Vacation Running

I'm such a pessimist. I didn't think any vacation with the kids could actually be relaxing. Happy thing to be wrong! Happy thing, in fact, that this was one of the best vacations I've ever taken.

I'll let the pictures do the talking:

We stayed in this cabin, which had no bathroom or showers (there was an outhouse and, up at the main ranch complex, showers; I like camping, but for a full week I want regular showers):

Elevation around 8,000 feet

 The night before we arrived we camped at Great Sand Dunes National Park:

That's me channeling Lawrence of Arabia. Actually I was chasing down Will, who had no fear of the pathless dunes.

I had a wonderful run on the park road paralleling the Dunes before we left.

Once at the cabin, we settled right in. In the morning, I had another wonderful run and then cooled off in the La Plata River, which was literal feet from the cabin's front door.

A river runs through it (it being my bottom): I took an ice bath just like this after all of my runs at the cabin.

The scenery was gorgeous. I wish I had a ranch to run on all the time, like Christy. I didn't have to leave the property to run at all, and in fact did so only once, when I went to the Durango Recreation Center so I could do some weights, too. Here's some of the scenery from my runs, which included my first 60-minuter since March:

Wonderful soft dirt and gravel surfaces, some in shade, some in sun.

Lakes and meadows to run around. I was careful, but Dan managed to turn his ankle on one of his runs in a high pasture.

This was the view to the north.

In addition to running, we were lazy for two complete days, letting the kids get muddy and play in the river while we read books, and on two other days we rode the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad and visited Mesa Verde.

Ruthie and I climb out of a kiva at one of Mesa Verde's cliff dwellings.

Pretty sure God made the Great Sand Dunes for kids. And walking on them is good for grown-up calves too. No way did I run on them, though.

I had forgotten how a good vacation leaves you refreshed. That's the point, right?