Family Vacation - COVID-STYLE, Day 8 - Mesa Verde

We have been to Mesa Verde before, but it was so long ago that my youngest kids didn't remember anything about it. Some of the sights were closed, including the Visitor's Center and the Spruce House, but that didn't surprise us much. COVID has affected pretty much everything. We were able to pick up Junior Ranger books from a table set out in front of the Visitor's Center so the kids could at least work on getting one of their cool pins.

Then we entered the park and got on the Upper Mesa driving loop. It seemed like the best way for us to show the kids lots of different things mostly from the safetly of our car. People were required to wear masks in Colorado just like in New Mexico, but we saw only about 50% compliance.

We were only the road less than a mile before my sweetie shouted, "BEAR!"

Wait, what??

I had missed it! Since there was no one on the road behind us, I encouraged him to slowly back up about 100 yards so we all could see this phenomenon. We had never seen a bear up close in the wild.

 He was not fully grown, but bigger than an average cub. Thankfully, there was no sight of his mama, as he calmly ate berries right on the side of the road.

That was a great beginning to our adventure and the cliff dwellings were icing on the cake. Most of the kids climbed out at every quick hiking trail except for Scout. She and I had both gotten a little carsick on the way up, so we only walked about half the trails (and then a little one of our own which we fully expected to end with one of us heaving, but fortunately, we both kept our breakfast down). Honestly, I hated to have her sick, but it was nice for someone to understand how motion sickness has affected my life all these years.

As usual, Mesa Verde was amazing! I have the ultimate respect for those people raising families is such tiny, primative homes. It's hard enough raising a family in all the excess was enjoy today.

Family Vacation - COVID-STYLE, Day 7 - Cortez

After an amazing week at our condo in Ruidoso, it was time to put more miles on the van. We cleaned, loaded, and checked out.

It was a long and mostly uneventful ride. After nearly 8 hours in the car, we pulled in to the exact same hotel we had stayed at the previous week.

The kids wanted to swim so we sent them to the pool about 8:30. Crafty and I got in a hot tub just a little later.

Then a guy in the pool lost one of the lenses in his prescription glasses. He was devastated!!

Curly and Baby Doll helped him look for it with their goggles until some bratty kids got in. Curly promised to come back when the pool closed at 10:00.

At 10:05, he was working with the front desk attendant to find the lens. After floating on his stomach for nearly at hour in the cold water, he finally spotted the lens on the bottom of the pool.

I was proud, but even more proud when he refused any type of reward. Here is his version of the smolder.

Family Vacation - COVID-STYLE, Day 6 - Side-by-Sides

My kids would argue that our Thursday activity was by far the best, but it was actually something my sweetie has wanted to do for a very long time. We try to do one special thing on each trip and this was it.

We found Back Country Attitudes on the internet and at nearly $100 each, it was more expensive than we would typically spend for our group, but since we only had one other activity planned for the entire 10 days of vacation, we decided we were going to make it happen.

Our journey started at 9:00 on Thursday morning. We arrived just in time for helmet fittings and a quick lesson in driving before we all climbed in the buggies and took off. Since we were a party of 9, Curly quickly offered to ride with our guide, Kevin. He was amazing and he must have jumped out of his buggy 20 times to clean all 3 windshields. But wait, I'm getting ahead of myself.

My sweetie drove the second buggy and Drama Queen drove the third. They were a little cautious as they drove through town and out onto the backroads. We were all surprised and amazed at how easily the buggies handled ruts and bumps, dirt, and rocks.

We saw some beautiful scenery and Kevin took lots of pictures.

We droved further and further out into the hills of Ruidoso. Soon it was almost like we were not even on roads. But the favorite part was the puddles. Everytime we hit water/mud/etc., we made it fly! The kids were having a crazy good time although as we were driving back at nearly the 4-hour mark, Baby Doll fell asleep. You might ask how that could happen with all the noise and the wind (there were no side windows), but having that much fun, after a while, is completely exhausting!

Family Vacation - COVID-STYLE, Day 5 - Two Rivers Park Fairy Hunt

Wednesday was cool and rain; a beautiful day for a fairy hunt. Two Rivers Park in Ruidoso is the perfect place for discovering these cute little creatures.

Curly and Baby Doll were the only two who wanted to come with us so the four of us climbed into the van. After we drove the short distance to the park, the rain started pounding down, bringing with it pea-sized hail.

After about 10 minutes, the rain cleared up so we could hunt for fairies.

The city had placed 10 little boxes (houses) for fairies and 3 trolls with a painted wand on the sidewalk as a clue.

The kids loved this activity and we searched until we found all of the fairies and the trolls too.

Great job, guys!!