to see down on the Piedra River, and look across it to the lunch date overlook - where Isaac geo cached and I tried to take some video that wouldn't freak Matt out (btw - I was not successful, he just closed his eyes as he was watching the video. Sorry dear!) And as you look down towards the river you can really see the River trail - which we will be doing one of these days.

We've decided that this trip to Pagosa Springs we are checking out new trails, discovering new things about some of our favorite trails and enjoying the time with Isaac.

That's all for today. The hot tub is calling and I'm fixing to get in!

Glorious Sunday in Pagosa Springs, CO

2011-08-01T17:27:00.000-07:00

Hey all y'all - it happened - if finally happened.

Matt, Amy and Isaac finally hiked a part of the Continental Divide Trail. (full pics for the day) We've been trying to do this for about 4 or 5 years, this was the first time that the road up to the Trail head at Lobo overlook was open. This overlook is across from and above the Wolf Creek Ski Area so imagine how high you start and then you go up. But instead of hiking 3 miles up hill to get to the trail head, Lil' Red was able to get us all up there. We ended up at 11,700+ feet at the trail head.

We hiked out for about 40 minutes and then turned around and came back. Why? you may ask. Well - because we realized we were going down more often than climbing up and we didn't want to wear ourselves out on the first hike in high altitude. (that's our story and we're sticking to it). There were many grand views and beautiful picture spots on this hike. (FYI - our house in Austin is at 735 feet above sea level...This hike started at 11,700...)

When we finished at came back to the Radio Tower at the trail head, we walked over to the Lobo Overlook, had a snack and then climbed a very short way to the scenic view spot. And wow was that scene view-able!

We were not done for the day. In past years we have just done one hike a day, but since we were so close to one of our favorite scenic overlooks and to one of our favorite short and easy hikes we decided to add them in to the day's agenda.

Down the mountain we went - first stop our unnamed overlook where we did a little climbing and a little picture taking. For a little excitement we saw a camper that had to take the run away truck ramp. Not something I would ever want to have to do.

Then it was a stop just down the switchbacks at Treasure Falls. We did the half mile hike up to the Misty Deck - which for the first time for us, was not Misty at all. Isaac got brave and was climbing around below the Misty viewing area. For those of you who have joined us on this trip - he climbed down from the falls to the bridge, jumping from rock to log and trying to stay dry. I suppose "good" parents would not have let him do it. . . .instead we were encouraging him on with video and pictures. It's good practice for him if his life goal is to truly become a stunt man.

Now we are back at the condo, showered, fed and resting up (not resting and fed up...) for Monday's adventures.

Take care and God bless!

The Vacation Saga begins...again!

2011-07-30T17:32:00.000-07:00

We left Austin at 5 AM on Friday morning...it was 80 degrees - destination Santa Fe.
735 feet above sea level.
We started to climb almost immediately into the Texas Hill Country.
We hit US Highway 84 at Goldthwaite Texas - as we angled our way northwest across the state. We would stay on this highway (off and on) all the way to Pagosa Springs, CO.
We drove into and through the Texas Oil Country (stinky stuff).

Just a unique truck we saw in Santa Fe...

Hit Abilene and tried to find dry ice for the freezer stuff in the cooler (finally successful after 3 tries).
It was 90 degrees and climbing.
Hit Lubbock and drove into the Texas Wind Country (more wind generators than you could shake a stick at).
It was over 100 degrees.
We saw a Krispy Kreme donut shop and just HAD to stop and use their rest room...hah hah. Matt and Isaac indulged in the 400 calorie donuts...
We drove through the town of Muleshoe Texas. Always wondered what Muleshoe was like and now we know (um...not THAT much different from every other town...)
And on to New Mexico...stopped in Clovis to get a NM map.
Over 100 degrees still...and still...hot hot hot.
Major railroad line through there we saw 4 big freight trains in a row (stacked up like a traffic jam).
One train was transporting military vehicles - it was quite a sight.
At Fort Sumner we turned right.
Last year on the way home from Pagosa we listened to a book on tape about Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. Fort Sumner was a pivotal location in the story - so it was neat just to drive through.
We headed north across the desert to Santa Clara and saw something that was a first for us this summer.
A thunderstorm and RAIN. It was a fabulous thing to feel and see.

We hit Santa Fe about 6 PM and opened the doors of the car to...80 degrees!!!
Refreshing with a capital R!

Next morning we continued on US Highway 84 from Santa Fe to Pagosa Springs.

They say it's monsoon season here...which means beautiful mornings and a chance of thunderstorms every afternoon.

Pagosa Springs in 22 days

2011-07-08T12:10:00.000-07:00

Matt, Isaac and I are heading to one of our favorite vacation spots: Pagosa Springs, CO. The count down at home has begun.

PS - here we come!

A PS for Saturday

2011-04-16T21:58:00.000-07:00

First Saturday photo and Saturday video (farewell to San Francisco)

I know I said adios yesterday, but there were a couple of things we wanted to add to the blog about today.

Matt was up really early so decided to go back down to China town and get us some fortune cookies from the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie factory without the fortune in them. Basically - the fortune cookie - just not folded - just flat cookies. The lady who took time from her fortune cookie folding to take his money said "here is some extra happy" and put a handful of the fresh ones in the bag.

We took our first cab ride together. We no longer think the bus drivers are the craziest drivers around. LOL

We then boarded the BART train that would take us to SFO. We were there plenty early as going through check in was a breeze - except for re-arranging packed items so no bag was over 50 pounds.

At our gate Matt found a restuarant that we just had to try. It was called Cat Cora's - (she is the one woman on Iron Chef). The food was delish - Matt had the slider trio (1 spiced pork, 1 wagyu beef and 1 lamb). I ordered the lobster mac n cheese. Wow. Cat Cora was not there - but the food was awesome anyway.

Back to wait at the gate for the plane that became very late! We departed 1 1/2 hours behind schedule so we knew the connection in DFW would be tight if not impossible. My seat mate was a Dad and his little girl who was so sweet - she insisted that she share a cookie with me. Turns out he bought those almond cookies at the same place in Chinatown that matt bought the flat fortune cookies. And - although I have never personally traveled first class, my carry-on bag now has. We were in the first row behind first class and that's where an open overhead bin was. :-)

We did arrive at DFW and proceeded to run/walk as fast as possible to make it to the gate. (thank goodness for the Skytrain). We got to the gate assuming it is gone as we are very late. Nope - the plane had difficulties and first it was delayed and then they put us on another plane all together.

But now we are safely back home (about 11 PM - over 12 hours since we started our travels back home) and we have to play and sing in church tomorrow. They sent us the hymn numbers while we were in San Fran. We'll run through them in the morning before heading to church. Morning will feel very early! Thanks for reading folks. This time I really do me adios until the next trip.

And we'll have Fun Fun Fun on this Friday in San Francisco, CA

2011-04-15T23:38:00.000-07:00

Friday Fotos and Fideos
All about Chinatown Walking tours. That is the name of the tour we took for 2 hours this morning. It did not feel like 2 hours. . . .our guide was so informative, creative and just plain fun that the time just flew by.

We met up with the group (a relativly small group of 10 people compared with her 90 6th graders yesterday) at Old St. Mary's Cathedral. Once she introduced herself individually to everyone - we were off on our tour. The tour included things like a park, a health store, food market, chinese fortune cookie factory, a monestary and so much more.  For a bit extra in price you could eat Dim Sum with Linda Lee (our tour guide). We chose not to do that as we had just eaten wonderful chinese food on Wednesday.  If you are ever in San Francisco - we highly recommend this tour.

Next up after a brief stop at the condo to put on cooler clothes (the temps were warming up) we walked down to 6th street and found the Passion Cafe. It is a little french bistro where we had a yummy lunch.  It is a good thing there are so many hills here - the food is all delicious and very filling.

After lunch we headed to the SFMOMA otherwise known as the San francisco Museum of Modern Art.  Umm yeah.  I am sure there is one painting on  a wall, that, had I known it was art - I would never have made Joe and Isaac help me scrub it off of their bedroom walls. But - we walked through a couple of floors and then decided we had been modern enough for the trip and headed to a sheet music store.

Rows upon rows of music for almost every instrument imaginable (including voice). I found a piece that I had been looking for and we were off again.

Back down to Fisherman's Wharf - only this time on an F train. This car was originally from Milan, Italy so many signs were in Italian. Each F train we've ridden on has been different.

We walked around the wharf again, first shopping for souvenirs.  It was hard - but we stayed in our budget! yeah!!!

Next we explored Musee' Mechanique (Matt started there I was distracted by the big WWII submarine that was docked outside). Word of advice - bring your quarters! We heard player pianos and orchestreons. We saw games from the far far past all the way to present day. It was fun to see all of these things in one place.

More walking up and down the wharf and then we decided our last meal (at least evening one) would be at Johnny Rockets. Matt had had enough sea food and what could be more unseafood like than a burger at the home of the orignal burger (so says their sign). Coupons from the Entertainment Book also helped in that decision.

It was time to catch one more cable car. We were fortunate enough to ride on the outside seats and were right up front so Matt was able to get some pretty cool video and pictures. All I can say was WOW!~ That was probably the most fun cable car ride yet!!

Now it's time to get a little laundry done and pack it into the suitcases. We fly home tomorrow. It has been a wonderful trip. And, if we ever decide to come back, there is a whole list of things to do and places to see that we were not able to do this time.

don't forget to check out our new videos and pictures at https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/myphotos
Adios until the next trip!!

Explore! Explore! Explore! Thursday 4/14/11

2011-04-15T20:44:00.000-07:00

Howdy folks. Today's theme was definitely explore! (Thursday photos and videos)

The faithful 30 bus took us in the direction it was supposed to to get to the Palace of the Fine Arts/Exploratorium. I'd give you the exact direction - but after this trip I'm glad I at least still know up from down. (you go up hills and then down hills to get to your chosen destination).

The PFA is columns and statues and a park - and holds the Exploritorium in a building next to it. As we approached the Center column area - (the pictures and video will help you here) we could hear beautiful soprano singing. Couldn't understand a word because it was an Italian opera aria, but we could appreciate the beauty. It was just a perfect accustic setting.

Then we explored some more in the Exploritoium. Electricity, sound, light, gravity - it was similar to the Museum of Science and industry only smaller and everything was HANDS ON! We were definitely the minority today - PWC - parents without children. But Matt especially had fun going from exhibit to exhibit. I think he spent an 1 1/2 in the light area alone!

We spent a good chunk of the day there (10:00 to 2:30), but it was well worth it. Our next exploration once again found us on the trusty 30 bus to take us closer to Fisherman's Wharf (not Worf). Our plans were to catch the cable car that goes past the top of Lombard street before it begins it's crazy curvy descent (the street not the cable car). BUT - the line was really, really, really, really LONG. So we checked in to what other buses we could take and decided to catch the 19 to Lombard street. (Hee hee hee). We were at Lombard street facing a pretty steep climb. But - go for it we did. I happened to chat with someone who lives half way up the hill as we were climbing. His thoughts were - "at least I live on the bottom floor and not the unit that is at the top of those stairs." There were a lot of stairs for that person after climbing up the hill.

Still climbing for another block and one half - we finally reached the top of Lombard Street. You can't see how the road curves from there, but it is really pretty. We got a couple of shots from the top and then Matt, ever the gentleman, said he would walk down the street and then come back to meet me at the top of the next block over. I will be honest - I was dreading the going down and back up. Did I mention it was a really steep hill for pedestrians? Only the driving part has been broken into curves (or switchbacks for you mountainy people).

When Matt made it back to me we continued down hill on Hyde to find what we have been told is the best kept secret in the City - ZA's Pizza. It was pretty good pizza. Very friendly atmosphere. And cheap! Both of us ate our fill for 15 bucks.

After being refreshed with a slice and a soda we headed off to catch a cable car. It is so much fun riding them. I've had to ride and this time stand for all the ups and downs, but it is truly an experience. The only thing we haven't done is be on the outside seats. Maybe tomorrow.

We hopped off of the cable car and checked out the free Cable Car Museum. Lots of interesting history about the cars and lines. And - you can watch the cables turn. We spent a good amount of time there too.

When we finished in the museum, we had planned to just walk downhill to catch a bus back to the condo. But, I happened to notice that you can see the bay bridge and said" do you feel like walking down to the bay?" Matt was just crazy enough to say yes. So we walked. . . . .and walked. . . . .and (you get the idea). But it was fascinating. We ended up going through a part of China town that we had been in yesterday. We walked by the restaurant where we ate lunch and the "coupon lady" was out front to give us a coupon. When we said we ate there yesterday and it was yummy - she looked at us and said - "Oh yes, our first customers of the morning. " I can't believe that she remembered us.

We kept walking down to the Embarcadaro (it was an above ground road that fell in the 1991 earthquake. Now it is at sea level with the surrounding streets ) and then decided we would explore some more and get a bus over the bridge to Treasure Island. So, we turned right so that we would not accidentally walk into the bay (I threw that in to see if anyone's paying attention) and a few blocks later found the terminal we needed to get across the bay. We went across the bridge to Treasure Island - a former navy post - and took some really neat pictures of San Francisco from the other side of the bay. Most things were closed because it was nearing 7 pm, but that's ok. We hung out there for quite a while enjoying the breeze and the awesome view.

We caught a return bus back and wandered up Market St. to find a bus or train back to our home away from home. Our walk was rewarded with the music of a very talented drummer. We finally found the bus and worked our way back to the condo.

Now it is time for bed. Tomorrow we are going to take the All about Chinatown Walking tour - and we do not want to be late for that. (again. . .;-( )

Y'all have a good night now ya hear?

Murphy's law of vacation

2011-04-13T20:07:00.000-07:00

There is Murphy's law. And then there is Murphy's law of vacation. (Wednesday photos and videos)

1) the only day when you really want to be somewhere at a certain time, the sun doesn't wake you up. (someone remembered to close the drapes the night before and it was raining).

2) In Chinatown - when they say the tour leaves at 10 am - it leaves at exactly 10 am. (We arrived at 10:03 and they had already departed!)

3) They day you pick to walk through the museum of Modern art is the one day of the week they are closed! (Wednesday - really?)

4) You go to take a picture of something really clever only to discover you left the memory card in the computer when you were downloading yesterday's pictures.

5) you try to take a short cut through Ghiradelli Square and end up walking up a very steep hill twice! (ok - we needed the exercise).

6) you find this really neat thing called a wave organ - designed to hear the ocean through pipes. Really neat looking but, you get there at 3:00 and you can't hear anything. You then see a sign that says - the organ is at its best at full tide (hours away) and during a full moon.

You'd think what a lousy day - right? Nope! With every Murphy lemon we managed to find or make some lemonade!

The numbers below refer to the numbers above:

1) We were still in the condo to talk to both Nana and Joe

2)Since we were in Chinatown anyway we decided to explore a little on our own and discovered a delicious restaurant called "Chinatown Restaurant" (who would think it) and a music store where Matt had a ton of fun and bought himself something special. We also found out later that Wednesday's tour was for 65 grade school kids - so we wouldn't have wanted to tag along.

3)We found a pretty cool park called Yerba Buena Gardens. Peaceful and pretty. And walking through there we found Beard Papa's Sweets. (cream puffs - yum - better find some more hills to burn off those calories).

4) As we were starting the climb back to the condo (we could have taken a bus but decided not) we came upon a Walgreens that had memory cards on sale ($9.99 for 2Gb)!! And now we could catch the F train!

5) Because of this "short cut" maybe I burned off some of those cream puff calories. :-)

6) The views around the bay were pretty spectacular. And it was very peaceful out there. We climbed down some rocks onto a little beach and just watched the sail boats and ocean liners work their way in and out of the bay. So even though we could only hear the wind through the pipes. . . we had a wonderful walk out and back. It was all very romantic. (Just so you know. . . I can hear you gaggin all the way out here, Isaac!)

We ended our day with a bus ride back to Sutter street. As we climbed the street to our condo - Matt happened to notice a store that had Loads - and I do mean loads of Tin Tin everything. Books, mugs, original prints. He was in Tin Tin overload heaven. And we found out that they are releasing a Tin Tin movie hopefully in December here in the States. I love watching the guy when he gets excited like that!!!

Happy hour pizza and really good beer at Piraats and then we called it a day.

Tomorrow we are going to try to do that Chinatown walking tour and the Exploratorium. But we will just have to see what the day has to offer.

So when life seems like a Murphy's law movie - look for the lemonade!

Over hill over dale as we hit the Golden Gate trail. . .

2011-04-13T19:37:00.000-07:00

What a gorgeous Tuesday. Our destination today was Golden Gate Park and the Academy of Science.
The walk there (well, mostly train but then we walked) was a little different. We had left the businessy districts and entered into more neighborhoods. The people were very friendly and on the way we noticed that Kiki seems to own this town! LOL - See Tuesday photos and videos.

As we walked passed the ball diamonds in the park we chanced on a blue heron. Proud as anything he had his head in the grass for a little bit and then came up with a mouse and proceeded to eat it. Matt tried to video - but he wasn't watching from the start and I didn't want to startle the heron. You don't see those every day in Texas.

We continued on our walk to reach the California Academy of Science. It was a nice place - kids probably love it. In fact - there were a lot there enjoying it. Seemed like it was homeschool and preschool age kids day. We went pretty quickly through their aquarium part as we saw a lot of the same kinds of sea creatures yesterday. But the swamp and rain forest area was totally different and totally hot and humid.

We did attend the planetarium showing of "Life a Cosmic Story". Well - it was a good time in the dark to take a little relax. I think we heard the word evolution and big bang about 100 times in 30 minutes. if anything the show made me agree more with a Creationist view point and young earth view point then their view point.

The last thing that we did there was climb into the above water rain forest to see plants, snakes, birds and butterflies. Matt was able to get some pretty neat pictures. And I can't forget the silly penquins (African mind you). There was one that was definitely showing off for the crowd.

We decided then to take a train and a walk down to Ocean Beach (more up and down). Can you guess what we saw at the end of the road? You want to say ocean don't you - but we saw sand. Dunes. Big ones. Not as big as Lake MI at those sand dunes - but big enough. We trudged (I don't think there is a better word for it) up the sand and down the other side and Oh mylanta!! The ocean was rough, powerful and just amazing. No way this developed from "evolution of cosmic dust and cells".

There were a couple of wind surfers out in the waves and it was mesmerizing to watch them. It takes a lot of skill to juggle a big kite (or sail) with your hands and manuever your board with your feet. If Isaac had been with us - he'd probably want to try it out. We were happy watching them and staying dry.

We boarded the N train back towards our neck of the city. We were the 3rd people on and by the time we reached our stop it was standing room only and a juggle to get off. But - I really like being able to use city transportation to get from here to there.

We decided to try a different spot for supper (dinner for these city folks). It was called La Scene and arranged its menu by acts. We arrived for happy hour at 5 and decided to eat there as well. I've never had crab risotto before - oh was it good!!!! Matt had a lucious piece of lasagna. We were there for over an hour and we were the only people there. The rest room attendent told me that they get really busy after the theater closes at 9 or 10. ahhhh. . . . .they also have great specials then, but we were happy, sated and needing to walk off some risotto.

So instead of bussing home we walked a couple more hills and decided to call it a night.

Until tomorrow - I say goodnight and God bless.

Cloudy with a chance of Seagulls

2011-04-12T08:53:00.000-07:00

ahhh. Yet another fun-filled day here in the Bay area. Monday videos.
We started our day with a breakfast sponsored by Wyndham. After giving them a quick survey we were off yet again.

Today we rode our first cable car down to the pier. It was quite an adventure. We were seated inside (those outside seats go quickly) and enjoyed riding down the steep hills as opposed to climbing them. (my legs have discovered muscles they never knew about or forgot about, alternately climbing up and then down the mighty streets of San Francisco. LOL

Down at the bay we headed for Pier 39 - destination - a Blue and Gold bay Cruise. It was a part of our City Pass packet and it was fun. The boat goes out under the Golden Gate bridge, turns around in the deeper water of the ocean and then returns to the pier by way of Alcatraz Island. We didn't take the tour of Alcatraz but were able to see most of the way around the Rock and got lots of pictures and video.

On the way into and out of the bay we passed the resident Sea Lions at pier 39. They are pretty fun to watch.

While on the boat - we had a couple of sea gulls riding the air currents towards the bridge. They'd be even with the boat and then gone on a strong current. But they would be back and forth many times out to the GG bridge. Just one of those simple things in life that is great to watch.

Lunch was at Bubba Gumps - yummy shrimp 5 ways. We just shared and were ready to see the Aquarium by the Bay. In this aquarium you walk under tubes of water filled with fish from the small sardine and anchovie to a mighty shark. (one tube for fresh water and one for salt). The octupus was playing hide and seek but the whole experience was a lot of fun. At the last part of the tour you can (and we did) touch Sea stars, baby leopard sharks, sea cucumbers and Rays.

Then we took a bus up up again. Destination - Coit Tower. Matt decided not to take the elevator to the top but I went up with the camera to see what I could see. I could spend hours up there gazing at the city. . . but knew the Man of Lower Heights was waiting for me at the bottom.

We walked back down to the bay and caught the F train back to pier 39. Someone left her blood sugar monitor at Bubba Gumps - now who could that be? Retrieved it and took another train to catch the Hyde and Powell cable car back up the streets.

That cable car station is very popular and we had a wait in line. We were entertained by a street musician. (they all seem pretty good around here) and then boarded our car. Once again seated inside. Going up is so much different than going down in the car. This route had many steep ups and steep downs with the brakeman advising us to HOLD ON!!!

We were headed for Za's pizza (have heard it is wonderful) but decided to save that for another day and ate at Sears (Fine Foods - not the department store) instead. LOL Matt had the blue plate special - meatloaf. He commented that he had never had meatloaf that good. I just gave him the pushed up eyebrow and a hmmmm. Backpeddling commenced. But I let him off the hook and enjoyed my gourmet mac and cheese.

After supper we wandered around union square. Heard another street musician - a trumpeter - playing "A Mighty Fortress is our God". Echoing in the square it was music to our ears. It was so delightfully surprising to hear that hymn here!

Looking forward to tomorrow's adventures either the academy of science or the Wave organ and exploritorium.

Oh what a beautiful. . .

2011-04-11T09:45:00.000-07:00

Oh what a beautiful ocean - oh what a beautiful bay. We've got the wonderful feeling. . . . . .the bus will be going our way!!!

It was a be-u-ti-ful day here in the San Fran area (Sunday Photos start here - Sunday Videos are here). We hopped on the 76 bus and rode it out across the Golden Gate bridge to the Marin headlands. Matt shot video of the ride across the bridge. . . . I was just gazing. I pointed out to Matt that people are walking across! He just shook his head.

When we reached the headlands we hopped off the bus at the visitor center and looked around. It is the chapel of the former military post of Fort Cronkhite. Then we decided to hike over to the Fort via the lagoon trail. some up and some down steps brought us to the sandbar that divides the lagoon from the Pacific Ocean.
The wind was in our hair - the smell of the ocean was refreshing. . . . and Matt forgot to put on sunscreen or his hat. His face is a tad red right now.

We were not in a hurry and ambled on this hike. Took lots of ocean pictures on the camera- the flip - and cell phones. We hiked up another trail to go see Battery Townsley. Matt made it all the way - I stopped and enjoyed the ocean view thinking it was just too far to go on. Ugh - it was just another bend in the steep road. But he said it was great - and I enjoyed my great view.

The trail down was easier. We meandered around the Fort buildings. Most are now used for offices of the National Park service and other non-profit organizations. The old enlisted men's club is now a high tech lab. Some of the buildings are used as meeting rooms for non-profit organizations. But from the outside, they look as they would have looked back in the early 40's.

We enjoyed more ocean views and I talked to someone who was taking pictures of his "flat" son (if you haven't read Flat Stanley - it is a cute story. )

We caught the bus back to the Golden gate bridge stop. There you can walk a path for many views of the orange bridge. On one side - the San Francisco Bay area. On the other - the Pacific Ocean.  Again, we saw the people walking and biking across the bridge. Matt told me to go ahead and do it. But he would not be joining me. I decided to stick with him.

Then we waited for our bus. and waited. . . .and waited. It was either an hour late or we missed the one before it. We did some people watching as we waited.

Matt had a groupon for a place called the Pour House. We were more than ready for a meal and a drink.  They didn't serve food - but he said call the Thai place next door and they will deliver here.  So we enjoyed some beverages - Matt had ale. I had hard cider. Strongbow cider - it may be my new favorite. And the thai food was pretty good too.

Then the short walk back to the Wyndham and we called it a night.

Monday's agenda is either our bay cruise or a museum. We haven't decided yet.  But I'm sure it will be beautiful day!!!

San Francisco Here We Are!

2011-04-09T23:10:00.000-07:00

Well - here we are on a new adventure. This time the MA in MARJI are in San Francisco - the city by the bay - the city on the hills - the city with soul, snap, savvy, savoir faire...

We'll put all our pictures in one place. With links to the first one of the day on each blog entry.
And we'll put each days videos (taken with a Flip Mino) each in their own folders.
Here's the videos for the Saturday April 9th.

M joined A at the airport and we took the BART from SFO into Powell Street station. We had prepaid for round-trip vouchers online - so just had to pick up two round trip BART tickets at the SFO information desk. We went to the wrong place and had to withstand a rude BART employee tell us (twice) that we were in the wrong place to pick up the tickets. Sheesh...excuuuuuse me!

We were amazed that the BART was grungier, louder and in most sections under ground. It is also electric - so we didn't clomp around in our big carbon footprint boots...ha!

We disembarked the BART and immediately went to the San Francisco Visitor Center (just off the Powell Street station). We got advice on how to get to 750 Sutter Street with our luggage. We have a City Pass which gives us...(http://www.citypass.com/san-francisco)
- 7 day Municipal unlimited transportation (busses, san fran trains and cablecars)
- Admittance to 4 museums, 1 aquarium and 1 boat ride on the bay

So - they recommended catching the bus - or just walking it. It's about 5 1/2 blocks...uphill (it turns out a relatively mild uphill compared to others around here...). We arrive too early to check in (our room was still being cleaned) so they checked our luggage into the bellhop and recommended places within three blocks for lunch.

We lunched at Lori's Diner - which had relics from an earlier time than either of us really remember. They had a nice tribute to Liz Taylor with a bunch of memorabilia too (sorry - didn't photo that stuff). We had a terrific lunch and used our 20% off coupon. Had a Chocolate Coke. Check the photos for the scoop on that.

Wyndham called and let us know our room was ready.

We headed back and unpacked. Check out the pics and video of the room - it's a 1 bedroom (the smallest on the floor because of the stairwell cut into it - but it's verrrry nice. There are only 12 rooms on this floor (there are 10 floors) - so everything is compact and nice and close. Laundry at the end of the hall. We got room 702 so we're on the 7th floor. No great view from the rooms but no matter. Super spiffy digs.

We decided just to explore and ended up on a grand adventure that took us...
...up some gradual hills into Nob Hill neighborhood
...to see the Powell-Hyde cable car stop in the middle of an intersection (turns out that that IS the stop for the cable car)
...to see 90-degree parking lots
...to the top of Russian Hill and the beautiful plants, gardens and smells it has.
...down, down, down to Fisherman's Wharf and the Powell-Mason cable car terminus (where they turn the cable cars around by pushing them on a roundabout).
...To a great little clothing store (one of hundreds) that had some nice comfy San Francisco windbreaker jackets (the wind really really needs breaking...) for 13.49 each. His and Hers matching - how cuuuute.

...To the waterfrontpiers, Boudin's Bakery (home of sourdough bread to the world) and finally Pier 39.
...Bought a shamrock shake at mcdonalds so we could legimitately use their bathroom. (The public bathrooms were closed and lots of people and kids were "dancing in the streets"...
...Headed out to the ends of piers to get great - but chilly - views.
...Ate at the Pier Market on Pier 39. Mmm - fantastic seafood and yummy beer.
...Took our first "Muni" ride on the 8x bus from the wharf(-ish) to ~~Sutter street~~ (actually Union Square because the driver didn't let us get out at Sutter).

We stopped at Walgreens and picked up some highly overpriced groceries. (ok - maybe just moderately overpriced - but when they know they've got you - they know they've got you).

8:30 pm - finally got back to the condo and got the pictures and videos off the camera.

Tomorrow - plans are to go to the Marin Headlands on the 76 bus (which runs right in front of the condo - out over the Golden Gate bridge and into a nature and preserved area north of San Francisco). This bus only runs on Sundays so we've got to take advantage when we can!

Vacation Oh Wonderful Vacation

2010-06-05T17:25:00.000-07:00

Pictures are here.

Up until now we've been a little silent on this Pagosa Springs vacation. We've just been too darn busy having fun! :-) We've hiked familiar trails like the one to Treasure Falls - Ice Cave Ridge and Piedra falls - and four brave souls ventured out on a new one to see what lay at the of trail to Four Mile Falls. On the way you notice Isaac had to hold up a tree so that everyone could get past. Way to go big guy! On this vacation we were joined by Eric and Deanna Martens and their children, Dave and Stacy Lentz and their children (all first timers to the Pagosa Springs area) and Ben , Zach and Joe were back to have some more fun before heading off to the navy and college. We were very happy that they could all share this special place and time with us - and we hope they all had fun.

This week in Pagosa Springs we stayed in Eagle's lofts and in Teal landings - met for a couple of meals - and everybody enjoyed doing some things together - but mostly did their own thing. (We hardly saw the older boys at all - which is how it was supposed to be on their senior trip LOL). The blue grass festival was just kicking off as we all were packin' up. A few took in the free concert.

One family went to Mesa Verde - I hear they had a wonderful time. If they blog as a group - I will have them link their blog to here.

Of the Hikes - Nicole still hasn't told me which one she liked best - I think she'll get back to me on that, but not the one that just went Up - up - up (ice cave ridge).

I didn't go on as many hikes as usual - but hopefully next time I will be fit as a fiddle and ready to go on them all. Of the ones I did this year - I liked the Ice Cave Ridge. I always seem to find something new up there on the ridge to see. Although this year I did not do any crazy dances on the edge. I stayed well back.

The kids also had a lot of fun at the rec center. I heard that some even tried out the racket ball court.

Our deck had a great view of the lake and a great mix of shade and sun so we were able to use it a good part of the day. A wonderful place to relax and read. I'm finished with all of the books that I brought along!

Until the next vacation - I don't know where that will be!

Amy & Matt

Chunks of Pagosa

2010-05-18T05:08:00.000-07:00

If you zoom out a bit on this map - you'll see that Pagosa Springs is a city that spreads out along highway 160 - and it's basically in two big "chunks".
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=108777437559785341342.0004868e632274ca4f160&z=15

When you're coming into town from the east - you hit the downtown area first. This is where most of the touristy stuff is (souvenier shops, visitor center [a great place to get lots of info], the hot springs and spa, theater, river walk, and the resevoir hill hiking trails [featuring the beautiful San Juan Mountains overlook].

Then you keep heading down (and up) 160 for about 4 miles and you'll get to the resort area. Golf courses, condos, restaurants, grocery store, etc. That - of course - is where our condos are. Give us a call when you're getting into town and we'll guide your way in!

Where ya' hikin'?

2010-05-17T19:59:00.000-07:00

Link to info about the area - http://www.visitpagosasprings.com/

We are big fans of hiking trails that can be as easy or vigorous as you want it to be.
We especially like the ones with a reward at the end – a beautiful view or waterfall!
We’ll plan and lead a hike every day for those who want to come along!

http://visitpagosasprings.com/colorado/activities/colorado-summer-vacation/hiking

Thoughts for hikes and days (depending on the weather and our whims!)
- Sunday - Resevoir Hill (if everyone hasn't arrived yet) OR Treasure Falls/Pagosa Overlook (if everyone has arrived)
- Monday - Reservoir Hill or Treasure Falls/Pagosa Overlook
- Tuesday - Piedra River - a "short version" and "long version" (for those wanting a challenge)
- Wednesday - Piedra Falls - our "longest drive for the shortest hike" that is worth every mile
- Thursday - Lobo Overlook/Continental Divide - this is the "challenging one"
- Friday - Ice Cave Ridge - ice and snow in June - yes indeed. And one mighty fine vista up on the cliff.

If there is any interest - we can do a little geocaching...
http://www.geocaching.com/
Pagosa area caches...
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.aspx?lat=37.26945&lng=-107.0097617&dist=25

An alternative route...

2010-05-17T19:36:00.000-07:00

For those who'd like to avoid driving in Denver metro area and the mountains (except for a little bit over Wolf Creek Pass - you can't avoid that)...I offer this Google map.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=108777437559785341342.000486d5207717b523701&z=6

Basically it takes a left from Interstate 76 onto a very lonely highway 71 (fill with gas before you hit it because there's nothing for almost 100 miles) and it gets back on Interstate 25 on the south end of Colorado Springs.

There's even a tiny little burg at the intersection of Highway 71 and 36 called "Last Chance...".

Pagosa Vacation 2010 - random info

2010-05-17T19:23:00.000-07:00

Weather and Clothes - Main advice is dress in layers and be prepared to layer on or peel off. When the sun is out it's plenty warm (especially if you are hiking hard). But when it's not it can be downright chilly (and always is first thing in the morning and after the sun goes down). Our hikes aren't too crazy - so a supportive pair of tennis shoes (that you don't mind getting dirty) will do. If you have hiking boots - of course - they will make your feet happier...

Sun and Bugs - bring sunscreen and bug lotion/spray. You'll need both.

Cell phone coverage - it's pretty good around the main roads - but once we get off the beaten path - it's very iffy (few cell towers and lots of mountains to get in the way)

Altitude change - Pagosa is around 8000-9000 feet (and one hike takes us up to 10800). Watertown is about 1700 feet high. So you will notice that a couple of things...

1) Any toiletries that are in bottles or tubes (shampoo, sunscreen, etc.) will swell up with the change in altitude. make sure you have them all in plastic bags or you just may have a nice mess on your hands (and clothes and stuff). They seem to do it both going up and coming down.

2) You will get winded faster - keep hydrated and take breaks when you need them. Don't push so hard you hyperventilate or pass out. We don't want to be carrying anyone!

Condo goodies

- Washers and Dryers - bring less clothes because you can easily wash/dry with the over & under units in the condo. Wash every day if you like - we typically do a small load every day!

- Dishwasher - they all have a dishwasher and give you enough detergent capsules to run a load a day.

- Flat screen TVs and DVD players - also a CD player/radio

- Toasters/blenders/crock pots/ice makers - These are all in the condo or available to us. If you don't see it - we can ask the front desk - they are verrry accomodating. Bring your favorite recipes (or hook into recipes.com...)

- Linens and pillows and stuff - Linens, Pillows, Towels, Washcloths are provided. If you have a favorite pillow - bring it.

- Swimming pools and hot tubs - bring your suits and if you have swim towels you like - bring them - they're nicer than the ones they provide, typically.

Around town

- There is a Wells Fargo bank in town - and several others with ATMs.
- Golfer? Bring your clubs because there are three 18 hole courses right on and around the resort.

- Grocery store, gas stations and restaurants are nearby. You can get a free Kroger customer card at the grocery store which will save you money in the store and at their affiliated gas station.

- Choke Cherry Tree - awesome little shop where they make a bunch of delicious stuff that make great gifts. Free samples abound...especially their home-made caramels...

- Pagosa Springs hot springs and spa - Pagosa's original claim to fame is the hot springs (one definition of "Pagosa" means "stinky waters") and they have a neat setup - with 12 different pools of different temperatures (from one down by the river [brrr] to one called the Lobster Pot). It's very relaxing and would be a treat for moms and dads...

Sunday Night

- Sunday evening at 6 they have an event by the registration desk where various area people/vendors show and tell about their wares and they give away free stuff. Attendance is totally optional - but it's fun if you've never done it before and want a chance to win some free swag. (examples of past stuff we've won - bag of caramels, ticket to Pagosa Springs Hot Springs, horse-drawn wagon ride and cowboy supper, gift certificate)

Check out this posting and more at...

http://weseloh-vacation.blogspot.com

Summer 2010 Colorado Plans

2010-05-14T09:38:00.000-07:00

Information for Family and Friends!

Google Map for the Resort and Area
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=108777437559785341342.0004868e632274ca4f160&ll=37.263884,-107.077571&spn=0.012876,0.019248&t=h&z=16

We'll be staying in the Teal Landing and Eagle's Loft condos.
The condo's have wi-fi in each unit - so we'll be updating this blog with vacation info as it happens!

Google Map for travel and highlighted attractions
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=108777437559785341342.00044b64c26e223ea2e9e&t=h&z=6

Notes from Austin Preview Trip

2010-01-22T08:44:00.001-08:00

Notes from Austin Preview Trip

Matt and Amy Weseloh

January 2010

We took a preview trip to Austin, Texas from January 16th to January 20th 2010.

Why? Matt's employer is centralizing to Austin and has offered a relocation option.

The Situation

Matt and Amy Weseloh (and family) live in Watertown, South Dakota.

Their oldest son attends college in Watertown.

Their middle son is a Senior at a local church-based private high school.

Their youngest son is a freshman at a local church-based private high school.

They have previously lived in the Dallas Texas area from 1998 to 2005.

The Trip Goals

1) Experience Austin firsthand

2) Learn about real estate in the area

3) Learn about the high schools in the area

4) Learn about churches in the area

5) Learn about the employer site

Results

1) Experience Austin Firsthand

We timed our trip so that it included a holiday and would give us one more day to explore the area. We had both time and budget constraints for this preview trip so our choices (free and cheap) reflect that.

There's a lot of free and cheap available in Austin - by the way!

First of all - look at our Google Map for highlighted places we experienced.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=108777437559785341342.0004791125f54b6309d41&ll=30.33851,-97.698669&spn=0.490089,0.480652&z=11

Second of all - review our pictures and their captions

First set - http://picasaweb.google.com/marji.weseloh/Austin_explore_Day1#

Second set - http://picasaweb.google.com/marji.weseloh/Austin_explore_days_3_and_4#

Third - get an Austin Visitor's kit from the Austin Visitor's Center

http://www.austintexas.org/

We also recommend getting the GoLocal Austin card which entitles you to discounts at many area merchants and restaurants.

You can either get a card online through the Visitor's Center "Deluxe Visitor's Package" (that's what we did) or pick one up at almost any merchant that lets you use one.

An excellent map for visitors is this one (which we picked up at the Visitor's Center on 6th Street)
http://www.mapamerica.com/Austin

As you can see

- we dined (at a lot of unique, neat and not too expensive places - and we just scratched the surface)

- we drove (all around the Austin area in all kinds of traffic - it's all there depending on where and when you're going)

- we hiked (a tiny bit around Mount Bonnell and downtown - and found there are miles and miles of opportunity in and around Austin)

- we listened (we caught free live music at the airport, at Hickory Street Bar and Grill and Flipnotics Coffeespace)

- we watched (a movie at Alamo Drafhouse, people in general - Austin is a melting pot)

- we worshipped (at Holy Word Lutheran in Austin)

We got re-aquainted with both Texas drivers (fast - turn signals optional) and Texas roads (Texas exits/entrances and the unique u-turns under overpasses).

FYI - Our GPS was an invaluable tool to find all of our destinations.

There's a lot of being in the right (or left) lane at the right time...

There are some toll roads - so have some spare change along just in case it's on your way somewhere.

We managed to avoid all of them.

One of Austin's slogans is "Keep Austin Wierd". That's about right - the uniqueness (or wierdness) shows up in all sorts of places.

2) Learn about real estate in the area

We had two realtors recommended to us before our trip and we had both of them "show us around" both the area and a few selected homes that were for sale - just so we could get a feel for things. We had too many unknowns to get really specific - but it was a very useful few hours spent with each.

Here is their contact info:

Jay Ferguson (recommended by company people who moved to Austin last year from Oregon)

Relocation Specialist, CNE

Keller Williams Realty

ph. 512 844 4065

email: jay@nwaustinhomes.com

www.nwaustinhomes.com

Mary Patterson (recommended by local people in the church)

Realtor, GRI, ABR, ASP

Keller Williams Realty

ph. 512 689 4264

Email: mpatterson@kw.com

We were impressed by both and would be happy leveraging either one as we pursue things further.

Because of her affiliation with our church (Mary is the pastor's wife) we will probably continue with her.

We found each to have their own approach and opinions (of course).

We received some PDFs of pertinent area information from Jay and I've put them in the Google docs folder.

- Austin Area Map

- ActivitiesAndFamilyFun

- 100ThingsToDoInAustin

- Parks and Nature Preserves

3) Learn about the high schools in the area

We gathered lots of opinions about the schools in the area and combined it with the information online about the schools.

We wanted to get real information from real parents of students in the schools - so we tapped into both corporate employees and parents with high school age kids at the area churches. This is just the beginning of this information gathering process. It's a little more intensive for us because we're coming out of a small and private school situation - and are looking at the large and public schools.

We understand - so far -

- Your public school is directly connected to your homes location

- Since the population (and tax base) is growing - they are bulding/expanding the schools on the north/west sides constantly

- Different schools have specialties - medical, engineering, fine arts, science, etc. - and of course sports

- A new high school typically is filled by taking the new students and building it one grade at a time (instead of forcing kids to move from existing schools)

- There are LOTS of extracurricular opportunities

Here are some more PDFs of school information as well

- School District Links

- SchoolDistrictsMap

- Private schools List 2008-09 Suzzane

4) Learn about churches in the area

Our church family is very important to us and we learned in advance that we have several congregations (Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod) in the Austin area.

We attended one on the Sunday morning (Holy Word) after we arrived and visited others. The Google map shows where they are located.

Contact me to find out more about the WELS churches or look them up on www.wels.net.

We found that the church family is a terrific way to learn about the area in advance of your visit. People are very willing to offer their honest and real-world opinions and suggestions.

5) Learn about the employer site

I was able to tap into some employees who have recently gone through the relocation process to Austin (moving from Corvallis, Oregon in 2009)

These two people responded to my request for information and were very helpful.

- Slezak, Lee J

- Johnson, Michael A (Java Guru)

The employer site is an old Tandem computers corporate facility and hasn't entirely undergone the transition to the corporate standards trumpeted by our real estate folks. It's a comparatively small site (compared to Plano's building) and has a wide variety of office and cube styles. On the first floor I saw the IT executives offices (very nice), a bunch of inside corridor offices (very reminiscent of the old EDS Education building offices in plano), cubes with half-high community walls (like you'd see in a call center) and full-height cubes. There were also some first-come, first-served mini-rooms where an employee or leader can go to have a private conference call with network access. There is an employee cafeteria (very small with limited hours) and an on-site exercise room and outdoor pool. Neither of my contacts have used them or seen anyone using them.

The road to the site is in pretty poor shape and the signs are pretty run-down. Perhaps we're trying to keep a low-key presence since we have a high-tech datacenter next to the office buildling (and behind all the guards and big fences).

feeding the troops

2009-07-22T16:12:00.000-07:00

Hey all -
sounds like we are totally coming up with a feeding frenzy plan for our vacation.

I didn't mean to sound like I can never feed the guys staying in our condo. Hope it didn't sound that way. Tom, and Aaron can come with Joe as well - they'll be like part of the family.

Just wanted all to feel like if they want to take off with their family to go do something other than at the condo - they didn't have to worry about what was for lunch or dinner - or the time of lunch and dinner. It's vacation - who wants to be on a schedule?

That being said - we'll let you know about the waffles. Glad everyone loves them (I can work on fruit or something to go with them).

love, amy

Are you Jellin' for some Dellin'?

2009-07-02T15:30:00.000-07:00

Weseloh's and Schackenbergs and Lueckes converge on the Wisconsin Dells at the end of July.
Are you ready...?

Thursday - Piedra River Trail Matt & Amy's adventure

2009-06-24T13:06:00.000-07:00

This is the lost blog of Matt and Amy Presume - who went hiking one day along the Piedra River near Pagosa Springs, CO.

It all started innocently enough. "we will have Ross drop us at the trail end at First Fork Bridge and he and Isaac can hike Ice Cave Ridge at the Trail head and we will meet them there" said Mr. Presume. "they will have to wait a little bit for us - but it will be ok."

They are not sure what went wrong. (Other than forgetting to tell N & P that theychanged their hiking plans - sorry).
They were dropped off at the trail's end at the First Fork bridge as planned at 10:30 am. They presumed it was a 5 mile hike to the William's Creek Bridge (according to word of mouth sources and you know how reliable those are) - and then a 3.5 mile hike to the Piedra Trail head from there (again distance given from the same w.o.m. source)

Matt and Amy P. are climbing a lot and keeping the river on the right to try and keep from getting lost. It is a beautiful trail. They don't remember 5 miles ever taking this long before - but they are not in the flat lands of South Dakota so they can't use their regular walking time as a guide.

The flowers are pretty. They grow out of the driest lands. But - they aren't taking much time to stop and smell them.

They knew we needed to cross 3 creeks before they'd get to William's Creek. The first was a puddle jumper - no sweat - great cuz the legs and lungs were getting pretty tired from climbing and climbing. Matt and Amy presume the others will be similar. The second was an adventure - it was running pretty fast and they had to cross it on a fallen tree.

Matt be nimble! Matt be quick - oops - Amy almost fell into the ragin' crick! (It's funny now, when they look back at it) :-) No photo op here - they were too busy trying to stay dry - lol.

Climbing again - up up up. The land is beautiful, peaceful. They finally see some horseback riders - who just say - "ya doing the whole trail?" And Mrs. Presume came across a man taking photos who commented - "you do know that you are doing this hike the hard way don't ya?"She'd started to get that idea.

At one point they came across an interesting stone marker. Was someone lost at some point? Wandering in the woods? Or does it have some other sort of significance? Is Jimmy Hoffa buried here?

The couple kept plugging away. The trail has to end soon. Mr. Presume was getting a little worried that they were on the wrong trail - even though they'd met up with a few people - but that seemed like hours ago.
"Mrs. Presume just kept thinking - as long as the river is on the right - we're ok. "
They still had another creek to go. His GPS battery had died and there was no cell signal to be had. They were truly alone out there.
At one point Matt suggested they turn back and try to get ahold of Ross to pick them up. Amy didn't think that was a good idea for a variety of reasons.

1. That seemed like giving up.
2. She didn't think we'd have a phone there either.
3.She'll stand on the edge of many a cliff - but I didn't want Ross driving that curvy windy road twice.

Finally creek numero tres - (I think Spanish when I'm tired ha ha). It had a bridge - hurray. Followed by a switch back that went up, up, up, up, up, up, up (you get the picture). Mr. Presume at this point is getting a second wind. Amy is on her diabetic end and know that they have pretty far to go yet.

Mr. Presume is waiting for Mrs. Presume at the top of the switch-back. She tried using a walking stick to go up that. She must have picked the heaviest stick in the forest - (which BTW - some of the trees looked like Fanghorn Forest for any LOTR fans - maybe it was just the low BS. )

The view at the top - and the breeze - almost/ok helped her recover a bit.

Matt is getting farther and farther ahead now. They are still remembering the mantra - keep the river on the right. The two see another bridge that is pretty low down - that can't be the WC bridge - I don't remember that much of a climb last year. Nope that bridge is over the actual river. They keep walking.

They see someone fishing. Good news - it isn't far at all now! Strange news - from where they began hiking - they will have covered 8.5 miles (mostly climbing) to the WC bridge. They information they received was wrong last year. The whole trail is not 8.5 miles - it is closer to 11. It is taking us longer - because of all the climbing and Amy having to slow down because of low BS. They still have no clue about what time it is.

Mr. Presume reached the meadow.That means the bridge is near. At the bridge there is a celebration of splashing with creek water and gearing up for what they think is another 3.5 miles. Matt takes off before Amy so that if Ross is waiting he can go to the trading post and get her something for her blood sugar.

When you are on the last part of the trail - there is a couple points where you can see Piedra Road. Amy presumed she saw the NaPa van going in the wrong direction. "NOOOOOOOO!" she shouted in her head. She picked up the pace as much as shecould.

Turns out Ross and Papa were looking for cell signal. Matt presumably found it at the trading post (a couple of great hikers gave him a ride down there. )

Ross and Papa picked us up at the Trail Head weary but in one piece! The trail head is 500 feet higher than the ending where Matt and Amy Presume started. No wonder they climbed so much.

When they made it to the van - there were many different exclamations - all repeatable btw - and some might have sounded like "I'll never hike that again! But now, as they sit here - having finished it and not quite as sore - maybe they will do it again someday.

Maybe - but with some changes - the biggest being - WE START AT THE TRAIL HEAD!

That's all for now -

Wednesday - Colorado High

2009-06-17T20:48:00.000-07:00

Today Papa got to take a watercolor painting class and came home with a great work created in a new style.

The hikers (M, A, R, I) pushed it to the limit today - starting out their hike at the highest road point along highway 160 - Wolf Creek Pass. At the summit of the pass there are two continental divide trails (one running south and one running north).

First we tried to the south trail - only to find immediately upon entering the woods that it went from trail to snowdrift (with trail underneath). We tried this for a while - but decided to try our hand at the other side (which was more of a known quantity for us because we tried it last year, too).

On the north side of the highway there is a road (Lobo Overlook 3 mi.) that leads to an observation area and microwave transmitters. The road is closed to vehicles (when covered by snow at any point) but open to hikers.

It's uphill all the way to an elevation of 11,720 - starting at 10,800. All of us reached our personal high points and lived to tell about it. We've even got photographic evidence.

It was exhausting and exhilarating!

Wednesday's pics are here...

Tuesday - Piedra Falls Hike

2009-06-16T18:18:00.000-07:00

If you are ever in the Pagosa Springs area this is one hike that is totally worth the effort. It takes driving, a shortish hike/walk that at the end gives you an awesome reward - a double falls.

Our trip today started with a stop at the Lunch date geocache that was about half-way to our hike. While the cacher's were searching for their prize - the more adventurous ones were searching for photo ops on the cliff-side. We were rewarded with beautiful scenery. Amy discovered that while she she is not afraid at all of heights - she does have a little fear of her children being close to the cliff-side edge. She eventually had to send Isaac away from the edge because she just couldn't watch him any more. She however stayed there(how's that for a double standard). Ross was able to get some awesome photos, Amy was running our video camera while Matt was gazing at the awesome mountain vistas on the other side of the road.

When we were ready to move on from there i.e. - the sane were able to get the risk takers from the edge - we continued our drive on to Piedra Falls. All 6 of us traversed the path to the falls and stayed for quite a while - some climbing up rocks and down - some just staying down closer to the waters edge.

The afternoon and evening were just spent relaxing. This vacation spot has always been made for and filled with just that. Fun and relaxation.

Tuesday pics here

Tuesday - Ballooning high over the San Juans

2009-06-16T18:16:00.000-07:00

Woosh! My heart jumped as the balloon slowly began to ascend into the air, leaving the ground below. Woosh! My heart stayed in place this time, but my anticipation rose! What will we see on this glorious adventure in the sky? Woosh! We are soaring over the Village Lake now - I can see our condo - Eagle's loft 7007 - it looks so small from up here. Woosh! I need to get a picture before we get any higher. I reach for my camera - sigh - I'm in a dream blog. Someday I will be in that balloon over the San Juan Mountains.

Monday - Reservoir Hill Hike

2009-06-16T16:12:00.000-07:00

Monday morning we were greeted by another beautiful day and set off for our hike - one that only 3/6ths of us had ever attempted before. This one had many different trails amid the trees - so two of our photographers took pictures of the trail map in case we split up (on purpose or not) while hiking.

On the reservoir hill trail we spotted colorful flowers, long-eared squirrels and some deer eating in the distance, as we tried to find our way from one trail marker to the next. Our goal was a scenic over-look. Some of us took a rugged red-trail to the top and some took an "easy" green (not-always) trail, but we all made it. The geo-cacher's found their box and the one other of us just stood on the edge and went "ahhh".

We again took separate trails to the bottom and enjoyed the different things we found on this hike.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing and enjoying the warm sun - temps have been mid 70's in the lower elevations in the sun - higher elevations are a little cooler.

Monday's pics here

Sunday - Treasures galore

2009-06-14T19:07:00.000-07:00

We started off Sunday with a devotion and Trinity Sunday sermon from Shepherd of the Valley in West Fargo. Then on to grocery shopping.

Finally - some fun stuff - an always rewarding hike to Treasure Falls. It's about 15 miles out of Pagosa Springs and it's a perfect hike. Nice workout for a wonderful reward (the beautiful Treasure Falls). The parking lot is situated so that you get to see the falls from afar - and then at the end of the hike you get to see, hear, and feel the falls up close and personal. If you go up to the Misty Deck you will get wet!

Today we were treated to a brief hailstorm on the hike - which passed by so quickly that even the rain that fell was dry in 10 minutes.

Then back to Pagosa for some chillin' and grillin'. The "Higher Grounds" coffee shop and Pagosa Brewery were stops on the way back to the condo. We're quaffing a growler of Eagle ESB (whatever that means) from the brewery. It's pretty tasty!

Sunday pics here...

Saturday - On to Pagosa

2009-06-14T18:47:00.000-07:00

We continued our trek Pagosa Springs-ward with a scenic run down the "Top of the Rockies" highway (Colorado Highway 91) from Copper Mountain to Fremont Pass to Leadville. That's "Led-vill" because the miner's considered the earth they were excavating to be "as heavy as lead".

We stopped at the top of Fremont Pass and the former town of Climax. Climax was relocated to Leadville when the mining companies realized the town was sitting on rich deposits of minerals. All that remains today is a small molybdenum mining operation - but there was a wonderful little outdoor museum detailing the rich history. If you're ever in the area there - take the time to stop and enjoy it!

We picnic lunched at windy Poncha Springs at a little mom-and-pop welcome center. Swung through Saguache to see Ramie's Drug Dealer...(see last year's pictures for that...) and stopped at the scenic overlook while entering Pagosa Country. Saw a surprising pile of Diet Pepsi trash which we found was a soda truck that took a spill on one of the hairpin switchbacks coming down from Wolf Creek Pass.

Checked into our Eagles Loft condo at about 3:30 PM and settled in for our weeks stay here. The geese are still prevalent and leaving their little presents all about (advice - don't go barefoot outside...).

Saturday pics here...

Friday - Up, up and away

2009-06-14T18:16:00.000-07:00

We continued our journey on Friday with a trek from Grand Island, NE (elevation - 1,853 feet) to Dillon, CO (elevation - 8,390 feet).

We picnicked at the Colorado Welcome center in Julesberg, CO and ended the day with the "Old Dillon Reservoir" hike. Wow - what a finish!

Two geocaches found - Kiddies Kache and Old Dillon Reservoir.

Friday Pictures at Picasaweb...

Thursday - A musical journey

2009-06-14T17:28:00.000-07:00

We started our trek with a stop at the National Music Museum at Vermillion, SD.

Wow - what a wonderful journey into the world of making music. They have a multi-media tour (you get a Dell Axim PDA and a pair of headphones) where you get to hear, see and learn much more about exhibits in all the galleries and hallways.

Among the many wonders - we all saw our first Stradivarius violin, cello AND guitar! A crutch that's also a guitar. Hardanger fiddles. A piano with 7 pedals. And a complete gamelan ensemble from Java (commissioned and built for the museum). We even were treated to a gamelan rehearsal while we were there.

We finished our trek for the day in Grand Island, NE at the Travelodge motel. We were very pleasantly surprised at the very nice accomodations. We used our Wyndham Reward Points to pay for the room - so it was "free"...so to speak.

We dined at chez Pizza Hut. Pzone's all around...

Today's pics at Picasaweb

Back to Pagosa - in 2 weeks!

2009-05-27T14:32:00.001-07:00

We're preparing for a return to Pagosa Springs, Colorado in June. Join us for the journey...

Escaping to the Dells

2009-03-09T06:44:00.000-07:00

Well - here were are! After a white-knuckle 10 1/2 hour trip across southern Minnesota and Wisconsin (let's count - 4 semis, 10+ cars in ditches) we arrived at Glacier Canyon Lodge in the Wisconsin Dells.

We've driven by the exit many times but never stopped. Now we're here for a week. There are three indoor waterparks at this resort. It's a long (looooong) walk or a short shuttle ride from the condo to the waterparks. Very beautiful here - we'll get pics of the scenery today.

But tonight we were just glad to get here and super-pleased with our room. We have a 2 bedroom Presidential. We've never had a "Presidential" before - it's a new "level" for the Wyndham condos. Wow - the pics at http://picasaweb.google.com/matt.weseloh/March92009GlacierCanyonDells will speak for themselves.

Way spiffier stuff than we're used to. We're going to enjoy this week.

Isaac couldn't wait to hit the waterpark - so he donned trunks and we headed to Klondike Canyon. There are some pics of that, too.
There's a 4-person water ride called the Hurricane. He highly recommends it. We'll see if the rest of us can handle it!

Got to go up and make some cinnamon rolls...

Later...

WVR @ Glacier Canyon address/contact info

2009-01-12T15:02:00.000-08:00

Wyndham Vacation Resorts at Glacier Canyon
45 Hillman Road
Lake Delton WI 53940
608-253-8800

WVR @ Glacier Canyon waterpark info

2009-01-12T14:44:00.001-08:00

You need an "I'm a guest of this resort" wristband to get into the waterparks.

You receive one wristband for the maximum capacity of the unit you are in. Ex. a 1 Bedroom deluxe sleeps 4 - so that would be 4 wristbands.

There are 3 or 4 indoor and 3 or 4 outdoor waterparks. In the summer they all are open. In the winter and non-peak times only 2 of the indoor parks are open all the time. The other indoor park is open on the weekends.

Wyndham Vacation Resort @ Glacier Canyon

2009-01-12T14:40:00.001-08:00

WVR @ Glacier Canyon shares a lobby and property with Glacier Canyon Resort. This is one of the Wilderness Territory resorts.
www.wildernessterritory.com

There are several indoor and outdoor waterparks, golf courses, a hiking trail, snow tubing hill, laser tag, mini golf, etc.

There is, sadly, no longer a Lake Delton. Apparently a berm/levee gave way after record rainfall and the lake ran into the Wisconsin River (and ran away). There are some dramatic YouTube videos of it happening. But it seems they're going to be refilling it.

But fishing opportunities on the Wisconsin River and numerous area lakes abound. Fishing boats/trailers can be parked on the property (unlike many other Wyndham resorts).

They have WiFi in the lobby - but not in the condos.

Disney Links

2008-07-12T15:47:00.000-07:00

Disney World site

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/parks/allParksOverview?id=ParkOverviewPage

Disney World Parks Calendar

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/calendar/parkhours/calendarHome

(FYI - Extra Value Hours are for people staying in Disney resorts - we should avoid those parks on those days)

Disney Vacation Planning kit & personalized DVD (free)

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/myVacation/index?id=MyVacationIndexPage

Disney on your desktop - DisneyLink

http://cdn.directmessagelab1.com/download/disney/download.aspx

Disney info NOT from Disney

http://www.wdwinfo.com/

Vacation Calendar

2008-07-12T15:43:00.000-07:00

Farewell for now...

2008-06-30T10:41:00.000-07:00

And so we arrived home safely on Sunday afternoon at 2:30 pm.

That's how the story ended...here are the gaps filled in...

We left Pagosa about 9 on Friday morning. First, we headed over to the boys condo (a Peregrine unit B-side) to take pictures of it while it was semi-clean. Then returned a movie, turned in our card keys, washed the winshield, refilled our gallon jugs of water - and then, we were off.

It was a hot drive on a hot day across Southern Colorado - we took Highway 160 over to Walsenburg. We arrived in Colorado Springs in need of some air conditioning - but were too early to check into the hotel (a new trend we're running into on this trip - no rooms even available until after 3). We already had a plan B in mind - to go to a movie. So we hit the Cinemark Imax theater and saw Kung Fu Panda. Unfortunately - the A/C wasn't that cool in the theater (but the lobby was) - and the movie was OK but nothing to write home about. But we were thankful for the break from the heat and noise (windows open at 75 mph = loud!)

After the movie - we checked into the Extended Stay Suites hotel. We cranked the A/C in our room and it was nice. We stopped in Colo Springs (barely 5 hours on our way home) to rendezvous with Zech Roloff - a cadet at the Air Force Academy there. We had supper with him and hung around until about 10 PM when we took him back to the base.

Saturday was our long driving day - so we tried to get out early (about 7:30) and made our way from Colo Spgs (as all the road signs say) to Grand Island, NE. Another hot and windy trek that ended up at a nice little Rodeway Inn that was very eager to make their guests happy. Nice little lake out back with a beach and patio. Very impressive.

Amy and I went out to eat at Red Lobster - and she got to try the winning recipe from "America's Next Food Network Star". It was unique and pretty tasty.

We finished the trek on Sunday heading north from Grand Island to Watertown. We went through Yankton again and got to cross over the dam in a detour as well. A pretty diversion in the daylight (this time).

And so we bid you farewell for now from vacation-land...back to reality!

Day 8 - Winding down....

2008-06-27T05:23:00.001-07:00

View day 8 pictures

It's time. Can't avoid it - our vacation time here is drawing to a close.

Time to start gathering up all our stuff (the downside of such a roomy and homey place is that there's lots of places to put stuff - so it takes a concerted effort to pull it all back together - especially with our limited vehicle room...).

Time to eat all the leftovers and make sure the groceries don't go to waste (or "cash into the trash" as we saw on an infomercial yesterday morning...).

Time to return the golf clubs that we borrowed from a Wyndham employee (nice guy!).

Time to get all the clothes washed and packed (nice to have a washer and dryer in the condo).

Time to take one last photo tour of this unique place (which we did by driving Plumtaw Road - a 12 mile one-lane road - we met one car and 6 ATVs - and no one else).

Time to gas up the van (ouch).

Time to enjoy a brew from the Pagosa Brewery (see the pictures for details).

(FYI - we did not ride the balloon - it was just floating by this morning...)

Day 7 - Missions accomplished

2008-06-26T08:20:00.000-07:00

View day 7 pictures

Another relaxed "what do you want to do today" day - ahhh. We've done all of our desired and favorite hikes - so we thought we'd go back and revisit the Piedra River one that we cut short due to hunger on Sunday. We wanted to get to the "footbridge over the Piedra River" that the hiking guide talked about. We gave Ben/Zack/Joe the option to come along - and they opted for snoooooze.

On our way there - we took another shot at the Geocache that we didn't find earlier. Hooray - we found it. Our first geocache. Isaac and I found it just where the clue said it was. (Want to know more - go to http://www.geocaching.com/ and do an advanced search for Pagosa Springs, CO. The cache we found is called "lunch date")

Amy took some spectacular pictures from the cliffs edge while Matt promised not to watch and tell her not to "get back here where it's safe". She spied the trail along that river that we were planning to hike.

With those missions accomplished - we hit the trailhead of the Piedra River hike and made it to the footbridge (built in Alexandria MN) over the river. The "river" is actually several forks of itself that join up in this beautiful mountain meadow. The metal footbridge (suitable for horse and man) spans one of these smaller forks.

This hike was a great combination of up and down, magnificent meadow and craggy cliff, river's edge and hundreds of feet above the river. Shining examples of God's incredible creation were there to see for everyone. Photo ops that didn't appear on the way to the bridge just jumped out at us on the way back.

We took pictures of the ledge Amy was on as she took those initial spectacular panoramic views, too. We tried to use the GPS to tell us how long the trail was - but since we weren't on a road - it just told us the difference between the coordinates (as the crow flies). Some help that is. But the hiking guide says it's 3.5 miles to the footbridge - and we felt every foot of it (except Isaac who led the way and wondered why it took us so long).

When we returned - we picked up our half-gallon of Pagosa Brewing Company root beer. We boiled brats in other Pagosa Brewing Company beer (Honeymoon Ale that we'd bought the day before) and both were delicious.

Wednesday evening was another mission accomplished. Golf in the mountains. We played the Pinon course at the Pagosa Springs Golf Club (they have three 9 hole courses). Ben suggested we play Best Ball to help hurry things along. Good idea - as the 9 holes we did play took us 3 hours!

But it was fun and we got some great pics. The scenery surrounding the course just makes it a very special place to play - even if you don't know how to play.

Sadly - our time here is drawing to a close...a mission we don't really relish accomplishing...

Day 6 - Falls by the wayside

2008-06-25T07:22:00.000-07:00

View Day 6 pictures

Today was Piedra Falls day. Piedra Falls is the remotest of our hiking destinations. You head up Piedra Road until the pavement becomes gravel. Then down the gravel until it becomes a dirt road. Then down the dirt road (East Toner Road) until it ends. The 8 miles down East Toner Road takes 20-30 minutes. It's one lane and twists around like crazy. They state very clearly that you SHOULD NOT drive this road when wet.

(FYI - the Day 5 and Day 6 pictures have a little map on the lower left hand side - if you click on the map - we placed some of the pictures on the map where they were taken. The Falls pictures show you where it is, exactly)

On Friday - as we stopped in the Visitor Center - there was a printed email saying that East Toner Road had road construction and was impassable after a certain point (what would you expect with a one-lane road?). They said you could still hike to the falls but had to park before the road construction and detour around it (through the woods). They also said construction was supposed to be finished by June 20th.

We took a chance that it was finished and barreled/inched/carefully negotiated down East Toner Road. No worries - the construction was finished. Though it was obvious what they needed to fix. The road had basically been eliminated for about 50 feet (made its way down the hillside with the spring thaw). So they rebuilt it - pretty neat to see their reconstruction. Felt sturdy to us!

That said - we made it to the trailhead / end of the road just fine. As expected - the water is flowing bountifully. Parts of the trail were a little muddy too - which just added to the excitement. This hike is great - a variety of terrain and obstacles - and such a wonderful reward at the end (the falls).

Piedra Falls is a double falls - with an upper and a lower portion. You have to climb out a bit on rocks to see both falls - but its worth it. There are so many great vantage points for viewing and thing trees/rocks/paths to climb on. We usually spend more time at the falls than getting there (at least hiking there). And there are many great photo opportunities.

Last time we posed some nice pictures on a log below the falls - but this time it was surrounded by flowing water. No worries - there were many other photo spots. The mist kicked up by the increased water flow made some really neat rainbow effects that we noticed and caught on camera. The only downside was that you had to be in the mist to get the picture - so the camera got a little shower (thank goodness it didn't zap us).

Many people of all ages were enjoying this sight today. When we returned to the parking lot (if you can call a sandy rocky space that) there were lots of cars, trucks and otherwise.

There's an area about 1/2 mile before you get to the trailhead where the water comes tumbling down when it rains. Sometimes it washes out and is very rocky. But thankfully they've leveled it out so vehicles with any clearance can make it over it.

After enjoying this hike thoroughly - we headed back to town and stopped at the Pagosa Brewery Co. It's a micro-brewery that was started in 2006. We'd read about their root beer and wanted to get some for lunch with our grilled hamburgers. Sadly - they only serve the rootbeer in-house because they make it in small batches daily. They don't want to get cleaned out all at once. So the boys had root beers in-house - and we put in an order for 32 oz take-out tomorrow. Looking forward to it!

We headed downtown in the evening to smell and touch the "stinky waters" that are the Pagosa Springs. We also did a little souvenier shopping. Found our favorite shirt store had moved farther down the block (again) - but it's still around (Wild Rose Shirt Shop).

Elk Run photo tour

2008-06-23T19:43:00.000-07:00

View an Elk Run unit photo tour

We’re staying in Elk Run this time around. I believe the Elk Run units are the second oldest on the property after the Eagles Lofts (which were built originally by Art Linkletter).

The photos bring you in the front door and a mud room area. Then it’s a split level with three levels – upper, middle and lower.
The middle level has a bedroom, bathroom and washer/dryer.
The upper level has a big living area with fireplace (we’re not using it…as it’s 85 degrees out there), dining area, kitchen and very large deck.
The lower level is the master bedroom, walk-in closet and huge bathroom. They just want you to feel like your bathrooms back home are so inadequate with these monster master baths. It’s not fair. Oh – and there is a nice patio out the back, too.

Some quirks too – there are so many light switches and none of them labeled. You always end up guessing which one does what (if you lived here I’m sure you’d get used to it). And the air conditioner is working very well in the master and other bedroom – but hardly making a dent upstairs.

A new feature that they’ve added is wireless internet in each condo now. A very pleasant surprise – and how we’re getting these pictures and blogs out there every day…

Day 5 - Missed it by that much...

2008-06-23T19:33:00.000-07:00

View Day 5 pictures

After today - our fifth sojourn to the wondrous place known as Pagosa Springs - one dream remains a dream. Back on Friday - as we crested Wolf Creek Pass our hopes (well - ok - Matt's hopes) were lifted as we actually saw the parking lot of the Continental Divide hike. Oh - the parking lot has always been there but it was either invisible due to mounds of snow or so muddy that we daren’t try it.

This Monday morning we ambled our way to the summit of Wolf Creek Pass. (yay – no funny smells from the engine today!) Our goal - to finally do the Continental Divide hike from the Lobo Overlook. The write-up about the hike said it’s a mile and a half drive to the top of the overlook – and that’s where the Continental Divide hike starts – with 360 degree views of the surrounding San Juan mountains.

Well – we turned into the parking area and started up the road. A sign said “Lobo Overlook – 3 miles”. Hmmm – 3 miles or 1 ½ miles – well – no problem.
Then we saw the “Road Closed” sign. What to do, what to do.

We decided to park it and hike it – hoping that the 1 ½ miles was really what it meant and not 3. We hiked up the road and found several reasons why it was closed. Trees had fallen and blocked the road. Some areas were precariously washed out. And most of all – snowdrifts went from spreading small fingers out onto to the road to “where is the road?”. OK – we get it.

Wolf Creek Pass is already pretty high up there (9,000+ feet) and this hike just goes up from there. Wow – what a terrific workout and view. We were stopped after the 2 mile mark (probably a quarter mile or so) by two things. One – we couldn’t see the road anymore. It was all snow. Two – the sky was darkening and thunder ominously rolled. We just read in USA Today that morning about how all but one of lightning fatalities last year happened outdoors.

So – time to abort the hike - short of the 360 degree views and head back down. There were some pretty spectacular photo ops anyway – where you can definitely see that we’re above the snow line. And the thunderstorm held off – so we walked in sunshine all the way – it was a refreshing 65-70 degrees up at that altitude and sunscreen was a must.

So – the Lobo Overlook remains on our list of “things to do” in Pagosa Springs. Perhaps next time?

We returned to town and definitely felt (literally and figuratively) that we had just done a great workout.

There was supposed to be a mini-golf tournament today but it was called on account of pending thunderstorm. The rain did eventually come and was very welcome – it cooled things down and reduced the fire danger to boot.

We heard a siren go off a couple of times. Not sure what it was. It just started – went through about 4-5 cycles and stopped. Maybe a volunteer fire department or something? The weather didn’t seem to warrant a warning – it wasn’t that bad.

The boys are going to the rec center to lift weights and swim in the pool each evening. Amy and Matt are reading books and doing crossword puzzles. To each their own!

Time to go for a walk and enjoy the post-rainstorm weather.

Day 4 - Ice Caves and other wonders

2008-06-22T18:33:00.000-07:00

View our Day 4 pictures.

I was up with the sun - so grabbed some sunrise photos.

It was an unorthodox Sunday for us people who usually spend it in church. We started our day by heading north up Piedra Road with hiking feet at the ready (trying to beat the inevitable heat that's putting this region into Very High fire danger).

We stopped at the Piedra River - and found our favorite "picture rock" under water with the spring and early summer snow melt. The boys skipped and plopped a few rocks (practicing their shot put skills?).

We hit the Piedra River trailhead and went up, up, up on the Ice Cave Ridge hike. The Ice Caves in the name are really large fissures that fill with snow that gets packed into ice over the winter. The snow doesn't melt completely until mid-summer and we saw some dirty snowdrifts at the bottom of some of the fissures. Like every great hike - the reward was the beautiful view from the top of the ridge. And the special bonus that the trip back to the trailhead was all downhill.

And then Matt and Amy decided - hey - we're here - let's do the Piedra River hike which starts at the same trailhead. We've never done this one before - and some whitewater rafters were just getting ready to start down the river. So we followed this great trail along the river - sometimes high above and sometimes near it - a veritable rollercoaster of a trail. Through spectacular rockfalls (which have been there for quite some time - phew), desert-like meadows and towering cliffs - it was great. But our stomachs and empty water bottles were saying it was time to head back.

So we did - with a short stop to try our hand at geocaching - searching for the treasure container that is on our way back. We didn't find it - but our little GPS doesn't take coordinates (latitude and longitude) so even though we had the exact location - we couldn't find it. Sounds like a really fun neat game to play, though.

We hit the grocery store and picked up lunch. Then it was time for church! We read a sermon from Pastor Gabb at Atonement in Texas and joined in the Lord's Prayer.

After church - we treated the unintiated to the wonder that is the Choke Cherry Tree store. Some members of the party spent about 30 minutes sampling all their home-made delights.

Day 3 - Ahhh - treasure that vacation time...

2008-06-22T06:21:00.000-07:00

View Day 3 pictures

Ahh - settling into the agenda of not having an agenda.

This morning we headed back down Highway 160 to Treasure Falls. This picturesque wonder of God's creation looks great from every angle.

The picture here is from the parking lot at the base of the falls. The hike takes you within soaking wet distance of the falls. The other pictures tell that story.

This winter was bountiful in its snowpack and the first full day of summer has Treasure Falls drenching the "misty overlook" area. The spray/shower is COLD - as it was snow only a few hours before... It felt wonderful.

The Tres Amigos found the McDonalds for lunch and checked out the details on the golf course. Matt and Amy took the obligatory "visit with the condo people" and procured 2 18-hole passes so the boys could afford to enjoy the unique course that winds through our condos.

Tomorrow on to the Ice Cave Ridge and the Piedra River. We'll try not to fall in to either one...

Day 2 - Into the Mountains

2008-06-21T08:12:00.000-07:00

View Day 2 pictures

Breathe deep and smell America

When the air conditioning isn't working - you can't help but breathe deep and let your olfactory sense do what God intended it to.

Alfalfa just mowed, sharp ozone from a thunderstorm, the distinctive differences between cow, chicken, sheep and turkey manure. FYI - Nebraska off the interstate is really fragrant in that respect...

And surprisingly - as we made our way from Denver up into the Rockies then south to Pagosa Springs - the air didn't have any smell at all. Clean and refreshing. Breathe deep, O travelers!

But the van had other ideas. As we labored up steep grades - the engine was producing some funny smells (though we can't figure out exactly what - since the fluids are all in great shape). And going down those same grades let us know that our brakes were working very very hard.

All slept well at the Day's Inn in Denver. Nice and cool and spacious.

We made our way up I-70 and took a recommended route down Colorado 91 - a road called the "Top of the Rockies" drive. Lots of "fourteeners" all around (mountains over 14,000 feet).

A very beautiful change of pace for us flatlanders. As we were driving through the very sparsely populated landscape - reminiscent of desert scrub landscapes seen in movies - someone said let's play the alphabet game. And the alphabet letter has to start the word - not just be anywhere in the word.

Well - the remaining 2 1/2 hours of the drive were taken up by this endeavor. Q for Quality, X for Xpress and Railroad X-ing.

We stopped at one of our favorite pictures spots just after crossing Wolf Creek Pass. It's an outcropping on the top of the valley that offers spectacular views and photo ops galore. Treasure Falls was plainly visible from this spot as the snow is still melting and providing lots of water. (More on Treasure Falls tomorrow).

We stopped to load up on brochures at the Pagosa Springs welcome center - then checked into our condos. The Tres Amigos (Ben, Zack and Joe) dived into their accomodations with gusto and the leftovers (Amy, Isaac and Matt) took welcome respite from the heat in a spacious 2 bedroom condo. We'll get you pictures this week (though it's already too late to get you "neat and tidy" pictures of the Tres Amigos abode...) - we promise.

Tomorrow the hiking begins in earnest - but first - some high altitude rest (about 7900 feet here in Pagosa Springs).

The journey bgins - westward ho!

2008-06-20T05:15:00.000-07:00

The pictures that accompany this blog are at: http://picasaweb.google.com/matt.weseloh/PagosaVacation2008_Day1

Our day began at midnight (as truly all days begin) but this was a special day. Because our journey began at the same time. The passengers (Ben, Joe, Zack and Isaac) were buzzing with anticipation - two of them having just been released from their Taco John's shifts shortly before. The copilot (Amy) had been getting everything piled up and ready to pack. The pilot (Matt) had been trying to "pre-sleep" in anticipation of the night driving.

(A word about the unorthodox departure time - the air conditioning on the van was not working - so traveling in the cool parts of the day was the plan. Our destinations have been having unusually warm temps for this time of year.)

So off we went. A new father's day present - a GPS - was a welcome companion when we hit Yankton, SD. There's a very unique over/under one-lane bridge that had recently failed. So our detour took us over top of the dam on the river. The GPS didn't even have a road there - so we were "walking on water".

The passengers watched movies on a portable DVD player and played video games and generally avoided sleep until after 4 am. The driver avoided sleep altogether (phew!).

Daylight crept in as we made our way across the plains of Nebraska. Sunrise fired up the sky at Grand Island, NE. We made in impromptu breakfast stop at a beautiful HyVee store in Grand Island. Largest one we've ever seen.

Finally - sleep overtook the passengers (see photo for proof) and I-80 became our new home. A thunderstorm cleaned the accumulated bugs off the car (and luggage carrier) around North Platte, NE.

Upon entry into Colorado at Julesberg - we got some pictures at the birthplace of the Pony Express. The interstate was closed - so we got an impromptu journey across a landscape that looks less and less like South Dakota more and more.

Back on the interstate - we leisurely picnic lunched at another rest stop. As the temperature rose the van got louder as we opened the windows. So the nice breeze and reduction in volume was a welcome break.

We caught our first hazy glimpse of the mountains just outside of Denver. Our hotel was on the south side of Denver - and the easiest way to get there was to take the interstates that run right through it. We were re-acquainted with the concept of 8 lanes of traffic (and the cars to fill it) that we hadn't enjoyed (!) since Texas.

Our little GPS failed us - as the hotel was new and in a new part of town that didn't yet exist in its tiny mind. It tried to calculate us a route - but couldn't. Time to resort to the old-fashioned way - the map (and a phone call to the hotel). We arrived - but too early to check in - so we went to a brand new shopping mall to enjoy the air-conditioned comfort. We wandered about looking at scads of clothing stores we've never heard of and daren't go into! But Bath and Body Works was having a sale (surprise surprise) and we just HAD to go in. And HAD to buy stuff.

(and we'll HAVE to put it in airtight bags because the pressure change tomorrow - from past experience - will pop those tops and have them oozing all over...)

We checked in shortly after 3 pm and the new day's inn had absolutely gorgeous rooms. After a little chilling out it was time for dinner.

Well - it took us about an hour to find the place. Since our Trusty GPS didn't know where the hotel was (or where it was) it wasn't very helpful in telling us how to get to the restaurant. It was nigh upon rush hour and traffic was very heavy - and we were very hungry.

Then the pilot didn't want to listen to the GPS when it was telling us where to go (and it probably knew what it was doing)...so we basically happened upon the restaurant (after calling them for help). South Yosemite Street in Denver has a life of its own - let me tell you.

O'Shea's Tavern and Grill (http://www.osheastavern.com/) was the destination. If you are ever in Denver - we highly recommend it. See the pictures for proof of the fun and fare we had. An Irish lass was our terribly attentive waitress. We started off with Irish Nachos (home-made potato chips with corned beef, Swiss cheese, cabbage, green onions) and Herb-Crusted Calamari (even the little tentacle-ly ones were super).

Then we ordered all different items so we could taste each other's. It was all magnificent - Shepherd's Pie (with lamb), Mulligan Stew, Corned Beef and Cabbage, Angus burger, Salmon and Fillet Mignon (oh my goodness). We had a Dining Dough certificate that gave us $50 off if we spent over $100. Awesome.

Amy and I had some Irish beer that was superb (and powerful). Can't remember what is was called but it was terrific. Our waitress brought us samples so we could decide which one we wanted.

Finding our way back the hotel was much easier - and we were treated to some spectacular cloud formations (and a pending thunderstorm) on the way back.

Tomorrow - to the mountains!

Vacation info

2008-06-15T20:09:00.000-07:00

Hi to both,

It was good to talk to you in person. Here is a hard - well email copy of what we talked about.

First - if we could have you send along an insurance card - or a copy of one and a note that gives us permission to seek medical treatment for your boys - we'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks so much.

Second - Clothes wise - it looks like it is going to be summery temps out there - so shorts - tees - maybe one pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. The condos have washers and dryers. Laundry can and will be done often. (I run a load almost daily when we go on these vacations - and am bringing along detergent for the boys' condo so they can do it too). They should also bring a swimming suit as there is a pool as well as a weight room they can use. I can provide the towels.

Any shampoos or face-washes that are in bottles - you will want to have in a plastic bag. We learned the hard way - as you climb the mountains - pressure builds up. Sort of like flying. When you first open the bottle - be prepared for a little pop of air (and sometimes a pop of whatever was in the bottle :-) )

There is a Wells Fargo in town. So if anyone needs to get cash - there are atms available.

We do like to go hiking in the woods. Sturdy shoes(matt wears hiking boots, I wear my sturdy tennies) - and hats. Matt said he is not sure if this is tick season or not. We go to see nature and take lots of pictures. He tries to upload to a web site as much as possible. He has started a blog today. It tells a little, so far, about what we are thinking about leaving and traveling etc. Here is the link:

http://weseloh-vacation.blogspot.com/

hopefully you will be able to see what we are doing.

We have packed bug spray and sunscreen.

We are bringing sandwich meat, water-bottles, bread, cheese for sandwiches, fruit, carrots. I usually pick up some pretzles and one kind of crackers or chips. If the boys want anything else to eat or drink snack in the car - they are welcome to bring it. We eat at rest areas during the day and Matt usually picks the restaurant in Denver for our supper. (Same for on the way home. At the condo we usually have one big meal a day and sandwiches for the other. Depends on what we are doing that day. If you have any other questions - just call or email me. I'll be checking often the next couple of days.

Our Sprint plan for cell phones is supposed to have nation wide coverage. Of course some times we may be in a no tower spot - but since 5 out of 6 of us in the car will have cell phones - we should be covered. :-)

I'll call tomorrow to be sure - but I believe the condos have DVD players or at the very least they had vcr's when we were there last in 2006 and were going to be upgrading to dvd players. They do have activities onsite that change monthly. Some are free and some have a low fee and some cost more. We'll get more about that when we get there. Or I can call and get that if the boys want to know ahead of time.

We are looking forward to a fun vacation. Thanks for letting the boys come along!

vehicular update from Matt

2008-06-15T18:00:00.000-07:00

As of this writing - our van doesn't have working air conditioning...

So a thought is to possibly leave Wednesday night after the Taco John boys finish their shifts...

So we travel in the night and cool hours of the day...

Amy and Matt are pondering the wisdom of this thing...

Vacation Itinerary

2008-06-15T17:46:00.000-07:00

Info from Google Map for this trip

Matt Cell: 605-520-5931
Amy Cell: 605-520-5932

===========================
Travel from Watertown to Denver, CO

6/19 - Days Inn, Englewood, CO

9719 E. Geddes Ave.
Englewood, CO 80112
(303) 768-9400

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Travel from Denver, CO to Pagosa Springs, CO
6/20-6/26 - Fairfield/Wyndham - Pagosa Springs, CO

42 Pinion Csway
Pagosa Springs, CO 81147
(970) 731-4123

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Travel from Pagosa Springs, CO to Colorado Springs, CO
6/27 - Extended Stay America, Colo Springs, CO

5855 Corporate Dr
Colorado Springs, CO 80919
(719) 266-4206

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Travel from Colorado Springs, CO to Grand Island, NE
6/28 - Rodeway Inn, Grand Island, NE

3205 S. Locust St.
Grand Island, NE 68801
(308) 384-1333

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6/29 - Travel from Grand Island, NE to Watertown, SD