Sunday, June 21, The Jeeping Begins

We woke up early Sunday morning -- old habits and body clocks are hard to change. Brady was up first, then Dear, then Kristen and I emerged at pretty much the same time. We talked about going to one of the little churches in Creede, but only very briefly. It's just one of those things we usually don't do while on vacation. No, we're not backslidden or anything. Call it overload. Besides, nothing makes Dear antsier than being in a church service where the musicians don't play the right chords, or the bass notes don't match, or the timing of the hymns is wrong, etc., etc., etc., you get the picture. It's just less stressful for us NOT to go. So we didn't.

We ate a hodgepodge breakfast of everything from raisin bran to bananas to granola to toast and apple butter. Good thing we did all that Wally World shopping in Alamosa. There's something to satisfy everyone's morning tastebuds.

After the morning ablutions (I love that word), we revved up the Pilot and headed for Creede. It's a sleepy little mining town -- the only township in Mineral County -- but it's also a tourist magnet. It sits in a little valley in the middle of the San Juan mountains of south central Colorado. Creede attracts vacationers from all over, but most of the out-of-state license plates we saw were from Texas. Go figure. Um, 110 versus 65. Yeah. That's a no-brainer.

By the time we got to Creede, it was about 11:30 and BabyMama was hungry. So, we parked the Pilot on the main drag through the town and walked around a bit. Actually, we walked about 15 feet to the first restaurant that was open which happened to be the Firehouse Restaurant. It's a cute little shop with the restaurant on the main floor and a loft full of wonderful-smelling bath soaps and candles and other frou-frou stuff.

Dear and B decided on burgers, K ordered a Caesar salad, and I ordered a California wrap (turkey, avocado, bean sprouts, bacon, ranch). They also had sweet potato fries and fried zucchini on the menu, so we had some of both. And it was all good. K asked if she could get some bread with her salad and the waitress brought her a LOAF of French garlic bread that smelled to high heaven! K could only eat a little of the aromatic, buttery stuff, then she had to retreat to the loft to get rid of the garlic smell. Have I mentioned that she's pregnant and still sensitive to smells?

We finished our lunch and decided to browse through some of the shops that line the main street. Creede is known as an artistic center, so there are a lot of little crafty, artsy fartsy shops all over. The Creede Repertory Theatre is known in the theatre world as one of the best amateur theatre groups in the country. The show on Sunday afternoon was a concert rather than a play or musical, so we didn't pursue finding tickets to attend.

The guys wanted to get their fishing licenses so they could drop a few lines in the water legally, so while they were doing that I moseyed back to one of the shops that had caught my eye. B&K had been looking for something for Baby Jones that had the word "Creede" on it, but hadn't had any success so far. I went into a little shop that we had passed and found a couple of little 6-mo shirts that both had "Creede." Yay me! (I haven't decided what Baby Jones will call me yet. Grandma just doesn't ring a bell with me. Dear is going to be Papa and the other grandparents have decided on Nana and Poppy. Hmmm. I'm still pondering.) Anyway, yay ME!

The Jones boyz have always enjoyed renting a jeep whenever we vacation in Creede. Past adventures have included "Death Mountain," snow fights in June, and actually spotting a moose. B was determined to repeat the adventure this time so K could get the "full Creede" experience. The closest (and most reasonable) place to rent the vehicle was Cottonwood Cove, a little resort-like place on Highway 149 between South Fork and Creede. They rent jeeps, 4-wheelers, rafts, bicycles, etc., so we headed there to see what they had available.

[Side note: I have been on a couple of the jeeping adventures throughout the years, but have decided that they are NOT my cup of tea. So, I always have plenty of crochet projects and books to read to while away the hours while the Jones menfolk are out jeeping about. I'm much happier and so are they.]

CC had JUST the jeep that B wanted, so he completed the paperwork for a 2-day rental. Since it was already 5:30 on Sunday, the CC guy graciously extended B's rental period to 5:30 Tuesday (thanks a lot, CC guy). B was elated. During the paperwork process, K and I explored the adjacent CC gift shop and discovered that they stocked Blue Bell Ice Cream. A rarity in Colorado, for sure! Dear came in and nearly had a spiritual experience when he saw the ice cream display. Needless to say, we all had a scoop of BBIC. Dear had 2. Is that a surprise to anyone?

After the paperwork was complete, Dear and I dropped the Pilot off back at the cabin and then we all tried to pile into the jeep for our first jeeping adventure. I say "tried" because it just didn't happen for me. There was NO way I could get into the back seat because my ... well, just suffice it to say that I've never practiced yoga and couldn't get contortioned enough to get my person back there. Just COULDN'T have gotten a 4-door, could you, B?

Dear huffed and grunted a few times while I pushed from behind and finally made it to the back of the vehicle with K (who had no problems at all squeezing through the miniscule opening between the front and the back. Just wait a couple of months, sweetheart, and you'll see life from OUR side of the fence! LOL) We all seat-belted ourselves in and the adventure began.

Back into Creede and this time all the way through to the north side and up the mountain behind the town. It's a very steep, twisty drive on a dirt road, but I must say that the road is in better condition now than it has ever been on our previous trips. Understand, however, that that is not saying a lot. And for the uninitiated traveler, who also happens to be pregnant, it was anything BUT an adventure. By the time we got to the top of the mountain, K was definitely not in a good place, nor was she enjoying herself the way B and she both thought she would.

We finally made it down the other side of the mountain and back to the cabin, but K was down for the count. I felt so bad for her. She was pale and weak and generally miserable. We fixed dinner while she rested and she tried to eat a little, but just couldn't. After a couple of minutes, she laid back down on the couch and was out like a light for the rest of the night. B stayed with her in case she needed anything.

It was still relatively early, so Dear and I loaded up the laptops and walked over to the office/lodge/restaurant at Antlers to take advantage of their wireless Internet access and so that I could get in a little studying.

One thread of this whole vacation that I haven't chronicled yet has to do with the online class that I'm taking on the journey toward my master's degree in management. It's a finance class -- I call it Finance for Dummies because I do not have a financial-type brain -- and it's really an overview of financial management for non-business undergrad students of which I am one.

I've now survived 2 weeks of this 4-week class and am amazed at what I've learned and retained. To date, I've taken quizzes over chapters 1 and 2 and exam #1 over ch. 1-3. I did okay on the first quizzes, but exam 1 was not a stellar performance (36/50). I have to pull at least a "C" in the class to take advantage of the education reimbursement program at my workplace. So far, it wasn't looking too good...

Dear and I set up our Internet cafe on the patio of the lodge and stayed out until it got too dark for me to read. Then we transferred everything into the little gameroom area for another few minutes. We could tell that the lodge employees were closing up shop for the night about 10:00, so we packed up and walked back to the cabin. It was pitch black outside, but the stars were incredible. Dear turned on the video camera light on his BlackBerry to guide our path and to keep me from falling and breaking my neck. Thank you, Dear.

Back at the cabin, we locked everything up and snuggled in for the night.

ttfn