“Oh my wheels are running hard against this mountain
I finally crossed the Archuleta line”
Dan Fogelburg
I’m in Mancos! Yes, today the exclamation mark is warrented. It’s been a long day, but as I write this from the patio of the Mancos Brewery it’s made the 20+ hours of driving over the past three days worth it. This morning I woke up way too early, like 3AM early for some reason. I considered that if I just left then I could be here by 11, but decided against driving through the mountains in the dark and instead laid awake for a couple hours before finally getting up at 5. I was in Fred by 5:30, no Kimpton coffee in hand since they didn’t start serving it until 6.
I did find a Dunkin Donunts on my way out town to get my coffee fix for the day. As I climbed into the mountains the light rain that had been falling quickly turned to snow flurries and the bare trees began to show a fresh coat of snow. Happily, the road was clear and by the time I hit Fairplay the sun began peaking through. By the time I got to Del Norte it was a beautiful sunny day. I only made one quick stop in Pagosa Springs to walk up and down a block to stretch my legs after sitting for five hours. By 1 I was pulling into the driveway.
The first order of business was to inspect the mousetraps to tally the kill from the past two weeks. There was only one, so I’m hopeful that we won’t be seeing too many more this summer, but a new batch of mousetraps are on the shopping list for tomorrow just in case. The rest of the house looked in good order so I sat on the deck and enjoyed the last Zak’s Delicious Sandwich I’d made before leaving Illinois. It was indeed just as delicious as the first one had been 42 hours before.
The entire rest of the afternoon was spent unloading Fred and tackling a few of the many sub projects that entailed. It hadn’t really occured to my just how much of a processes getting everything put in its place was going to be. I’d hoped to get started on the first of the construction projects tomorrow, but I need to make a trip to Durango in the morning and it looks like the afternoon is pretty much accounted for with the rest of the unpacking.
My plan for tonight was to come to the Mancos Brewery for Wenesday trivia night, but I arrived to a sign on the door announcing its cancellation. It’s probably for the best since I can now sit in the shade on the deck to get blogging, road trip book logging, grocery shopping, and home depot list making done. The cubano made the trip worthwhile as well.
It is sad to be here without the rest of the family. This has been the oddest start to a summer road trip we’ve ever had. They all seem to be having a good enough time in IL though. I’ll be there to meet you all at the airport soon, fam 😉.
