Recently my family and I went to Durango and Cortez, Colorado for a vacation and it was gorgeous. We went to the Purgatory resort in Durango on the “off-season” (it’s usually a ski resort) and had a blast. Rather than a true resort, Purgatory resort is a set of condos that people can purchase and subsequently rent out. So we had a great condo we stayed in with a kitchen, laundry, and an excellent view for morning coffee. Mostly it was wonderful because it was quiet. Maa and I went on morning walks and saw the sun streaming in through the clouds.

Beautiful

Morning walk with Maa

Maa, Papa, and I went on a seven mile hike up the mountain with incredible views. We could hear the wind in the trees, the birds, and our chitter chatter. We made sandwiches and ate them on rocks with potato chips, we took a wrong turn and hiked…a bit longer than we meant to, and all collectively sighed when sat back on the ski lift to go down. We did it all together, with the quiet and lack of connectivity afforded by mountains.

colorado mountains

just starting

tall trees

we made it

Then on to Cortez — back to the Southwest scenery. Shrubs, cacti, open skies. I felt at home. We went to Mesa Verde National Park which was established in 1906 by Theodore Roosevelt to protect Ancestral Puebloan sites. It was great – so many cliff dwellings, multiple that you could go into. We went to Cliff Palace and the Long House, learned about kivas, how water was gathered, and how the Puebloans were forced to move from the region after over 20 years of drought hit near the end of the 13th century. Truly interesting and highly recommended.

Cliff dwelling

open sky

Cliff dwelling

My favorite picture

A great first residency vacation – quiet, active, fun, family. The only thing that was missing was Tyler and the dogs. Next time though, next time.