Monday, August 13, 2012

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?

17 comments:

  1. What a wonderful trip!! We've been to the sand dunes (camped in Alamosa) and Mesa Verde (my very favorite part of an epic 2-week trip that took us through 6 national parks and several other cool places). Your trip sounds even better, though...time to explore, time to run, and time to RELAX. So happy for you (and your 60-min run...woo hoo!!!)

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  2. Wow. Those pictures are amazing! I think I would never want to leave.

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  3. What a wonderful place to spend a vacation.
    The pic with you into the river is priceless.
    For me no vacations this year, it is impossible to travel with a broken vertebra and after I must come back to work.

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  4. Terz, Sounds great. Thanks for pics too.

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  5. Terz, Sounds great. Thanks for pics too.

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  6. Yeah, give me a shower and bathroom too. Looks like a great place to 'visit'...... HA

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  7. Awesome pictures - it looks like you guys had SUCH a great time!!! Everyone needs a good vacation, and yours looked perfect! Yay!

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  8. Amazing surroundings! I love vacation running. Hooray for your first 60-minuter too!

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  9. Yay! I am so glad it was fun and the pics are great! :)

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  10. What an amazing vacation! It looks amazing. Your caption on the river photo almost made me spit out my coffee. :) I'm glad you were able to relax!

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  11. What a fantastic vacation! Love all the photos and the stories that went with them!

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  12. bostonboundbrunetteAugust 14, 2012 at 5:51 PM

    Looks like you had a great time! Love the photos! The kids are adorable! Oh and so are you :)

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  13. I didn't know Colorado had dunes like that.


    Awesome that you had a river (run through your butt) to take an ice bath in.


    Glad you had a great vacation, and some descent runs. Some vacations are a lot more stressful.

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  14. That looks beautiful! It's nice when you can get a good mix of relaxing and running when you are on vacation and that looks like the perfect place to do both!

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  15. Beautiful!! We just got back from NY (still in PA for a few more days) and I was downloading some pictures for a similar post about how refreshing it is to run in new places with gorgeous scenery. So glad you all had such a good time!

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  16. Wow! Looks AWESOME. I am loving that little log cabin. It's always great to get away and get a change of scenery for running (especially living in Yuma). Even a quick trip to San Diego for the weekend renews my spirit. Glad you had a great trip!

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  17. Terzah this looks fantastic!!! That cabin looks awesome! And I am so impressed that not only did you run but actually went to do strength training! Wow!

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