Memorial Day Weekend

Well after months of waiting and planning the third annual Memorial Day roadtrip was here. I had a horrible day Thursday and I couldn't wait to see a familiar face. Kyle actually flew into Colorado Springs which is about 1.5 hours away but his ticket was cheap so I suffered for the greater good.

Friday we spent the day at the Ranch. The rest of my family had all been to see me when I was working at the ranch but it was really different to show Kyle around when we were both visitors. It was really great to catch up with everyone, see the changes, hear the latest news and see how much the kids have grown! I can't believe I've known the family since 2005. We decided to hike up to Lizard Rock first in order to beat the rain. It's not a long hike but it's an intense trail. I usually rode up on horseback and working in the corporate world for a year hadn't really prepared me for that hike. My calves burned the entire weekend from that hike! We actually met up with Kelvin and the wranglers at the top just as they were leaving. I think the new staff were a little surprised to see us come out of the woods and just start talking to Kelvin. The wrangler's headed down and Kyle and I took some pictures and I scouted around for a good place to leave my very special goodbye present for the Ranch. I won't say what it is but let's just say it was a very "Kelly" thing to do and they'll know it as soon as they see it! After we got back we played with the kids a bit before lunch. After they got over their fear of Max they were throwing the stick for him until Wyatt broke it on half and threw the big half up in a tree. Kyle was talking to Carson and said "Can you believe I've never ridden a horse before?" and Carson replies "Yes". I love the honesty. After lunch we walked out to the pasture where I got to see my red headed demon, Kerby. I don't think it's hit me how this is the last time I will be at the Ranch for a very long time. It has been a huge part of my life and if it hadn't been for their support (both as friends and employers) Colorado wouldn't mean as much to me.

When we left we drove back down 24 and headed up 67 north of Woodland Park and ended up on a dirt road (of course). I'd never been that way before and it was stunning. I decided to stop for gas right before I pulled into my house and when I went to turn my car back on it wouldn't start! Then the clock reset itself so I know it had to be something with the battery because it wasn't even trying to turn over. We got a guy to jump us and made it back to the house where we decided we'd better get to a shop and have them test everything. It wouldn't start again so we tried to pop the clutch. FYI, it does not work on a level surface with a 30 foot push. We got my neighbor to jump it and headed over to Advance Auto where it turns out I needed a new battery. As soon as he installed the new one it ran rougher and the dude told me my alternator was going too, which apparently is rare. I started freaking out because we had a huge roadtrip planned for the weekend and I didn't want to get stuck in backwoods Colorado. Saturday morning we took it to a shop and they said they had to order a new alternator. 4 hours later they called and said "nothing's wrong with your alternator". Apparently the idiot at Advance Auto couldn't hook up or read the machine and my alternator was fine. I was kind of mad that it took them 4 hours to tell me that but it all worked out in the end because if we went through with my original plans we never would have made it to Pagosa on time.

We did make it to Pagosa around 5pm after stopping at some overlooks. We stayed with Jess who cooked us an amazing Mexican feast. We ate on the balcony in the rain and 50 degree weather as only Coloradans do. We spent the night at the hot springs. It was Kyle's first time to a hot spring and I think I got him addicted. It was raining most of the night so we did get wet but at least the place wasn't crowded.