Pagosa
Springs is a beautiful, small, quaint town nestled on the western side of Wolf
Creek Pass. This part of Colorado is, in
my opinion, the most beautiful in the state. I always love the drive to Pagosa
Springs. It’s only a little ways further to Durango, a town where I spent a lot of time back in 1996 when I
attempted to maintain a long distance relationship during my first year of college
in Boulder. Every other weekend I would
load up my trusty Toyota Camry with all my favorite CDs, leave Boulder at some
point after classes on Friday, and drive as fast as I could (surely faster than
I should have) to Durango.
I was running from my dissatisfaction with what I found that first year
of college in Boulder, and I was running to what I knew (the boyfriend) and what I wanted (outdoorsy,
adventurous, accepting, interesting hippies who weren’t cliquey and judgmental
like they seemed to be in Boulder). It was all
there in Durango, and I spent as much time as I could there. Needless to say, I did the Boulder to Durango
drive a lot! And I knew those roads like
the back of my hand.
These
days I only do the drive once a year, and although the actual music festival is
my favorite part of the adventure, oh how I love the drive…lots of memories
flooding back while driving that pass.
We’d
parked the Scamp for a few short days after returning from a festival the
previous weekend. Those few days were full of grocery
shopping, cooking, prepping, packing (oh and working too…). We woke up early Thursday morning and were on
the road to the Great Sand Dunes National Monument by 9 a.m. It felt great to have the Scamp out on the
open road, and we were feeling confident after a local trailer/RV mechanic had
given us a shining report card the previous week.
We
anxiously pulled up to the park entrance, crossing our fingers that
there would be a camping spot available for us that night. We found a spot on the main campground loop,
set up camp, had a nice lunch, and after some pickin', reading, and getting to
know our neighbors, we packed up for a short hike to the sand dunes. It was great fun to play in the creek at the
base of the dunes. Another setting that
was bringing lots of childhood and young adulthood memories back, and so much
fun to share with my family.
Dinner
and a campfire followed, and then a short walk to the campground pavilion where
we were treated to modified folk songs and a slideshow teaching visitors about
the history of the sand dunes. It was a relatively early night to bed for all of us since the wind was blowing
too much to make sitting around a campfire enjoyable.
We
were up and out by 7:30 a.m. This set-up
and take-down thing with the Scamp continues to amaze and delight me with how
easy and efficient it is. That early
departure would have never happened with a tent.
We enjoyed a peaceful morning drive to Del
Norte, and a stop at our very favorite eating establishment in that part of the state, the Peace of Art Café. It’s part of our Pagosa tradition, and we look forward to it all year long. After filling our
bellies and hearts with the goodness of the café, I jumped into the driver’s
seat, full cup of coffee in hand, and we were on our way up Wolf Creek
Pass. I couldn’t have been happier with
how the Durango performed pulling the Scamp up and over the pass. We’d been wondering how this part of the
drive would go, and I was so proud of our old truck!
We
pulled into the line to enter the festival just before noon, jumped out of the
car to greet those around us, and rejoiced that we’d finally arrived! Once it was our turn, we carefully drove the
Scamp up the bumpy, dirt road to the festival grounds, and pulled right into
our preferred camping spot. Within an
hour, camp was set up, and we were snuggled up in the Scamp with lunch while we
watched the first (and only) rainstorm of the weekend pass overhead.
After
the rain had cleared, I grabbed a chair and headed up the hill for the mandolin
workshop. Perhaps I'll talk in another blog post about the huge amount of mandolin-flavored inspiration I got out of this festival...but suffice it to say, I came away from the workshop and the festival in general feeling a renewed excitement about my mandolin playing!
Brian got Sadie to take a nap,
and waited patiently to greet our dear friends, the GreenHills, who would be
arriving from Arkansas for the weekend.
Back
in 1996, when I was driving to Durango every other weekend, I spent the
opposite weekends at Bay’s house in Parker, Colorado. Bay and I have known each other since we were
15, and she’s one of my very dearest friends.
We’ve seen each other through love, loss, heartache, adventures,
marriage, motherhood, and more. I love
her like a sister, and I love her children like they are my own. And yet, we never get to see each other; the
last time was when Sadie was less than 9 months old! Her two oldest have grown so much since I’d
last seen them, and I would be meeting baby Hazel for the first time. Needless to say, when the text came to me at
the mandolin workshop that they were at camp, I couldn’t get down the hill fast
enough. And I love a good reunion…one
where you can’t help but just cry and cry as you hold each other. Nothing better.
And
once all the hellos, how was the trip, oh my gosh look at the beautiful children,
etc. was done with, we did what we do best.
We settled into festivating and camping.
For
me, the weekend was invigorating, rejuvenating, relaxing, joyful, peaceful, and
idyllic in every way. Brian, Sadie, and
I slept peacefully every night in the Scamp…I woke up each morning feeling
rested (which isn’t always the case at festivals). Bay and I got to spend a lot of time
chatting, catching up, and even had time for one of those sit-down-around-the-fire-and-settle-in-for-the-night
conversations that it’s so hard to find time for these days.
The
kids were SOOO great together.
Sadie and
Mosely are the closest in age and played so well. Mosely is funny and fun and rambunctious and
sensitive. A perfect little boy.
Stella has grown up so much, and I treasured
the opportunity to get to know her more.
She’s a big kid with thoughts and ideas and interests and plans of her
own, and it was so lovely to get a little glimpse into her world. She sure has changed a lot since she preceded
me down the aisle on my wedding day 7 years ago!
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Oh, and that baby Hazel….what a joy it was to
hold and cuddle her for a few days.
And
before we knew it, it was time to pack up and head home. The Petersons were surely feeling the effects
of 3 straight festivals in a row. By the
end of the Pagosa festival, we had slept in the Scamp more nights than in our
own beds over the prior few weeks. We
were loving it, but we were dirty, and tired, and run down.
So, we sadly hugged our friends goodbye,
promised to do it again next year, threw our newly purchased CD from our
favorite set of the weekend (Della Mae! Yeah!) into the stereo, and hit the road. As we drove back over Wolf Creek Pass, Sadie
sang quietly in the back seat while Brian and I took some time to talk about
the weekend. The good parts, as well as
the emotional/sad/difficult parts. We
didn’t talk about what waited at home yet.
Work, and laundry, and groceries, and lists. Those conversations would start up as we got
a bit closer to home. But for now we
just soaked in the beauty of the pass, and soaked up the afterglow of three
weeks of festivating. One last stop at
the Peace of Art Café, another cup of coffee, and we headed home.
Yesterday
brought the beginning, tomorrow brings the end, and somewhere in the
middle we became the best of friends. ~Author Unknown
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