Week three/ Durango

Yummy lemon cream slush....summer is not over yet!

Long hike

Got to see our Texas friends in their vacation home in Pagosa Springs! This is their view from living room!

On their front porch.  

Elsa was very lonely while William was on his solo overnight hike. 

William packing up for his night in the big woods. 

Looking out the window from the library. This is my favorite small town in America, for sure!

Actually chilly enough one day to enjoy grilled cheese sandwiches. 

Week two/ Durango

Favorite moments from this past week....

Animas River from north of town.

We are all enjoying cool weather.

Got to go hear Ben Carson give his speech in a little park 1/2 mile walk away.

Scouting out the trailhead for Emerald Lake hike William will do solo this coming Thursday.

Beautiful Lake Vallecito!

Sic 'em bears! Backyard entertainment at dusk.

I was yelling at William the whole time he was walking towards this ledge. Probably not the BEST thing to be doing.

The owner of the 'big house' in front gave me a tour of the inside of this gem this week.

Hanging in Silverton on Saturday.

Hiking our favorite place...Cascade Creek

Probably Elsa's favorite moments...meeting some new friends, which I really doubted she could do! I guess she's very picky?

Week 1/Durango

Our dog, Elsa, is very much in her adolescent puppy age, and it's been tough with her anxiety around people, children, cyclists, dogs approaching or just being within about 10 feet of them. She just goes crazy. It started a while back, but I can see that it really escalated in this new place. I've reached out to a dog trainer for one session who can hopefully give ME some good advice on what to do to help her thru this spot.
Haha, I may need some anti anxiety meds before she gets thru it, tho! It's very isolating for someone like me who likes to stop and talk to just about anybody.

We managed to get some good hiking in this week. Last weekend we went up Junction Creek, Falls Creek and Perin's Peak and part of Horse Gulch. These are our favorite easy (get acclimated to elevation) hikes close in to Durango. This weekend we have done part of the Castle Rock hike and then Cascade Creek this morning. These two hikes are at higher elevations...about 8-9,000 feet. Our longest hike was up Cascade Creek today at about 5.6 miles. So beautiful. Lots of variety with passing what I call the Berenstein Bears cabins on a very rough jeep road, crossing a few streams and getting nice and wet, meadows and old forests that line the west side of the creek.

I did not get as many pictures this week on our hikes. I'm just simply enjoying the views and being with William in this place.

I spent a lot of time reading books and researching dog behavior online!! Haha. I'm loving a book my friend Mary Ann suggested on Prayer: Why Our Words to God Matter. I also read another of her suggestions called End Times Simplified.  This afternoon I started a mystery, A Tap on the Window, which looks like it will be pretty good. I'm in the middle of One Nation:What We Call All Do by Dr. Ben Carson.

Friday afternoon we met our daughter in law's parents for burgers on Main Street. They have been road tripping in their RV for a few months now. We caught up on family and heard about their work w/ habitat for humanity they did while on the road. First time we have ever had dinner alone with them and our kids have been married 10 years! It was great!

We have done FaceTime with our girls and their families and it's great to have that way of communicating when you are out of town.

Apples and snack break at the old abandoned cabin.

Hiking up Castle Rock 

Wm's office Monday-Thursday

Elsa and her most favorite chew.

Perin's Peak Wilderness Area

Falls Creek hike

Falls Creek hike

Durango season two.

On the way thru west Texas 

Spent night in Lubbock. Next day driving thru NM. Finally seeing some mountains. 

Rented a garage apartment off west 3rd in Durango. We love it! About 600 sf. Room for us plus dog. Her crate goes just in front of kitchen peninsula. 

Packed all our stuff in these yellow crates. This futon couch is amazingly comfy. 

My fave. The little private deck on the back. Cool and pleasant evening dinners. 

Little lights in the trees. 

This place is about 1 or 1.5 miles closer to town. Very quickly can get to the river walk in about 5 min. Yes, the weather is amazing. I am glad we came back to same town. It's nice to know exactly where most things are and just go do it!

My only wish would be to share all this with my kids and grandkids, but just did not work out this year. 

William works Monday thru Thursday remotely. I am doing lots of walking, reading and thinking. Working on the quilt I started last summer here. Just breathing! 

Cameron Lake House at Cedar Creek Lake

My brother in law and sister in law invited us to their lake house for the weekend. It was beautiful! We enjoyed hanging out on the back porch with Gran and Grandad, eating grilled chicken, jet skis and the boat and most of all just being together!