A Different Easter Weekend

 This year, we did something very different for Easter. Maddy had Friday and Monday off from school that weekend. We had been wanting to do a little family vacation as we hadn't really done anything like that since we went to Hilton Head when Kelsay was about 10 months old. We were going to try to do something over spring break, but everything was booked up by the time we looked

 We decided to go to Mt. Princeton Hot Springs which is located in Nathrop, CO near Buena Vista and Salida. It is about an hour and a half from us. We got a cabin that could hold 6-8 so we decided to invite Nanna and Grandad to come along. Maddy had a birthday party to go to on Friday so Aaron took her to the party and the rest of us headed up to the hot springs. We had a pleasant drive, got to the resort, checked in and unloaded everything in the cabin. We brought all of our own food for the weekend and pool access came with the cabin so it really was a very affordable set up. The cabin had a living area, a kitchen with everything but an oven (range top only). It had a bathroom downstairs and a a bedroom downstairs and then two queen beds in the loft. Kelsay was very eagar to swim after we got unloaded so we all got in our swimming stuff and went to the pool. The pools were a very nice temp and the weather was absolutely perfect while we were there. We were in shirt sleeves or light jackets for the entire time. We did not have any floaties for K, but I knew we needed to get some very shortly after getting her in the pool. I could tell by the way she was moving in the water that if she had floaties she would be swimming in a very short time. After swimming about an hour, we went back to the cabin and made spaghetti for supper. I think K and Grandad played some go fish and Guess Who? and then I put K to bed. The adults stayed up a bit longer, but once we heard from Aaron that he and Maddy wouldn't be arriving until 11 p.m. we went to bed.

The next morning we got up and ate pancakes for breakfast and then went on a hike. We went on Brown's Creek Trail. The loop was 4.5 miles.

 We made it about a mile and a half. I have an app that will mark your route on trails and tell how far you went so our total hike for the morning was 2.6.

 The girls did pretty good and Maddy hiked quite a ways with a walking stick she found at the trailhead, but, as you can see from the pictures, the "need" to be carried became more and more pronounced as we continued to hike. We made it to this sign and turned around. We had lots of beautiful views of Mt. Antero (14'er in the area) and White Mountain (13'er).

 By the time we got back, we were more than ready for lunch. We had sandwiches and then the girls wanted to swim. Maddy hadn't been to the pool yet, so swimming is what we did. We got floaties this time. Maddy and Kelsay were both paddling around by themselves by the time we got done with our swim session.

 Oh yes, I should have mentioned that in the morning, we started a pot of beans and sausage for dinner. Little did we know that the Saga of the BEANS had begun. I had brought a crockpot but the bottom broke out of it on the trip up so we had to do stovetop. When we returned from swimming we returned to the upleasant surprise that, though the beans had been cooking since 9 that morning, we still had hard BEANS. We decided to continue to let the beans simmer and go eat in Salida as we were all starving and it was almost 6 p.m. We found a little restaraunt called The Firefly. When we pulled up, my dad said, "This place looks weird." It had a motto on the outside that was kind of hippie so I think that is why. Anyway, we took the plunge and it turned out to be a GREAT place to eat. The only bad thing was that Maddy ordered the chicken nuggets and they were a day old and a dollar short. I am guessing even to tough, chewy, crunchy, etc. for Grandpa himself. We discreetly covered those with a napkin and enjoyed the sweet potato fries and quesidilla that were the other items we ordered for the kids. Mom and I split some Ahi Tuna tacos that were excellent. Aaron had some London broil that was amazing and Dad had some bbq pork tenderloin that had just the right amoutn of spice for him. We all really enjoyed. According to Dad the ice tea was really good as well. The rest of us had water to drink. 

 When we got back to the cabin, we put the kids to bed and checked on the BEANS. Still HARD. As we played a game of scrabble (girls vs guys) we googled hard BEANS. Turns out that if the water is hard, the beans will never soften unless you add baking soda to the BEANS. So we turned off the BEANS and put them in the fridge for the night.
The next morning, we took the BEANS out of the fridge and put them back on the stove. Aaron went down to the little country store that was part of the resort and got some baking soda, which we added to the BEANS. After breakfast, we went to hike on a walking trail in Buena Vista that followed the Arkansas River. It was a really nice little trail with gorgeous views.

 We maybe walked a mile on that trail and then went down to the river so the girls could throw rocks which is what they really wanted to do the whole time. We then went back to the cabin. I will try to post pics of the Easter stuff the girls did. The pics of that are on Aaron's phone and I can't find them right this second. Anyhow, while Mom and I put together a dinner of sliced ham, mashed potatoes, carrots, green beans, and gravy, Aaron and Dad took the girls down to the egg hunt they had on the main lawn. Kelsay and Maddy had separate egg hunt areas. Maddy got tripped out of the gate by an over-eager egg hunter. By the time she'd gotten up, stopped crying, and started hunting eggs, she got about 6. Kelsay had about the same because we did not go into the egg hunt area with her and just let her do the hunt at her own pace. They both got some candy inside their eggs. They also had pony rides going .Those were really fun. They both want a pony when we move to our house so they were "proving" that they were not scared of the ponies. After that , we went back to the cabin and ate lunch. Then we took a drive out to the ghost town of ST. Elmo. According to the signs out there, it is the most well-preserved ghost town in the west. If I remember correctly, it has 44 original buildings. There is a store that is open during the summer months, as well as a church, guest house, and maybe some kind of ice cream place though it was hard to tell about that part.

 The snow had sild of the roof of this house to make a cool snow wave.

 The guest house had a neat mural made out of old license plates.

 This cabin is for rent. Site of the next family reunion?

After we got back from the ghost town, we finally ate the BEANS. We went swimming again. The girls were getting really good at getting around the pool on their own. Aaron got Mom and me a massage so we went and did that after swimming for a while. We got hot stone massages. The massage therapist told me that I need regular PT and/or massage for my neck. I guess will pursue that....My neck is a mess from the car wreck I had my sophmore year of college. It is actually hurting right now as I type. I see another massage in my future....ha ha. Anyway....

 The next morning, Aaron took the girls to the pool one last time while the rest of us packed up the cabin. The view below is the view of Mt. Princeton we had from the front porch. We got back to our house in Divide about lunch time. I asked if anyone would like leftover BEANS for lunch. My dad said, "I am not eating anymore beans. Those beans did terrible things to me. You would think all the bad stuff would have been cooked out of them as long as they cooked but those BEANS did me worse than any beans I've ever had."

THE END