Category: trail west

Double Rainbows in Colorado

We took an amazing road trip through the western United States this summer with our toddler on board.  You can read more posts about our travels here, and more about Colorado here.  Everything about Colorado has this magical quality, even the weather. Storms move through fast and are unpredictable.  From our view at Trail West we could watch storms roll in over Mt. Princeton almost daily.  

 These rainbows appeared one afternoon and alternately faded and glowed as the storm took its course.

 You can see some of the collegiate peaks in the background, and the base of Princeton is just to the right.
Below you can see the storm over the top of Mt. Princeton.  Princeton is over 14,000 feet high, a true Colorado fourteener.  The summit is completely covered by the storm.

Family Travel: Visiting an Old West Ghost Town

Ghost towns dot the map of the United States, and extremely prevalent in the former wild west states.  As a card carrying history nerd married to another history nerd and world geography teacher, historic sites are a big part of our normal travel itinerary.  Ghost towns in particular have long fascinated me, so much so that I did my senior history thesis on Cadron Settlement, a long lost Arkansas ghost town.    

 One of the activities at Trail West Lodge is a 4×4 Jeep tour up to St. Elmo, a real Old West ghost town.  We jumped on board.  St. Elmo used to be famous for mining, now it is famous for chipmunks.  Oh, how time changes us all.  🙂

Let me just recommend Jeep tours to anyone with a kid who needs a good nap.  We did a lot of off road driving in Colorado and New Mexico, and it was the Bear’s kryptonite.  He couldn’t fight it.  Out like a light every time.

The most popular thing to do in St. Elmo is feed the chipmunks.  I freely admit that I enjoyed this more than anyone else, maybe ever.  I had a Disney princess moment, y’all.  

 The Bear, on the other hand, was a bit suspicious of the little critters.  He really liked them, laughed and pointed, but wanted no part of them touching him.  It was probably better that way.

 Jed even fed the little buggers.  This is a huge deal for a non animal lover.

 The second most popular thing about St. Elmo is the scenery.  It is serene and so beautiful.  A lovely mountain stream flows through the middle of town, and mountains surround you on all sides.

 Even the one room schoolhouse has an alpine view.  How did teachers educate a room full of kids of all ages?  This mystifies and amazes me.  My grandmother taught in a schoolhouse much like this in El Paso, Arkansas.

 The pioneer cemetary is on your way in to town, if you come up the jeep route.  The graves reside among lovely trees in an aspen grove, and date back to the mid 1800s.

 This is a replica of what the inside of the courthouse and jail looked like around the time of the town’s boom (late 1800s).

 The original Miners’ Exchange building is now home to the St. Elmo General Store.  There you can buy a snack for you or for the chipmunks, books about the town and Colorado history, postcards, and lots of souvenirs.

 There are so many of the original buildings still standing.  We really got a glimpse into mining life during the gold rush.  As we walked the dirt streets we pictured miners and their families grinding out an existence high atop a mountain in rugged Colorado.

 On our second trip up to St. Elmo, my parents joined us.  I inherited my history nerd gene from both of them, so they thought it was awesome.  My dad was a big fan of the cable series Deadwood, and we could picture that kind of action happening on the main street.  It was a great little outing for the whole family.

Do you or your family enjoy historical travel? 
What’s your favorite history travel outing?

Family Travel: Baby’s First Rodeo

When you’re traveling with wee ones, entertainment that satisfies the whole family can be hard to come by.  While we were at Trail West this summer, the assigned team decided to take all the work crew and summer staff and assigned team families to the local Buena Vista rodeo.  Big fun.  It was awesome.  The Bear loved it, and so did the whole group, which consisted of all ages from 0-65.  We had tons of little kids, 30 high schoolers, 20 college students, and a bunch of adults with us, and everyone had a blast.  

 This is the Bear’s “I’m trying to figure out what the heck is going on face.”  He was enthralled by everything from the mutton bustin’ (little kids riding sheep) to the serious cowboys riding buckin’ broncos.

 The one downfall of the rodeo arena was that the fence was not exactly toddler proof.  Look how far apart the slats are – perfect for a 1 year old to climb through.

 He was loving it.  One great thing about a rodeo is that it moves fairly quickly because they are trying to cram in tons of events.  Jed and I couldn’t believe how much the dude on the left in the brown cowboy hat looked like Brad Pitt in Legends of the Fall.

I tried to get a better picture of homeboy with out being too creepy.  Look at the pic below from Legends of the Fall and tell me they aren’t twinsies.  He’s just above Bear’s head to the left with the long hair.  
Anyway, I digress.  

 It was a constant flow of entertainment for all.  Calf roping, rodeo queens, barrel racing, and bronco riding kept us cheering for several hours.  Sadly, just before the bull riding, a HUGE storm rolled in and we had to abandon ship and head back to camp.  I’m pretty sure several of the work crew and summer staff (high school and college folks) still haven’t forgiven me for making them leave.

 Calves after calf roping
 Rodeo Queens on parade
Buckin’ Broncos
We all loved the rodeo, and I’m hoping to take the Bear to another one this year closer to home.  Mesquite, Ft. Worth, and Houston all have big ones, and the Texas State Fair is coming up soon.  
Have you ever taken your family to a local rodeo?
Do you check out local festivals when traveling?

A Toddler + Mini Horse = Cuteness Overload

 The Bear went on his first pony ride last week here at Trail West
It was a great success, and possibly the cutest thing ever.  
Toddler + Mini Horse = Cuteness Overload
 Mack, the mini horse, looks a little nervous.  
 If you look in the background of this pic, 
you can see the baby mini horse.  Cutest thing ever.  
 Destined to be a cowboy? 
I think yes.  
 Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys.
But do let them ride mini horses.  

Settling in to the Mountains

We are one week in to our adventure and it has been an amazing trip so far. The pics above were taken from our porch with my phone. Ridiculous. We are so blessed. The altitude has been a bit of an adjustment for all of us. We are trying to stay hydrated and breathe deep as we climb up and down the hills around camp. I’ll get some better pictures posted soon. Week 1 of a camp assignment is always crazy as we try to figure out our jobs and adjust to community living. Bear is loving all the big kids here and trying his best to keep up with them. We are praying for the wildfires around Colorado and New Mexico to extinguish, and for slow, gentle, soaking rain. The drought here is pretty epic right now and creates dangerous conditions. We are fine and camp isn’t threatened, but lots of other folks are in danger.

Our Crazy 8 Week Road Trip with a Toddler

This summer we are embarking on an eight week road trip across Texas, Arkansas, Colorado, and possibly Florida.  With a one year old.   To the casual observer this might seem totally crazy, but we are really excited about it.  The trip will be a combination of work, play, and family time.  I am referring to it as Gypsy Caravan Summer Tour 2012, in reference to a summer spent similarly in 2006.  We have gotten a lot of surprised/horrified reactions from friends because of the length of the trip and the age of our child.  There is this idea out there in the world that you can’t travel with a toddler.  I believe that we can and hope that I won’t be proved wrong over the next 2 months.  
I plan to sit here a lot.  

We are packing our bags and finishing up details for our trip right this minute.  I hope to chronicle it for you here on the blog.  We have our housesitter lined up, and Jackson the Wonder Dog is at Camp Grandma and Grandpa for the immediate future.  There was a small baby biting incident a few weeks back that I’ve yet to write about.  Let’s just say Jackson is lucky that my parents love him and have a big backyard.  We have a big checklist going of all the things we need to do and pack before we leave.  The excitement is building.
We’ve had a TON of questions from friends and family about our trip, so I decided to address a few here.

 Can’t. Wait.  

Where are we going?  Our first stops will be Amarillo, TX, and Salida, CO, on the way to Young Life’s Trail West Lodge in Buena Vista, CO.  I will be working at Trail West for a month as the women’s summer staff coordinator.  After our month at Trail West we will be staying a week in Vail, CO, possibly a stop to see friends in Pagosa Springs, CO, then almost a week in Red River, NM.  We will then head to Little Rock, AR for a wedding and to see family.  After that there may be a beach trip involved, but that is yet to be determined.

Wait, I thought you were becoming a stay at home mom.  What’s with working all summer?   Yes, my last day as a Young Life staffer is June 30th.  I will be working at Trail West as a volunteer.  We believe in the mission of Young Life wholeheartedly and are thankful for the opportunity to serve at Trail West.  After that I will be a full time mama.

How can y’all afford this?  Did you throw the Dave Ramsey budget out the window? Nope, we budgeted FOR the trip.  That’s the beauty of a budget, you can add stuff to it.  We have a vacation fund as well as some very generous friends who are loaning us places to stay.  Our month at Trail West is free because we are working, and our gas to and from camp is reimbursed.  We budgeted for food, gas to other places, hotel stays on the road, and incidentals.  We plan to do lots of free stuff and have lots of free quality time.  If you have free fun ideas for us in any of the places listed above, PLEASE pass them on by emailing me, tweeting me, or commenting below.  Our neighbors are also housesitting for us in exchange for lawn mowing services.  Thanks neighbors!

That’s great and all, but are you seriously hauling a one year old across the country?  Yes, yes, we know it is crazy and we think it will also be awesome.  Our little boy is such a joy and hopefully we be so on the road with lots of park stops on the way and hotel pools to swim in.  I will be tweeting all summer with the hashtag #toddlertravel so you can see how it goes.  If you have any travel with toddlers advice, I’d love to hear it.

What about your life in Dallas?  How can y’all just pick up and leave for 2 months?  We will obviously miss our friends here.  I have a gypsy soul and need to just GO sometimes.  Dallas is hot as hell in the summer time, and sooo humid.  We live in an old rent house that is very difficult to keep cool.  Jed is a teacher so he is off til mid August.  I love being able to just leave.  For years I kept my passport in my purse, just in case.  That habit faded with marriage, a child, and a job that needed me 24/7.  My longing to wander will be satisfied for a little while by this adventure.

Do you think we’re crazy, or do you wish you were packing right now, too?