The last time I was in this part of Colorado was in the mid to late 90's.  I lived in Colorado for a while after I graduated from college.  This was a much different time in my life; it was before I met my soul-mate husband and also pre-children.  I was working at an outdoor shop and doing as much as I could in the outdoors of north and central Colorado.  Before I was getting ready to move back to the midwest, I took a big trip to Utah and southern Colorado.  On a whim I stopped in Mesa Verde and Durango.  I was as convinced then as I was during this trip that if I had explored Durango instead of Fort Collins back in the day I would have probably lived there instead!


As it was I was now going back with my husband and boys and spending a few days in this beautiful region of Colorado.  We found a campground in town with some showers and a pool for the boys.  Not our favorite kind of camping but we met some neat people and really enjoyed the area.  Plus the Durango/Silverton train came through a couple times a day!  Our first full day we went up into Mesa Verde.  I was just as struck by the beauty as I was years ago though it seems that my fear of heights has increased a bit with my age so I knew that I could not explore the ruins for the "most adventurous" so I hung out and knit while visiting with other non-height loving tourist till the tour of the more tame ruins!










I was so happy to explore this with my partner and our sons.  Once back in Durango we gave our boys the option of taking that train ride or another activity.  They actually opted for doing some white water rafting and I am so glad they suggested it.  We had a ton of fun on our first white water adventure.


Before we left Durango we were sure to explore the downtown, eat some good food and track down some thrift stores and yarn shops!  It is here that I found my souvenir yarn- a rustic churro raised from sheep outside Durango.  Not sure what it will be yet, but something lovely for our home or Scamp!



Definitely a great landing pad for us for a few days- Durango was a good stop as we made our way up the 550, or the Million Dollar Highway- did I mention that fear of heights?  Oh yeah- it kicked in big time on that road.  Up next- Silverton and Ouray!