By Marcella S. Meeks
Summertime can’t get here fast enough for me. I’m ready to pack up my car, my little dog, and two of my grandkids and hit Interstate 20 heading West. Tristin and Kendray have their hearts set on Florida but not sure as yet how that will work out for us. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens. I’m certainly gonna try to get us there but if not, we’ll go to Galveston instead. At least make the beach in Texas if nothing else. And then there’s our Out West trip! That’s my most important trip of all.
We’re leaving here July 3rd and driving to Roswell, New Mexico. I want to take the boys to the alien museum in Roswell. While we’re there, we’re only eighty miles or so from Carlsbad Caverns. I figure we can drive to the Carlsbad and we can go down in the caves before returning to Roswell. The next day, we’re off to Albuquerque. We’re staying there three nights. The kids are going to the zoo, and aquarium, Cliff’s Amusement Park, Rattlesnake Museum and skate at a couple of the skate parks.
When we leave there, we’re headed to Farmington, NM and we’re spending one night there. We’re visiting Jack’s brother and going to the Aztec Indian ruins while we’re there. The next day, we’re driving up to Cortez, Colorado and we’re going through the
Mesa Verde tour before heading back down to Durango where we’re staying the next three nights at Motel Durango.
The kids can utilize the free skate park during our three day stay. We can drive over to Silverton and then on to Ouray and spend the day before returning to Durango.
After that, we’re South Fork bound. We’ll hang around South Fork for several days. There’s a waterfall that we love to visit between South fork and Creede. We’ll probably drive over and spend the day in Lake City, one of our favorite small towns about seventy five miles away. Yeah, a little gas, but well worth the drive nevertheless. The scenic mountain views are worth every minute you put into the drive.
After that, we’ll head over to Monte Vista – not much there but there is a skate park (free access) across the street from our motel. Tristin and Kendray loves the skate park here and in the evening we’ll take in a movie at the drive in. You don’t see many of those around anymore. It has become a family tradition for us!
We’ll take in the Great Sand Dunes and the Colorado Gators while we’re here. Our favorite things to do!
Last but not least, we’ll head over to Canon City for a couple off days. Free skate park here as well, and we’ll do the Royal Gorge Bridge. We might drive over to Colorado Springs on our way out and visit the Manitou cliff Dwellings and Garden of the Gods.
This is a well-trod vacation for our family. I know the boys get a little tired of the same old same old but not really in a way because we only do it once a year. Each time we go, we find a small gem that we missed the year before. That’s always a plus in our vacation plans. It doesn’t matter to me – I love New Mexico and Colorado in the summer months. I’ve been doing this vacation since the early nineties with my own children, and now I’m doing it with grandchildren. There’s some great grands already and when they get old enough, they’re welcome to tag along with me!
Well, after three long weeks it’s about time to start home. No, I’m not ready but it is that time. Money will be getting tight and our home at home will be calling for us! See you this summer!
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