I arrived at the Dallas/Fort Worth airport without incident, set my watch ahead one hour and awaited my connection to Colorado Springs. I noticed many things in the DFW airport that Savannah is too small to have including a tequila bar (no, I didn’t go, it was 9:45 in the morning), and vending machines selling such items as GPS systems and ipods – with my luck I would buy one and it would get stuck in that spiral thingy. There were also birds in the airport. They seemed oblivious the fact that they weren’t supposed to be there. They chirped along happily and dive-bombed anyone who got too close to their nests. My question is where the heck did they get the twigs and stuff to build those nests…I have no idea.
As I am waiting to board I notice a gaggle of college basketball players waiting to board the same plane as me. The shortest of them was probably a 6’2” point guard – and yes, they sat in coach. I imagine them folded up in those seats – I did hear the flight attendants warn each other to watch out for feet and elbows.
I arrived in Colorado about 12:15 and Mimi and Devin were waiting for me at the top of the escalators – so awesome to see them again – it was a nice little reunion. After retrieving my $15 checked bag we jumped in the truck and headed into Pueblo for lunch before tackling the rest of the drive to Alamosa. Got to Alamosa maybe around 4:00pm and we put together a nutritious dinner of appetizers and I think I went to bed around 9:30 – not, of course, yet adjusted to the time change.
Day Two started with a leisurely breakfast. Mimi made pancakes and we went off to run errands before the wedding this afternoon. Devin’s family got in around 1:30 and we had a lunch of sandwiches before getting dressed and ready to go to the courthouse for the nuptials. Laden with cameras and the marriage license we arrived at the courthouse about 4:40 and took some pictures while waiting for the judge to arrive. She showed up right at the crack of 5:00 in her black robe and keen sandals (gotta love that!). I stood up for Mimi and Dev’s Dad was best man. The service lasted about 15 minutes and had the requisite number of sniffles and tears.
More pictures and then we were off to the brew pub for a celebratory drink and dinner. The photographers/friends brought a cake so we had the traditional cake cutting after dinner. Then for the honeymoon, the newly married Mimi and Devin took back to their apartment, his mother, father and sister and me and we all crowded in for the evening – very romantic beginning to their lives together We sat around for a while watching television and chatting before we all turned into pumpkins and went to bed. I was especially tired since I was still on Georgia time!
Day Three started with breakfast and Mr. and Mrs. Allen’s apartment. Bill, Eleanor, and Chandra (I claim them as friends now – so first name basis only) left a little after breakfast while Devin, Mimi and I puttered around the apartment packing and getting ready to follow behind to Montrose. We timed it perfectly to get to Crede, CO for a lunch at Kipp’s. If you are ever in Crede – you must go to lunch at Kipp’s – it is awesome. Dev and I got fish tacos and Mimi got pork tacos.
We walked around Crede for a while before getting back in the truck and continuing the trek toward Montrose. I made them stop at North Creek Falls as neither of them had ever seen it and then we tarried on, crossing the Continental Divide. We continued the drive along the Silver Thread highway all the way up to Slumgullion Summit (11, 530 ft), through the Gunnison National Forest and stopping at the Alfred Packer Massacre Site. We continued the journey along Highway 149 through Lake Fork, Blue Mesa Lake/Dam and made our way to Black Canyon. We entered the park from the South Rim. This is a really beautiful park – worthy of a visit if you are in the area. The canyon ranges from 1700 feet deep at Pulpit Rock to 2700 feet deep at Chasm View. I think we stopped at all of the overlooks. The comment of the day came from Mimi who pondered “if all these rivers keep cutting down into the canyons, will they eventually split the earth in two?”
We arrived in Montrose around dinner time. We timed our arrival with the beginning of the hog rally in Montrose so there were 100’s of Harleys in town. It was quite a long day of driving. We got to Devin’s parents house, staked our claim to sleeping spots and then headed out to pick up dinner before settling in for the evening. I think I was, again, the first person to go to bed. Still on Georgia time…very sleepy!
Day Four we arose and had breakfast before heading out to Monument National Park. Saw a funny sign on the highway: “Correctional Facility, do not pick up hitchhikers.” It gave me a good chuckle. Arrived at the Monument and decided to do the Devil’s Kitchen trail. It was a pretty easy trail and we enjoyed the blooming prickly pear cactus plants all around. We saw collared lizards everywhere and some very noisy nesting ravens. About ¾ of the way down the trail we stopped to rest and noticed the rock formation at the top of the hill. We thought it looked like a space ship and Dev and I decided to hike up and explore. We got into the space ship but couldn’t quite scurry all the way up to what would be the cockpit. There were great views of the surrounding mountains. We made our way back down, collected Mimi and continued driving through the park. The road runs right along the rim of the canyon so there were a few white knuckle moments for me as I had never been there and didn’t really know what to expect. We stopped at several of the overlook sites and got pictures before winding our way to the visitors center where we had our picnic lunches and plotted the rest of the day. We decided to go into Palisades and tour some of the wineries. This particular area of Colorado stays a bit warmer than the other parts so there are numerous vineyards and fruit orchards in this area. We visited a couple of them, but the wines at this time of year were all fruit varieties and none of us wanted to try them. After looking over the map we found a distillery that gave tours and tastings as well as a nearby brewery that did the same. We made our way to Peach Street Distillery. We got a brief tour of the facilities and learned about the process. They distill vodka, gin, brandy and grappa. I tasted the gin and it was very good and Devin tasted the peach brandy which he like a good bit. We then headed over to the brewery. It was only about a 2 blocks away so we walked and got there about ½ hour before the tour time. I tried one of their brews while Mimi and Devin had a sarsaparilla. The tables had trivial pursuit cards (young edition) so we read through those while relaxing before the tour. When 4:00 arrived we took a brief tour of the brewery and learned about their brewing process. They (Palisades Brewery) distribute throughout the state and the beer I had was pretty tasty.
We decided that was enough for one day so we headed back to Montrose for the evening. We went to dinner at a Nepalese restaurant. I had some sort of potato, cauliflower dish with a spicy tomato base, Mimi had some vegetarian curry and Devin had a soup with lamb – we were all happy with our choices. The food was quite good and nice after a long day in the car and on the trails. We headed back to Dev’s parents house and visited for a while before turning in for the evening. Again, I think I was the first in bed.
Day Five was party day. We went to the grocery store and got supplies for the low-country boil for the afternoon. Everyone arrived by about 12:30 and Mimi and I were doing our thing – chopping ingredients, boiling the water and getting ready to feed the masses. Devin’s Mom had a tiered cake for the wedding celebration and also some balloons for Father’s day. Of course no party would be complete without silly string and bubbles. We also had the pleasure of watching a humming bird build a nest under the carport. The low-country was, of course, a huge success. Devin’s Mom made some delicious sangria and we had a nice afternoon. After everyone left, we rested around the house and then sort of grazed on leftovers for dinner. Pretty sure I was once again the first one to go to bed.
Day Six we had breakfast with Devin’s parents before packing up for the drive back to Alamosa. We agreed to take the quickest way back so we could go to the Sunday concert in the park. I don’t remember the name of band, but it was a nice evening. Mimi and I deconstructed the low-country boil and made dinner for a picnic. I cut the corn off the cob and mixed it with black beans, green chilies and some fresh cilantro and other spices, we collaborated on the potatoes and came up with a potato salad with a vinaigrette of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, wasabi, worchester sauce, apple cider vinegar and various spices we could reach, we separated out the shrimp and left the sausage for Devin for later in the week. We packed the picnic and a thermos of leftover sangria and headed for the park. The weather was perfect, sunny and a little breezy. The food was awesome (of course) and the sangria had festered nicely. We left the park around 7:30 and headed back the apartment, put on a Rockies game and unwound from days of travel and sightseeing. Pretty sure I was the first in bed again…sheesh!
Day Seven Mimi mad French toast for breakfast and then Devin and I headed out to explore Penitente Canyon. We explored the canyon for a couple of hours, seeing everything as advertised except the rock art, but it was a nice day. We headed back toward town stopping at Kristi’s Mountain Sports store where I got a new skort and then heading next door to the co-op where I got tea for Mom and some roasted red peppers for Dad. We got back and had lunch before heading to the grocery store for the first and only meal Mimi and I would cook together. I made zucchini cakes and Mimi made a focaccia and Devin grilled chicken. We decided to go down the park and walk off dinner. It was again a nice night. We walked along the river (no idea which river it is) and enjoyed the breeze. We checked on the garden at Polston Elementary and then headed back toward the river. We noticed something unusual swimming in the river which at first we thought was maybe fish, but it turned out to be a family of beavers. Of course neither Mimi nor I had our cameras (first time all week) so we didn’t get any pictures. We watched them swim for a while and it was pretty cool until I got stung by a giant ant that crawled into my sandal. It burned BADLY. We headed back to the house and I medicated with Benadryl and Advil and then iced my foot. It helped a little when Devin brought me a bowl of homemade ice cream that Mimi had put together earlier. I got showered and continued to ice my foot until the Benadryl kicked in and I went to bed.
Day Eight I got up and re-packed my suitcase for the trip back home. We ate breakfast and left the house around 8:15. We made our way back through Fort Garland, over the La Veda pass through Pueblo and into Colorado Springs at about 11:15. Devin helped me check in and then we sadly parted ways at the gate before I went to stand in line at security. I made it through undetected and boarded the plane back to Dallas. I had about a 2 hour layover in Dallas. The gate for the Savannah flight changed about four times but I managed to keep track of it and it luckily it never changed concourses. I arrived back in Savannah about 9:20 in the evening and Suzanne was waiting for me. We got home and visited for a while before I was too pooped to hang on any longer and I went to bed.
Today I unpacked and did laundry and ran a few errands because tomorrow I leave again. This time headed for Northern Virginia to see another good friend tie the knot.
You can check out more pictures here
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