Birthdaypalooza!

To round out our whirlwhind of travels, Brett and I embarked on our first longer-term camping trip right after I returned from Boston.  We are pretty sure Luna is going to dis-own us for moving her around so much but we assured her that the month of June will be much better….for now!

We packed up our truck with all of our camping gear and we were estatic to get on the road!  We were also very anxious to get out of crazy Boulder during the infamous and ever growing Boulder Boulder run.  Thanks to my Mom (Patty), my Dad (Jim), and Brett’s Dad (George) for the additional gear to round out our camping collection!

We made our way down to New Mexico and planned to stay in a free spot next to the Chama Rivier, right outside of Abiquiu, NM.  On our way down, we passed by the Oldest Church in Colorado.  This was just happenstance as google was taking on some odd bypass in Alamosa.  We also drove over one of the most beautiful and interesting passes I have ever been over – Cumbres Pass is what you summit when passing from Colorado to New Mexico and it drops you right it Chama.  Turns out there is a cute little train the climbs from Chama up to the summit and turns around.  We were fortunate enough to get to see the little engine chug as it made its way up the pass.  It was so beautiful I would love to go back and spend some more time on that pass.

When we finally arrived at the turn off for our destination, it was on a forrest service road which we read was a lot more off-road-eqsue than it really turned out to be.  That was slightly disappointing and turned out to set the tone for the rest of the time we were in NM.  It went about 13 miles into a canyon and the dirt road wound along the Chama River.  We tried out the GoPro mount that came with Brett’s truck and it was pretty awesome (althought like old-skool film we had to wait until we got home to watch it!).

There were a lot more people than we anticipated but we lucked out with a spot where no-one else was camping!  It was right on the river and had lots of shade which we were very excited about!  We even got in the river to cool down.  While there wasn’t exactly a beach we had a nice spot to sit in the water and take in the sun.  Unfortunately, we ended up with a little friend who wanted to enjoy the same spot as us.  A tiny little snake decided to cozy up to us which scared us to death!  Even worse, we scared the snake so bad it actually was swimming upstream to get away from us!  Regardless of this, we had a fantastic dinner of grilled salmon and broccoli and I got to use my Yeti wine cup!

After breakfast the next day we planned out what we would do next.  We decided we would walk to the Abby that was located at the end of the road in the canyon – we had heard they actually brew beer there!  As we made our way down the dirt road we could feel the effects of the dry New Mexico heat.  It was cloudy out yet somehow it was still over 80 degrees!!  We eventually made it to the church which was nestled in amoung the red rocks.  It was a beautiful area at the base of the canyon with a front-row view of the winding canyon river.  This trip unfortunately took a toll on us and we found out that Brett and the dry heat do not mix too well.  We decided to take a drive out of the canyon to Abiquiu Lake to scope it out for the next day in the hopes it would be a cool and relacing place for us to hang out.  As it turns out, there isn’t too much to do there and it was really a bring-you-own-boat situation.

As we headed back to our camp, pondering what on earth we would do for the next few days, and wondering whether we would make it out of this death-trap canyon…..we decided to make the decision to head back north to higher elevation and cooler temperatures.  Other than our egos being bruised for picking a dud of a spot the only other item we lost was a roll of toilet paper!

We embarked on our trip back north without much of a plan in place.  When we got to Buena Vista we knew we had to make a decision, head northeast to Fairplay, or continue on north to Leadville.  We choose the latter and found a cute little AirBnB where we could cool down and enjoy some nice mountain air.  The next day was my birthday and I knew Brett had some big plans in place.  On some occasions I thought he might be even more excited for my birthday than me!  He had been taunting me all weekend with a box, with 4 padlocks on it, which I wasn’t allowed to open until my birthday!

I was so worked up and excited it was like Christmas when I was a little kid.  We had an amazing night’s rest and I woke up super early in the morning because I was so excited!  We got up on May 28th (also Memorial Day) and started the day off right by opening my gifts.  I can’t believe how much Brett has spoiled me, he went far above and beyond to get me not only items that I would like but things that were truely thoughtful and useful to me.  I was only able to get through the second gift before I was crying.  I cannot tell him enough how lucky I am to have such a thoughtful person in my life.  Gifts are not everything, they do not make a birthday, but I appreciate more than I can say the time, effort and thought he put into my birthday.  I am dead set on catching and cooking a fish so I hope I can make use of so many of my gifts in the very near future!

For breakfast I made pancakes which is one of Brett’s favorite items. I’m not sure whether he had more pancaked or maple syrup!!  I spent the morning trying on my new shirts, carying around my new Yeti bags, trying on my hat, playing with my new fishing gear, and reading my new Joanna Gaines cookbook!  We eventually left the house and toured around main street Leadville.  There were a lot of cool shops and some fun thrift stores to poke around.  We had some lunch at a cute little Mexican place where they kept trying to speak Spanish to Brett and I – it worked ok :)

After lunch we decided to check out Turquoise Lake.  It was super pretty and the view of the 14’ers from that area is downright amazing!  We decided to look for an off-roading trail – offroading is something that I have a quickly growing love for and I was super happy when Brett suggested the idea that we look for a trail.  Turns out, we were alread on a road that was perfect for our level of off-roading at this time.  It is actually a little used pass that connect Leadville to Aspen.  I joked (sort of!) that the next time we go to Carbondale we should take the long way through Leadville!  We climbed up the mountains and the views just kept getting better and better.  Brett has been teaching me to be a better off-road driver and I had SO MUCH FUN driving through over rocks and through the snow and water.

All said and done, we traveled about 730 miles round trip!

I had such an amazing birthday I cannot thank Brett enough for everything he did to make it such a special weekend.  I am so gratful to have him in my life – he is such a driven person who works hard and is always thinking of others.  He compliments my personality so well, there is no one else in this world who I would want to explore the world with.  Thank you Brett, I love you!

#Forever30 – thank you to my Mom for the amazing birthday cake!