The Lee Family: Day One: Donut Skiing

We woke up and got moving around 8:30/9am and headed out to search for breakfast. We walked a few blocks to the Durango Diner, which has good reviews as the "best greasy spoon diner." The girls wanted to sit at the counter, so we did and they pulled out their coloring books and crayons and got busy coloring while we waited for our food. After pancakes, eggs and bacon were enjoyed we headed back to our hotel to figure out what to do. On the way, we stopped at one of the outdoor clothing stores and bought ski gloves for the girls, since all I brought were thin cotton ones that would get wet and cold immediately. The only set plans we made for our trip this week was to buy tickets on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad on Wednesday. We also hoped to get to Mesa Verde and do something up in the snow. I learned that one of my tennis friends and her family would also be in Durango, renting a house close to the Purgatory Resort, since they planned on skiing the whole week. We planned on meeting up at some point during the week, but otherwise had nothing really concrete which is a fun way to travel.

We decided to go for a hike nearby and then drive up to Purgatory to go tubing. By the time we got organized, we decided to go for the hike in the afternoon so we could get up the mountain. The drive up was gorgeous and the girls loved watching the scenery collect more and more snow as we continued to climb. We parked and walked over to pay our $10/tube for the hour. We decided on two tubes and thought both girls would really love to do it after the initial trip down the slope with one of us. CK decided to go with Sofia and Olivia and I were going to go together. The walk up the slope to get to the top was a killer! The altitude combined with struggling up slushy snow was exhausting. We made it up and Sofia and CK were off. Meanwhile, Olivia decided she didn't want to go. I honestly didn't blame her, it sort of scared me too! CK and Sofia made it to the top again, so I gave the tube to CK and he and Sofia enjoyed the slopes a few times together on their own tubes. Sofia LOVED it! I finally decided to try it and was surprised at how much fun it was! A little scary, but a lot of fun! At one point, CK sent Olivia up the hill to join me because she had decided to try it. However, once she arrived she said she didn't want to go and ultimately hiked back down the slope again to her Papa. I think she would have liked it if she'd tried it, but it was very fast so she may not have. She isn't nearly as adventurous as Sofia in such pursuits. Sofia and I hiked up the hill a few times and slid down while Olivia cuddled with CK. She was exhausted from not a lot of sleep last night and probably catching a cold. Her voice is still squeaky and off. Our hour was over and we dropped off the tubes and headed to our car. Sofia loved what she called "Donut Skiing" and can't wait to do it again!

After we were in the car, we looked into rending snowmobiles for an hour, possibly on Thursday. Olivia saw the snowmobiles on the slopes and asked if we could do it, and Sofia wants to go "donut skiing" again after we possibly go snowmobiling. We headed toward town and I was surprised Olivia didn't fall asleep on the drive down the mountain! We stopped at the Pinkerton Hot Spring, which was on the side of the road as we headed up the mountain and we decided to stop on the way down. The water flowed out of a mound of rock and down the hill. CK, Sofia and I tasted it and it didn't taste bad, but salty and different. It was also warmer than expected, although not hot. I walked down a short ways to see where the water led, but ended up not getting very far because the flowing water has created a slick of moss and slime that I knew would cause me to fall.

We continued down the mountain and stopped at Serious Texas BBQ for lunch. It was delicious and we were all starving! Sofia had actually taken off her wet and cold jeans and sopping wet boots in the car and wasn't happy to have to put them back on again. Her pants were a little wet from "donut skiing" but got really soaked when she fell at the edge of the slopes into the slush and melted snow. Her boots, which are cheap fake suede I paid $20 for, have terrible traction and were completely soaked and probably ruined from the day.

We returned to our room and the girls got out of their wet clothes and relaxed in their pjs while watching a movie on my computer. CK was reading, so I headed out to walk around and see if I could find Sofia some adequate boots. I found some great snow boots for her for $45, thanks to the early spring sales. I then headed to The Durango Coffee Company, which is basically across from our hotel, where I had a coffee and read my book. It was very relaxing.

After awhile I returned to the room and Olivia said she was hungry. She and I headed downstairs to The Office where we enjoyed live music and ordered dinner. CK and Sofia joined us shortly after we arrived and we ate a light dinner before I took Olivia back upstairs so she could go to sleep. She was completely exhausted! Sofia and CK walked over to the Diamond Belle to listen to different live music, eat dessert and read. They returned around 10pm and Sofia headed off to bed ready for another fun day in Durango!

Our little Star Wars fan fell a little behind on our way to breakfast