Durango, Colorado & Lots of Pictures

This summer wasn't much fun for our family, with the move, unpacking and a funeral. Landon and I decided to take a little family vacation to Durango before school started. I don't think any of us expected to have as much fun as we did.

We made a 4 hour drive north of where we live to Durango. As we were driving through the mountains it began to storm. The kids enjoyed counting the time between the lightening and the thunder. At one point there was no time between the two. We heard a crack and saw the lightening at the same time and it couldn't have been more then 20 yards from our car. It was a little freaky, you could feel the concussion boom of it in the car. When we finally made it into Durango, we stopped and ate at a local pizza joint called Farquahrts and then we were back on the road.

Minutes later we made it to the cabin we had rented for the weekend. We had opted to stay at Echo Basin Ranch in Mancos, Colorado about 30 minutes outside of Durango.

The next morning we woke up early to head out for some white water rafting fun. After a short drive in an old, dirty school bus the Outlaws took us on a 4 hour tour on the Animas River. See us wedged into the little boat? Mom, Dad and Tommy in the middle row while Karli, Logan and Madison made it into the back row.

The guy in the back of the raft was our guide, Pete. Pete was a lot of fun and the kids loved him. The two girls in front were just part of our group.

We stopped for a potty/snack break and back in the water for the remaining tour.

One more stop at a giant rock in the middle of the river. The kids loved jumping off of it. Yes, even Tommy our child still afraid to swim by himself was a brave soul. (I had to follow suit, so the kids wouldn't make fun of me) The water was cold, cold, cold. Landon was the camera man.

In case you couldn't tell....That's Tommy's splash. He went so quick we didn't have time to setup. That's PETE waiting in the drink to pick him up.

All the fun on the river created one hungry Skinner family. We inquired amongst our tour guides and fellow guests as to where we should eat. The consensus was Serious Texas BBQ, eating not for the faint of heart. The marquee menu item is the "Texas Taco". It consists of some slow cooked brisket, cheesy potatos, jalapenos and onions with a tangy bbq sauce rolled up in a flour tortilla. Now that was some "serious" eatin.

(don't forget the apple cobbler!).

There was, however, no time to rest. We had a mission that afternoon. The mission......hop in a open air Jeep and head up into the mountains. Destination, a defunct mine shaft that was worked by a family shortly after the turn of the century. The trip.....unmaintained dirt roads up to an elevation greater than 10,000 feet. Yeah it was that good.....

That was enough for us to call it a day, and head back to the cabin.

The next morning we were so fed up with our kids that we sent them to 4 different states! We even let them pick which state they were being exiled to. Welcome to Four Corners!

Next we decided to visit one of the 2 natural wonders of the world. Mesa Verde National Park (cliff dwelling ruins). Oh,...for those of you "wondering" the Steelers are the world's 2nd natural wonder.

Whew....That was a really tall ladder we all had to climb (35 ft.)

2 days down, 1 to go.....We liesurely woke up the next morning and enjoyed the "mini golf course" that Echo Basin had to offer.

Next we headed to Purgatory Ski Mountain north of Durango. No, we didn't ski...there's no snow dummy. We instead, rode down the Alpine Slide, and took the lift all the way to the top of the mountain.

We weren't finished....We left to go to Silverton, an old west mining town nestled at 9300 feet of elevation. We stopped for a bit of Ice Cream, but before we did, we had to prove that we were on top of the World!

Our last bit of fun came at a place known as the Bar-D Chuckwagon. We were informed of the great fun by the girls who joined us on our rafting trip. Funny thing is, it sparked a memory of my visit during my child hood. (The Possum Sleeps Tonight....you'll have to go to find out!)

All in all it was far too much work to be called a vacation,.....but it sure was an adventure!