This month we took a trip to Colorado with A's sister and her family. We came back with light wallets and lots of great memories.
On the flight out, C busked (playing her violin) in the Nashville airport and earned a few bucks. When I first asked her what she was going to buy, she told me "I'm going to get clip-clop shoes." (By which she meant high heeled shoes: something she has been pretty consistent about.) "Or maybe a car." She subsequently spent every dime on a plastic unicorn, as you do when you're five.
We flew into Albuquerque and got to spend a couple of days exploring Sante Fe. That was fun - especially the hiking trails in the area and the sculptures outside of Meow Wolf.
On the short drive up to Pagosa Springs we stopped at Echo Amphitheater, a neat little natural amphitheater that, as luck would have it, had a decent echo when you shouted. Who knew? It's so easy for us to drive past these kinds of places in our hurry to get to the next destination (especially when you have a two year old that happens to be napping) but I'm glad we stopped. I love seeing western landscapes. As an easterner, it's so foreign and fascinating to me.
There wasn't much snow in Pagosa Springs (or, indeed, Wolf Creek Pass) at the beginning of the week, so we got in some hiking in the area. Treasure Falls is a short hike from US 160 and the falls were entirely frozen over. We watched a gentleman of questionable judgment attempt to ice-climb up the thing. After going up 30 to 40 feet he decided it was unsafe (to none of the onlookers' surprise) and climbed back down.
One of the primary reasons for going on this trip is traveling with family!
Our nieces, R and L (14 and 17, respectively) got to ski at Wolf Creek with J and C, which was worth the travel efforts.
J went down some of the intermediate slopes (Blue) on her last day, keeping up with her 17 year old cousin and mom. She also braved the colder, more snowy days when C wisely decided to stay home.
C simply could not wipe the smile off her face as she skidded down slopes. I had to keep reminding her to look where she was going. She also saw other people jumping so she kept trying to jump, too. Why not?
I don't know if we'll get to go back next year or not, but visiting Wolf Creek for a week sure makes me want to live closer to some slopes. ;) Nashville, alas, does not have many local options for winter sports. Cities that have inexpensive skiing options and a good economy seem as rare as hens' teeth.
What else did we do in December? We watched a few of the Harry Potter books with J. She has read and re-read all seven of the books over the fall, so she is really into Harry Potter. We also tried to get outside as much as possible to enjoy the weather before it got really cold.
