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.

Summer Vacation - Day 4 - First day of hiking

Jul 26,

This morning we got up early to go hiking. Our goal was to be out the door by 8:00am. We got out a bit later than that, closer to 8:20, but luckily had no problems parking at Fay Canyon. We hiked for maybe a couple of hours. It was already getting pretty hot by then.

After hiking we had brunch at a place called Pump House, where we also went last time. And we walked around for a bit by the stores. But only for a few minutes because it was really hot.

After showering we just hung out at the house doing our own thing until it was dinner time. For dinner we went to a restaurant called Shorebird. It wasn’t crowded, maybe because it was Sunday, but it was pretty good too.