Summer Vacation - Day 8 - A full day in Vail

Jul 29,

This morning we slept in somewhat. Not by teenage standards, but did get up later than we would have during a regular working day. Bella went running and I did some weights before eating a late breakfast - Bella’s favorite breakfast ever - closer to 10:00am. After that, Lionel and I went on a hike and then walked around town.

After I took a shower Lionel stayed in the room and Bella and I went to walk around town to check out our favorite stores. It was really nice outside. No sweater needed, but not super hot either. But then it started raining, so we came back to the room for a bit. After it stopped raining we went back out for a bit before dinner. And after dinner Lionel and I walked again for a few minutes before settling in for the night.

Overall, I’d say that we made good use of our full day here. Tomorrow morning we head out to drive to Boulder and see our big girl.

Summer Vacation - Day 7 - Arriving in Vail

Jul 29,

After checking in at the hotel, our favorite Vail hotel, we unpacked quickly and went for a walk. I needed it after sitting in the car all day, and also wanted to take advantage of the nice weather as tomorrow it’s supposed to rain. Previously we had been here in the summer only once, when the girls were little, so it had been a long time. While we are normally here in the winter, it is also very pretty during the summer. It looks quite different, all green vs white, but it is quite charming as well. I wish my Sofia was driving up too, but she said she is packing for her move to a new house this coming weekend. I wanted her to know she is always invited, but I didn’t want to insist.

Summer Vacation - Day 7 - Drive to Vail

Jul 29,

Today we drove from Durango to Vail with a stop in Ouray - another quaint small town - for a quick lunch. By the time we made it to Vail it was closer to 5:00 pm, so the total travel time was about 7.5 hours. I offered to drive some, but Lionel preferred to drive the entire time. Unlike the previous drives, today we went back to a green scenery most of the way. Colorado really is a beautiful state.

Summer Vacation - Day 6 - Durango

Jul 28,

After our stops, this evening we finally made it to Durango. It was essentially dinner time, so we dropped off our bags and went back out. We went to the downtown area, which is really cute, and had dinner at El Moro, which was really good. I really enjoyed my meal. After dinner we walked around for a few minutes and walked into the Strater hotel, which has been conserved much the same since it opened in1887. It was quite interesting.

We then came back to the hotel to rest some, as tomorrow we are driving about 6 more hours to Vail.

Summer Vacation - Day 6 - Monument Valley

Jul 28,

This morning we got up early to pack and leave Sedona to drive to Durango. We packed, left by around 8:15, stopped by the Pump House one last time for breakfast, and got on the road. Lionel drove and Bella once again napped for a while. 

During the drive we took a detour to go to Monument Valley, which was totally worth it. I didn’t even know this place existed before, but it was beautiful. Really out of this world. To support the local economy we bought a few knickknacks and I looked at the jewelry. I found some pretty earrings but at $300 and change it was definitely more than I wanted to spend.

During the drive we had some really nice views for a while. We also stopped by Forest Gump Point, where a running scene was filmed. And we drove by a famous rock formation called Mexican Hat. Don’t ask me why. I don’t see it.

Today’s drive took us through Arizona, Utah, and Colorado. Lionel drove the entire time while I worked on catching up on the blog.

Summer Vacation - Day 5 - Second day of hiking

Jul 27,

Today we also meant to leave by 8:00am to go hiking, but once again got out of the house closer to 8:20. Lionel really wanted to do a hike called Soldiers Pass but it was closed for some reason. So we went with the airport loop. It was nice but definitely felt long, especially since it was mostly in the sun - 3 miles with very little to no shade. 

After the hike we went back to the Pump house for lunch and did the same thing as yesterday for the rest of the afternoon.

For dinner we went to a place called Hudson that had good, decent food, and pretty views. I ordered a Margarita that was very good but also quite loaded, so after that it was a short evening for me.