Loving the area but not loving our campsite by the pit toilet. Plus there’s a strange gentleman who keeps coming over with his dog and trying to make Maisey feed him. I know he’s probably trying to be nice but it’s a little weird and we like our privacy too which he seems to not consider. Lol So we decide it’s time to move on and get to Telluride!

I also wanted to be somewhere nice for my birthday so we could celebrate together without being surrounded by strangers. We left first thing in the morning hoping we’d score a campsite which can be a real challenge in Telluride. The ride there once again was so epic. Million Dollar Highway is no joke. We hit up the first campground that would allow trailers of our size and crosses our fingers. It was a tiny spot with like 10 sites total. We scored the last big site for our trailer and happened to run into the camp host who told us it’s one of the best spots. He wasn’t kidding. There was a tiny path right next to us that you could take for a few steps and be in pure mountain view’s heaven.

We played around camp after setup and let Mais get in a nap. It rains every afternoon in Telluride so I took the opportunity to run to the laundromat and get some stuff washed. We then hit up the town’s playground. Mais even made a new friend that asked me when she’s big enough to babysit if she could come to Dallas to watch her. Lol She was a super sweet girl and Mais was loving all the attention.

Whelp, it’s taken me a bit to catch up on my blogging. I always slack when we meet up with friends since I don’t have as much down time. But here I am, racking my brain to remember all the days and things.

The next morning we woke ready to do a hike! We were basically in Silverton and the Mecca of hiking. Matt found a trail called Highland Mary Lake Trail. It was a moderate 4.9 mile hike. We knew being in this area we had to get to the trail sooner rather than later because storms always seem to roll in in the afternoons. We had a long drive up the mountain on a pretty cliff hanging road. Once we reached the parking we waiting until some people left to take their spot. While waiting we got to see a group of people with “pack llamas”. Being that Mais is all about her llama she was in heaven seeing real ones.

The views and hike were incredible. Maisey wanted to walk quite a bit so Matt invented a game with her to jump along making him get an arm workout while hiking. Worked for me cause it slowed him down. I legit had moments of stopping and saying I couldn’t do it. Mind you this was not any harder than what I’ve done in the past but the 12,000 feet in elevation was killing me.

After some scrambling we made it to the lake at the top. There was a sweet family with a dog that loved to jump in and catch sticks. Maisey was in pure heaven. Dogs + sticks? Her faves combined. Lol

After some play time we could see some storm clouds headed our way. We decided it was time to make our way to the bottom. We were basically running as fast as we could as the storm started to reach us. The rocks were crazy slippery but somehow I managed to not fall. On the way down Maisey passed out but was soon rudely awaken by hail that was pelting us. Yes, hail…not just rain started to come down on us hard. We ran extremely fast and jumped in Matt’s truck making our way through some fun puddles on the road.

We rewarded ourselves in town at the Golden Block Brewery with some delicious pizza and beer and of course “muddle” (muddy puddle) splashes!

Our first day at Pine Point at Vallecito Reservoir was filled with just exploring the nearby lake. It was also about time all of us showered so we took the opportunity to do so. Mais included only she scored an outdoor bath. About a month ago a company called Stokke reached out to me to try one of their products and I knew instantly the FlexiBath would be perfect for our trip. Now I’m no influencer but I’ll be damned if I wasn’t going to take them up on their offer! And I’m so glad I did cause she is obsessed!

The next morning we decided to pack up and go do a hike. The Vallecito Creek Trail. 2 years and 1 day ago I hiked this trail with a little baby strapped to my chest. This year she was heading up on daddy’s back and asking for mama to “hold you” along the way.

We only made it around 2 miles in this time but found a great little beach we climbed down to for her to run around. The hike itself is pretty steep and narrow so she didn’t get to run around on it as much. The beach area turned out to be PERFECT. She’s been loving chasing butterflies and when we got to it we saw about a dozen flying around and she spent the next hour just chasing them and talking to them. It was hilarious. “Oh what you doing” “Oh there you are!” “Oh you try to kiss me!” (I told her when they land on her or get super close they’re giving her butterfly kisses 🤣)

As it got close to nap/lunch time we decided to head back in hopes she’d pass out in the truck on our way to our next boon-docking spot in Silverton. No. Such. Luck. So we stopped in Durango and got a few things from the busiest Walmart I’ve ever been in. Including a butterfly (aka fishing) net. You will also see a theme of going to a Walmart or grocery store every like 4-5 days. When your fridge and freezer are the size of a school locker you can’t get too much at a time and on the road you always need something you forgot ….batteries, medicine, command strips, a butterfly net….lol

The drive to Silverton was a typical rainy drive. I felt like it always rained this time of year when we were in the area. But the Million Dollar Highway is epic so it’s always worth it and the rain leaves almost as fast as it comes.

We found boon-docking at Kendall Camping Area just outside of town. Being Friday it was packed but we found a spot next to the pit toilet. Not ideal so we parked and contemplated Matt driving around to find more options leaving us at the trailer. (Mais had a no nap meltdown so it was a 911 escape to get her out of the car seat)

After a few minutes in the trailer I started smelling whiffs of poop. I tried to not let it bother me but finally looked at Matt and said, nope I can’t. He goes, “Yah, it’s pretty bad Let me go look.” 2 minutes later Maisey looked at us and goes, “Change diaper”. Ummmmm yeah…that was our own kids poop we were smelling. 🤣 Matt went ahead to see if there were other spots while I changed a VERY smelly diaper and when he came back said we’re probably best here. Especially since we could smell absolutely nothing. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Matt had meetings in the morning so he drove down the mountain to get some service and us girls just hung out, cooked breakfast and played. Once he returned we decided to do some more exploring and then after nap head to a nearby hike. Matt wanted to take his bike and after the hike ride a trail all the way back and meet us at camp.

The hiking trail was part of the Continental divide, around 4.5 miles. A pretty trail with lots of flowers but also lots of flies. So far this has been the year of the flies. We even had to get a little fly swatter that’s actually become Maisey’s favorite toy. Lol Just wait. You’ll see it make an appearance quite a bit in photos.

After the hike Mais and I hopped in the truck and made the super bumpy drive back to camp where she kept telling me, “Mama be careful” She hasn’t said that once to dad so not sure what she’s implying.

Storms started to roll in and I knew Matt was riding in some yucky stuff. Once he made it back down he was a muddy mess and told us all about getting hailed on during his ride. Ouch!

The next morning we hung out at camp and packed up to head to Vallesito Reservoir. We had stayed there before near the creek but this time wanted to try a different primitive campground near the lake called Pine Point. It’s a pretty spot with easy access to the lake.

The next morning Matt and I took turns going for runs. As Mais gets older our days of 8-10 mile hikes have subsided so we wanted to make sure we still got some good workouts in where we could.

After Matt’s run up the mountain he said he saw a few possible spots for us to move our trailer to. I ran up and decided on one that was a must. It was right on the river like our spot from 2 years ago and had a perfect rock bank right outside the door. We packed up as fast as we could, gasping every time we saw a truck driving up past us towards that area. Luckily we made it up and settled in!

We took our time just playing all morning and then let her nap in the trailer. After she woke up we decided to head to town to swim in the San Juan River. Well I should say “they” swam…after a snake sighting I was out! 😬✌🏼There was a playground nearby we went to play on and then we headed to our 1st of many Walmart stops.

One of the main goals for the Walmart stop? A fishing pole for Mais. She has been begging to go fishing so we got her her own little pole she picked out (blue not pink) and a tiny tackle box. Back to camp her and daddy tried their had at catching some rainbow trout. She concentrated so hard and was so excited about it all. Daddy may have himself a new fishing buddy. ☺️

I mean…look at that concentration. These were screenshots of the video I took and I can’t stop watching it. 🤣

We woke up early (thanks to the time change) and decided to get our hiking legs going. We started with a small hike in Angel Fire called the Oeste Loop which was 2.25 miles. Just long enough to see how Mais liked being in her backpack and exploring.

It was a simple hike but a good starting off one with switchbacks and little views of Angel Fire below. Maisey did awesome! She didn’t last as long in the backpack but hiked a TON! She wanted to collect all the sticks along the way.

We’ve also been watching a lot of Dora the Explorer in the truck which attributed to us singing songs about the backpack and troll bridges. If you know the show I’m sorry you probably now have those songs stuck in your head.

After the hike we loaded up and hit the road towards Pagosa Springs, Colorado. Again, we wanted to stay in NM more but they have very little boon-docking options as well as had some of their forest area closed due to recent fires so we said forget it. Lol Third time was not the charm. Haha

Two years ago we found a great little spot to camp in Pagosa off East Fork Road right in the river. Mais was only 4 months old then and we knew she’d have a blast throwing rocks and fishing in there this year so we wanted to head back. The road is intense with bumps and 2 years ago those bumpy roads would make her pass out and I had to hold her head so it didn’t bounce around too much. Now those bumps call for a “Whoa mom, it’s bumpy!” 🤣

When we first set out on our road adventures in 2020 we planned to start in New Mexico. I really wanted to see the tent rocks. Unfortunately when we arrived we discovered their Covid rules were much stricter and they wouldn’t allow you to camp without a NM drivers license and they closed their parks.

2021 came and we decided to try again only this time ending our trip there. If you don’t know, we had to end our trip abruptly last year due to Mais getting RSV and get back to sea level so we didn’t make it.

Here we are 2022 and this is our year to see New Mexico….or so we thought. After booking a nearby campsite and heading towards tent rocks I happened to go on the government site to see that they had closed it down for construction. Ugh! Okay well we have a campsite so fine…yeah….closest other hikes were 1.5 hours away so see made a u-turn and scratched that idea losing the campsite fee, some time and gas.

Onto an amazing boon-docking spot I found near Angel Fire. After a bumpy detour (thanks to google maps) we made it to only see a “road closed” sign. Not again. It’s becoming comical and we’re realizing New Mexico may just not be in the cards for us. Lol

We strolled down to a beautiful little lake we saw and decided to stretch our legs and do some research for where to stay. Mais loves her some lakes, rivers and creeks so she was insistent that we get on a boat and go out. So we rented a pedal boat and let her steer the ship.

After a few calls we found the very last open spot at a nearby RV park. RV parks aren’t our fave due to being right on top of all your neighbors but when that’s all you got you go for it. The thunder rolled in and we settled down with some pot roast by Dinners by Delaine and called it a night.

Here we are again! Our 3rd Summer spending time together as a family on the road in our trailer. It’s our favorite time of year! We live simply, explore in nature and life just slows down while we enjoy quality time together. 💜

We got a little late start hitting the road but as always we went straight to our usual Amarillo overnight parking lot. We originally thought this year we’d head East but after some big decisions we wanted to get back to our favorite place, Crested Butte, Colorado. So here we are again but trying to change it up a little bit along the way. Colorado just has our heart and their grand mountain ranges can’t be beat!

So follow along in our journey as we hit the road once again!

So during our trip our friend’s who live in Utah mentioned we should check out Bear Lake. After seeing a few pics online I was sold. (Seriously google) They mentioned if we went over a weekend they’d meet us up there so we planned accordingly. After meeting in Lava Hot Springs first we hit the road to Rendezvous Beach at Bear Lake.

They had rented a cabin and we called to book a nearby trailer spot but they said it was first come first serve. When we arrived we were stoked to see so many open spots and went and asked to book spot 9 that was next to their cabin. They looked at us like we were nuts and said everything was booked for the weekend. 😳 After some debate and more digging in we were able to stay there for the night and then had to move to a spot at another campground far away. That’s all we could do so we accepted.

When the debacle of it was over we took the kids down to the beach. It was super cloudy and smokey but that didn’t phase them. Then headed to town for some Mexican food that’s of course not near as good as Texas’. 😜 After dinner and with kids to bed we hung out in the cabin to play a dice game called Farkle. It was known then how competitive we all were. Lol

The next morning the boys went for a bike ride around the lake. As we hung out the people came that had booked the spot we wanted and my friend Brinkley who we like to say “gets shiz done” went and talked to them about switching with us. She even drove them to the other campground and they sweetly agreed. Score! It really was perfect for us to put the kids to bed and still hang out together.

Soon after we hit the road for a short, like really really short hike they knew about to another pretty lake. The drive was rocky and LONG to get to but Bloomington Lake was really cool. The boys jumped off the cliffs and a nearby rope swing while we played with the babies.

Our last day at Bear Lake was full of sunny skies and a good time playing in the water and the sand. The nightly card and Farkle games commenced later that evening and let’s just say my cruddy luck from the beginning of the trip was turning around.

We made our way down to Twin Falls to stop for the night, hit up Walmart and get my prescription filled. While there we made a little visit to Shoshone Falls, the Niagara Falls of the West.

We then headed to Lava Hot Springs to meet our friends. We had dinner at the Chuckwagon (yes you read that right) and then changed into swimsuits and headed to the hot springs. PS. I do not recommend eating at a place called Chuckwagon and then putting on a swimsuit.

The next day we had breakfast and played at a nearby park before hitting the road all together and heading to Bear Lake.