Roughin' it

After delaying our trip one day, to get over our sluggishness and overall irresponsibility, we plowed ahead to Durango. We've never gone there, but Quinn has heard great things about the Steamworks Brewery, so we entered it into his TOM TOM and three hours later we were robotically led there. So we ate and drank beer for an hour, then I went to a coffeehouse and played with my new laptop for an hour, and finally I made our way to the campsite....without a reservation...in one of the most popular places to camp.....on fourth of July weekend.

(Insert excuses here)

The camp site was beautiful, and after circling it twice we realized that it was full.

I've known Quinn for over ten years. He is so laid back. He is not the type of person to freak out over not having a place to stay. If it were just the two of us he would just drive around till he found another camp site or a cheap hotel.

Calvin's birth has revealed a whole new side of Quinn. If he's worried that Calvin's safety might be in jeopardy, all that logic goes out the window. He panics. So it was getting dark, and Calvin was getting hungry and tired. Quinn started going through the hotels that the Tom Tom listed and calling them. Hotel after hotel said they had no rooms. Finally, he got to the Best Western. "I'll take anything!" he said, and they gave him something.

Calvin was screaming in the backseat, which makes it even harder to think clearly. We found the hotel and Quinn checked in while I waited in the car, feeding leftover pizza to Calvin. Quinn's jaw was clenched when he came out of the lobby. He didn't want to get into the car while I found a parking space. He wanted to just walk. He shifted his feet. I said, "C'mon, just get in!"

So he did, and said that our room (which was the only room in the hotel without a sweet balcony) was $200. I got Calvin in his bath and got him ready for bed while Quinn got our stuff and then threw himself on the other bed, fighting back manly tears. Not only was it really expensive, but he really wanted to camp, not stay in a lame hotel.

I thought it sucked too, but I wasn't as upset. I was really tired for some reason, and fell asleep really early in the bed. What made me upset was that in the morning we realized that there were cheaper hotels all over the place, two hotels per block, and tons of camping places.

But live and learn. We got a camp site the next morning and began our first camping trip with a baby.

We're still in Los Alamos!

We're not very good at planning. Yesterday we tried to leave town to go on a sweet camping trip near Durango, but we were both moving so sluggish, and Quinn had to work, and we had to stop at Wal-Mart to get a bigger tent. Then, when we were in Wal-Mart we realized that we forgot to pay rent! It was already 6:30. We decided to just eat dinner in Espanola and go home to pay rent and leave today. So as soon as Quinn wakes up we'll be on the road. I swear.

He's got four big shoes to fill.

We're packing up to go on our first camping trip with Calvin in the four corners area, and at Middle Mountain Campground, by Durango, CO. It occurs to us that Calvin's got some big shoes to fill...Shoes that belong to Snickers.

We've gone on several trips with Snickers, and having him there makes every trip more interesting. Now, I realize that traveling with a baby are completely different things, but we're looking forward to finding out what kind of wackiness Calvin brings to our trips.

Hike to the top of Mitchel Trail

Last Sunday we took an awesome hike that began at our own front door. The Mitchel Trail starts a block from our house, and ends at the top of a mountain overlooking Los Alamos, where you can see all the way to Taos, Albuquerque and you could, if you wanted, hike all the way to the ski hill.

When we opened our front door at 9 in the morning, seven deer were staring at us from the vacant lot across the street. Some had the peach fuzz beginnings of horns, and they all watched us closely as we went down the sidewalk to the trail head.

We're just happy to have a hike like this that starts at our front door. It goes through the area burned in the Cerro Grande fire. We started out walking through what looked like a field of fallen telephone poles. The burned pines cleared a space for aspens, brush oak and lots of flowers to grow.

We shared the trail with other families, dogs, and (as we gained altitude) runners. I couldn't believe those people running up the hill. (of course they had less to carry) But later we realized that the trail is the route for an annual race.

Now that Calvin can walk we like to give him a chance to walk on the trail as much as we can. When we reached the first ridge we took Calvin out of his pack and had some snacks. He enjoyed digging in the dirt and drinking out of the water bottle. We were sitting on a log, and he was learning the difference between a log and a stick.

Along the way we saw a multitude of blue beetles with black spots copulating on logs and sticks. There were so many of them, and soon there will be many more.

I wanted to collect some interesting logs to use for a messy art project that I am planning. I put a few twisted branches into my backpack, and later realized that they were slightly infested with spiders. I saw a couple of spiders crawl out of my backpack. I swatted them off. They weren't black widows, so I wasn't too hysterical.

By the time we got back we were starving, and had a big lunch at the Haagen Daaz (they serve sandwiches too).

Three cavemen

Here's a picture from our hike in Ruidoso, NM last summer.

Cougar safety in Last Chance Canyon

Before beginning our trek into Last Chance Canyon, the park sign had a sign about what to do if you see a cougar on the trail:

1)Pick up your children and calm them down.
2)Do not run (cougars will catch you)
3)Use your jacket and your arms to make yourself look bigger.
4)If the cougar comes closer, throw rocks.
5)If it attacks - fight back!

Yikes! Margaret was in the back of the group, but she planned to give the cougars a whap with her walking stick if they try to pick her off.

Sitting Bulls Falls

Sitting Bulls Falls is just a five minute walk from the parking lot, through fragrant trees that grow between the crevice of two cliffs. Though the walk doesn't seems life threatening, vultures are circling us. Calvin is delighted to be in the "pack pack". He's also learning to saw "cliff" "bath" and "down" (as in, let me down so I can practice my new walking skills on these slippery rocks that the ranger warned us about).

Bob explains that water that is cascading down the side of the mountain comes from springs at the top that form pools, like personal Jacuzzi's, at the top. You can actually sit in a pool that has water pouring over the edge.

The waterfall is covered with Tufa, a coating of calcium carbonate that is formed by dead plant materials. The informational placard on the fence says that in a million years the whole waterfall will be covered in the stuff. I can't tell if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

Anywat, it is rare for everyone in Quinn's family to get together, and so it was good that we got to all go on a hike together.