Spring Break, Week 2, Pagosa Springs

We arrived in Pagosa Springs around 4:30.  PC checked us in and we went to our condos.  We had 2 connecting condos to accommodate us.  We ordered pizza from a local pizza place (DSP Pizza) because they gave us a coupon and we wanted to try it out.  It was pretty good!  We got settled that night and got ready for the next day.  We had a welcome meeting the next morning. It was to try to get us to join their ownership program, which we were not at all interested in, but we got a $50 gift card and free breakfast, so it wasn't a wasted time. ;)  We packed my backpack and headed out of town to try to do a hike. We wanted to go to Opal Lake.  It was a hike through aspen trees, across a meadow, and finally arriving at the lake.  We drove about 10 miles out of town to the road we were supposed to turn on.  This road was a dirt road which we rode on for about another 10 miles. The views were spectacular with the snowcapped moutains, the river, and trees along the road.

(Here is a picture of the kids in the car.  They were still happy at this point.  Tink got car sick pretty soon after I took this, but she didn't throw up or anything, thank goodness!)

Then we crossed the river and started seeing the signs for the trailhead.  The weather was gorgeous, by the way, in the upper 50's.  The roads were clear and not muddy, but as we started to get closer to the trailhead, it started getting muddy and there was still snow in the fields and along the road (about 3 feet high still!).  We made it to the turnoff for the trail and the snow was all over the road and a barrier was across it! We were so disappointed! I called the visitors center then and found that this is the muddy season and pretty much all the trails are still closed!  We found a beautiful lake along our route, though, so we stopped there for our picnic lunch and explored a bit.  It was called Echo Lake.  The kids loved climbing the hill beside it and Baby Girl did great in our ErgoBaby carrier with the infant insert.  I had it on and she went right to sleep.

We were even able to get a picture of all of us using the timer on my camera!

On the way home, we stopped at a cute department store named Goodmans.  Tink needed a new swimsuit and we found a cute one there.  I had fun looking at the cowgirl/boy clothes there while she tried on the swimsuits.  (Baby Carhart overalls are adorable!)
So we took the kids to the pool that evening. On Sunday, we went to Sacrament meeting.  We had friends that were also visiting Pagosa, and they sat in front of us at church.  The bishop's wife and his girls sat behind us.  It was a sweet ward.  The closing speaker was the worker from Goodmans who helped us into the fitting room!  One lady came up to us at the end and told us what beautiful children we had and how you could see the light of Christ in their eyes.  So sweet!  We had our Easter dinner while our hot tub was warming up.  Then we all got in for a nice relaxing time. 

On Monday, we had another beautiful day. We thought we would hike along the Piedra River, but I gave PC wrong directions.  There was another site we had thought about going to and we were almost there, so we just decided to do that.  It is called Chimney Rock. It's an archeological site from the Native Americans.  It's closed, but you can park and hike up the road. It was 3 miles up!  The kids were tired and we all got sunburned.  Tink got the worst of it. She blistered on her forehead, nose, and ears.  Six miles total, though, and we were pretty tired by the end.  Minnie and Goofy even kept bumming rides off of PC. It was pretty comical when he had 3 kids on him!

 When I told PC I wanted a camera for my birthday, all I had in mind was that it took decent pictures and could fit in my pocket.  This landscape feature it has on it, though, is pretty awesome. I think he picked out a great camera! I love it!