Durango, Colorado

In the olden days, I would have made my friends come over to my house, served them white zinfandel and casserole, and forced them to view my vacation slides on a projector screen. But today, I’ll just make you look at my vacation pictures on my blog. I’d still love to have you over to my house, but rest assured, I would never serve you a white zinfandel.

We enjoyed a week-long getaway to the Durango, Colorado area. I know I say this after every vacation, but this was one of the best trips we’ve ever taken! We had so much fun!

We rented a condo at Durango Mountain Resort. The last time Joel and I were there, the mountain was blanketed in gorgeous white snow. This time, it was covered with rich green grass, wild flowers, and flowing streams.

Trip Highlights:

The Slide Ride: This was definitely one of the kids’ favorite parts of the trip. We got to ride the chairlift, grab a sled, and fly down the long slide to the bottom of the mountain over and over again. Fun!

Bar-D Chuckwagon: This was a very entertaining dinner show that I remember seeing when I was a kid. The performers were hilarious, and the kids really enjoyed it.

Silverton: This is a tiny little town north of Durango, and we loved this little spot! We took a very cool mine tour at the Old One Hundred mine, the kids enjoyed ice cream and a stage coach ride, and Joel and I found the coolest bar with the best drinks in the entire world. Montanya Distillers makes their award-winning rum right in Silverton. They mix up amazing drinks with the freshest ingredients, and then serve them on their gorgeous patio at the foot of the mountains.

Ouray: Box Canyon Falls is just too amazing for words. Humbling and breath taking. We also took a little hike up to another waterfall, and enjoyed lunch at yet another brewery. This town is just adorable, and while visiting, Joel and I were inspired to sign up for next year’s Imogene Pass Run. Crazy much?

River Rafting and Zip-lining:We found a combo package for a morning of zip-lining and an afternoon of rafting in the Animas River. Both of these outings were incredibly fun…the kids were literally squealing with delight.

Hiking and Running: I had three runs on my training schedule, and I’m happy to say I completed all of them, despite the fact that every run was on a fierce incline at 8500’+ elevation. The kids enjoyed doing a bit of hiking as well. My little desert-dwellers were quite intrigued with the abundant water.

R&R: One of the best parts of the trip was just chillin’ out with my favorite people. I cooked some amazing dinners while my dad was on dessert duty. I ate Dutch oven peach cobbler on the patio, laughed, snuggled my babies, played cards, drank wine, and took slow deep breaths. It. Was. Heavenly.

I can’t recommend Durango highly enough. It’s a very reasonable drive from Phoenix, has dozens of fun activities for kids and families, and is more beautiful than pictures can even come close to showing. No offense to San Diego, but when everyone in Phoenix is ready for something different, Durango is ready to show you an amazing time!