Father's Day Weekend

We just went up to Colorado!

We set off about 10:15 and drove up past Espanola through Abiquiu, past the old little zoo that the environmentalists closed down because it wasn't run by experts, past the Reservoir we went rafting on once, that day we prayed and God made a hole in the cloud so it wouldn't rain on us (we checked the Weather Channel maps when we got home), past the bright pasty and orange and red layers, and past the big hole chipped out of the orange layers that echoes so beautifully. We had a leisurely lunch and shopping at Chama, NM (the train lives there, you see, the narrow-gauge something or other that greatly excites the people who like trains), and headed up to Pagosa Springs, Colorado.

Dad and I checked us into the hotel; or tried to. It was only three, and the room wasn't ready till four. So we went across the street and hung out at the Visitor's Center for an hour. It was on the banks of the San Juan River, which was overflowing itself and being generally busy. We took pictures. We also took pictures of "The Springs," which is a quasi-spa built on the very Springs Pagosa is named after. Beautiful place.

So then we checked in properly, checked out the pool, and had dinner. It had a back balcony that overlooked the River and the Springs. The food was tolerable, but the view was priceless...we watched a girl and her brother at the Springs. It was hilarious. They took turns, one holding the another's ankles while they leaned over and stuck their head in the river. I don't know WHAT they were doing, but it was awfully funny. And the girl had a stick almost twice as long as she was, and she'd toss it in the river and catch it just a bit downstream. Eventually her dad tossed it in with great vigor. No more stick.

Dad, Emily, and I went to the Springs ourselves after dinner; it was great. We spent most of our time in one particular pool. I read "The Two Towers" and they talked to an old gentleman who teaches school on a Navajo reservations during the winter and camps out with his horse all summer. He had a lot of great stories. There was a gazebo there with snow-cone and popcorn machines, so we got some of both and listened to a couple tell stories, about their daughter and son-in-law, who work in Hollywood and know all these celebrities I've never heard of. I am dreadfully out of the loop. Well...we started it, because we were talking amongst ourselves about how Torrey and Katie Jackson's little sister were getting married, and they thought we said "Kate Jackson." After dark, the Springs had an inflatable movie screen, a projector, and a highly effective sound system, and played Lilo and Stitch and A New Hope. But we left before that.

And then today we went swimming, had lunch and shopping at a Victorian tea house, went to Best Buy and Old Navy in Santa Fe, and came home. I amused myself this evening by editing "The Quartz" (I think it's done now) and starting an epic in limericks about the Normouse. His name is Striking, so presumably in the past he had an ancestor named Strike. Oh, and I've been doing reading for the reading group, which meets Wednesday. If anyone comes up with good DQs for "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," Book II of "The Two Towers," or "The Horse and His Boy," I'm open for suggestions. :-)

Happy Father's Day, y'all!