Pagosa Springs

Spring Break was our last family vacation with Eli (besides the family reunion but that doesn't count because it isn't just our family).  We decided to go to Pagosa Springs because we could get a place through the Air Force Vacation Club and we had never been to that part of Colorado.  Eli and Piper had plans to go on a hike together every day and Felicity just wanted to swim.  I wanted to stop at the Sand Dunes and Mike wanted to eat at a chinese buffet.  I also really wanted to go in the springs because why would we go all the way there without going in the springs?  

I got a call from the school two hours before school ended, on the Wednesday before we left for our trip (we left on Friday). Piper had been in Gym class and hurt her ankle and couldn't put any weight on her foot.  I went and got her from the school and took her to urgent care to get an x-ray.  Thankfully, she didn't have a broken ankle, just a really bad sprain.  We weren't really sure what we should do about our trip but after a family meeting, the kids decided they still wanted to go even if Piper couldn't do much.  She had such a good attitude.  I know she was in so much pain and really disappointed about not being able to hike.  

She stayed home for our first hike.  We planned to go on a short hike to a waterfall but when we drove to the trailhead we saw that they had not opened the trail for the season yet.  We were bummed but drove back to another trail that we passed on the way.  It was a long hike (12 miles) and Felicity hates hikes (but loves water) so we only hiked a few miles.  Felicity started out complaining, even carving "turn back now" in the dirt, but by the end she was so happy and actually said that maybe she could start liking hiking.  

We decided to try another hike to a waterfall a day later.  You could see the waterfall from the parking lot so I decided to stay back with Piper while the others hiked the short trail.  It was only about a mile or less.  Piper couldn't hold in her disappointment any longer and kind of fell apart.  She was so upset that she couldn't hike and was upset that she had to hobble around with her crutch.  She started hiking the trail, slowly, but didn't make it very far before she sat on a rock and cried.  But crying made her even more embarrassed, especially since a cut boy named Miles walked by with his family.  It was too much for a teenage girl to handle.  She stubbornly said she was going to finish the hike but I told her I wouldn't let her unless she at least wore one of my running shoes.  She had worn flip flops (the only shoe she could get over her brace and hurt foot) and I didn't want her to hurt her other ankle too.  She was really mad at me and when I assured her that we would both look like idiots together, she said, "Everyone expects that from you, you are a mom!"  Well.  It was mean but it wasn't coming from a place of real meanness, just embarrassment and pain and disappointment.  I let her comment go and switched one running shoe for one flip flop and took her crutch.  Mike, Eli, and Felicity were headed back down already and decided to go back up with us.  All Piper needed was Eli to make her happy.  I don't know how he does it exactly but as soon as she started walking with him she became calm and even started laughing.  Thankfully she didn't hurt her other ankle and when we got back home she rested her ankle the rest of the night.  

The next day we left the girls at the rental place so we could go on a hike with Eli.  It was, sadly, another hike that didn't turn out as we had hoped.  The road to the trailhead was closed.  Trying to make a positive out of things, I quipped that we could walk the two miles up to the trailhead.  So, off we went.  It ended up being more like three miles up to the trailhead, through deep snow for probably half of the hike, and entirely uphill.  By the time we got to the trailhead I had my fill of hiking.  Hahaha.  Mike and Eli still really wanted to do the hike but my hip wasn't going to handle more (I was still getting used to my shoe lift and it was making my back and hip hurt).  I sat down on a big tree branch and read a book for what felt like hours.  I kept wondering what I'd do if a mountain lion decided to hunt me.  I don't remember how long it was but much longer than we expected.  They finally came back to me exhausted and wet.  The hike was uphill for the first part in snow up to their hips.  And sadly, I don't think the lake ended up being that impressive.  What was supposed to be a somewhat simple hike turned into 8 miles for me and 10 for Mike and Eli, mostly through snow.  By the time we got back we were so sore but Eli loved it.  I think it was his favorite day of the hike.  We had a lot of time to talk to just him and I think that made it totally worth it.  

We also visited the hot springs downtown.  We could have paid for a day pass at one of the resorts but we ended up finding the free ones right off of the river and it was lovely, so much better than the resort, I think.  They had a few different pools with different temperatures and we all moved from the ice cold river to the hot springs and back.  We chose the coolest day for the springs and I loved sitting in the springs with the cool air on my face and shoulders.  We went early in the day so there weren't many people there and it was great.  

We also fulfilled Lissy's wishes by going to the pool multiple times.  The first day we were the only people in the pool for most of the time.  Piper couldn't do a lot of swimming because it hurt her foot but she got in and played for a little bit.  

We decided to go home a couple days early because we had done the pool, played pool, ping pong, and arcade games at the clubhouse, gone on multiple hikes, ate yummy ice cream (and the chinese buffet), played games together at night, and spent lots of time resting.  We decided there wasn't really anything else we could do that involved Piper and we didn't want to leave her alone anymore.  We debated if we should stop at the sand dunes on the way home because I was sure walking on the sand would be a horrible experience for her.  She really wanted to go and try anyway so we took a detour and spent an hour or two at the dunes.  It was actually hard for me to walk that far on the dunes.  The parking lot was not close to the dunes so we walked a long ways through deep sand until we got to the actual dunes.  Felicity was not a fan.  It was too hard for her to walk on the sand that far and she thought the sand was much too warm.  I sat back with Piper and Felicity while Mike and Eli hiked to the top of the dunes.  The girls rolled down the dunes and got filthy. Then, we headed back to the car and drove home.  

It wasn't exactly the trip we had hoped for because of Piper's ankle and I am positive we let her do way too much with her ankle but we all had a good time and I think everyone will have good memories of Spring Break together.