Almost like new

 

There’s just something about a clean house and a clean car that makes me so happy! I have been fortunate enough to have professional cleaners come clean my house for the last two years or so. Working full-time just did not leave enough time that I wanted to dedicate towards cleaning. And I was tired of the mess! 

Besides the obvious benefit of someone else doing the actual cleaning, having someone come every other week means we have to actually tidy the house to get it ready for them to clean. We used to have to run around like crazy people the night before and spend 2 to 3 hours cleaning up, but as we have gotten used to living in a cleaner house, we have been able to keep it more organized… Generally. Of course, anytime you go on a trip. It seems like a bomb went off when you bring all the stuff in. And since it’s not that big to begin with, small messes seem bigger than they are- and yet are quicker to clean up too! 

Chase got in trouble at Boys and Girls Club last week, and was not allowed to come yesterday or today. So I had made him a whole schedule of chores and projects to do. Selfishly I was kind of glad because he was able to clean up the mess after our back packing trip. 

Also, the Subaru really was a disgrace! I started driving it about six months ago, when I started my new job in town. I had not taken the time to fully clean it out until this week. Chase started the process of cleaning it out yesterday, but as you can imagine, the job did not quite live up to my standards. So today as part of his chore schedule, I blocked out a two hour time block to go to the car wash and do a thorough job of cleaning it out. 

I love the vacuums and pressured air that the car wash has! It is so much better than our old, weak shopvac! While I am cleaning a car, it seems like it can never get completely clean. But somehow, as you drive away from the car wash, the shiny dashboards and crumb free floor mats almost make it feel like I’m in a brand new car again. Minus the cracked windshield and 145,000 miles on the odometer… 

Time flies

Somehow, I got on the topic of couponing when I asked a friend if she had any pro deals on any outdoor gear. She said that some of the pro deals can be complicated and I told her that I used to be an extreme couponer so not much would phase me. I honestly kind of forgot about this blog, but wanted to show her some of the coupon posts. I was amazed at how many posts I have on here! It really is a shame that I have not kept it going. I also feel like I should probably print all of this stuff since you never know what will be on the Internet in the future.

Technology has definitely advanced since I first started blogging, and voice to text is a lifesaver!  Most of my blog post were from a different life entirely. My life  has changed dramatically from even a few years ago. We no longer have five kids at home, but just two. Miles and Chase are already 11 and 13! In addition, we both work full-time and play as much as possible on our free time. We still love living in Durango! That is one of the few things that stayed the same since 2022.

Just for a quick recap, Winter is a full-time tattoo artist, Sterling graduated college with an accounting degree, and Ginger is a sophomore at Fort Lewis College Studying to be an art teacher. I am working at A local CPA firm and Joe is still working at the local Hospital.

Reading back my blog posts, I feel like I used to be a better writer than I am now. Maybe it is true that practice makes perfect?  

What’s interesting is that although I have no longer been keeping track of all the happenings in my regular life, I do keep track of all my travels really well. Since my memory is so bad, I am so happy to at least have that! But now this is my new goal. Daily Duolingo and blogging updates! - and I might even try to backfill some posts! 

Pack goats in training

 Joe told me he wanted to go backpacking to Navajo Lake up near Telluride. Since we are doing a longer backpacking trip next month at Maroon Bells, we thought it might help the boys to have a shorter backpacking trip as practice. 

We have goats at our property at Wild Turkey Canyon, to keep our agricultural exemption. Several of those goats were purchased for the purpose of also becoming pack goats. Twister and Ozay are Alpine Goats, which are the best type of pack Goats. they are just six months old, so not old enough to actually carry anything. Rico is a Nubian goat that was originally purchased to become a pack goat as well. However, Rico is the biggest pain in the butt! He is so loud! He screams the whole 2 hour drive, and anytime you are more than 5 feet away from him on the trail. It does not even matter if he’s the one that walked away from you in the first place! He just screams and screams and screams. 

Although none of them actually packed any of our stuff, they were our pack goats in training this weekend. They actually are really good about following us on the hike, unless we happen to be walking uphill, and some other hikers are walking downhill. At that point, they lose all loyalty to us and were ready to abandon us for just about anybody. I guess that’s something we’ll have to work on! 

We hiked up 5 miles along some beautiful mountain ranges, meadows, waterfalls, and creeks. The goats snacked on lots of dandelions. Miles and Chase did awesome! I can really tell the difference between now and even a year ago when it comes to hiking abilities. 

My friend Kate and her dog Arkty came along for the hike. Arkty is not a fan of our goats. He was hypnotized and fixated on them at all times, and would constantly lunge at them. Nothing seemed to be working. We ended up just hiking separately most of the way after Arkty pulled Miles to the ground. It wasn’t until later in the evening, when we realized that the rubber coverings on the shock collar were actually still on the collar! And they have owned this collar for months and months… so anytime Kate thought she had buzzed Arkty’s, it had done absolutely nothing. After a quick lesson with the actual shock collar, Arkty was less enticed by the Goats and we were able to finish the evening on happier terms.

Once we got to the final destination of Navajo Lake, Chase, unfortunately realized he had lost his fishing pole and immediately turned around with Joe to go look for it. Miles did not waste any time and started fishing right away. Both of them caught several trout. Besides the annoying mosquitoes that chased us to bed by 8 PM, we had a lovely evening in the mountains.

I was a little bit stressed about the goat being there, since we did not have a dog with us to protect them. (Kate and Arkty sleep on the “lower level” (aka different campsite) The goats were just tied up on a line 15 feet away from our tent. But if a hungry bear would’ve happened on our camp, there’s nothing we could’ve done to save them. Luckily, all my worry was for nothing, and we spent the next day fishing and reading and sleeping before heading back down the mountain.

Cat in Box

Peaches was the first one to claim it as her own. 

What started as the result of me not picking up a box off the floor for several days, turned into the cats’s favorite hangout place. This unassuming box, that came from who knows where, is The Spot. The ultimate napping container. Sometimes they even hang out in there together, although not usually. Minion still prefers to nap on the bed, especially after he has rolled around, giving himself a dust bath. 

However much or little time they spend in this box, is a win for us. That means less cat hair on the furniture, bed, and even table… Peaches is the biggest offender of napping in off-limits spaces. She finds the worst spots, including the dish drying mat on the kitchen counter.

But one of her favorite places to nap? On Joe’s lap! A self proclaimed cat hater, even he has a soft spot for Peaches. After all, her name came from the song that goes:

“Peaches, peaches, peaches, peaches, peaches 

Peaches, peaches, peaches, peaches, peaches

I love you..”  -by Jack Black. 

So we have two cats with very distinct personalities. A grumpy, old man, a.k.a. minion, and the sweetest cat you’ll ever know, A.k.a. Peaches, who acts more like a dog than a cat. They usually get along, but sometimes when peaches wants to play, minion goes in full on attack mode.

And just because we don’t want to forget about Luka- he gets along with everyone! 

In a sea of gold

 Fall riding is my favorite! I just love the yellow aspens! Sure, Utah has even better fall colors, with the reds mixed in, but the golden Aspens remain my favorite. 

And it’s so awesome to have all these rockstar ladies to ride with! They push me to ride more often and faster than I would by myself. Some days when motivation is low, they push me to go anyways. 

(Left to right: Nicole, me, Brittany, Kate)

One of the most striking things? The contrast between the dark green pines and yellow aspens - it makes the foliage pop even more.

This is the stuff I live for. Work hard, play harder. 

Day 2: Disney Hollywood Studios

From the days we lived in Florida, I remember going to Hollywood Studios after work the most. Hollywood has more attractions for teenagers so it was a good progression from the Magic Kingdom. 

It was cold and rainy this day, but luckily we were able to go back to the hotel around lunch time to get more jackets and sweaters. Staying on-site definitely is an advantage because you can go into the park early, and easily go back to your room if necessary. The upside of the colder weather was that many visitors left the park early. 

We brought a bunch of snacks so we wouldn’t have to pay an arm and a leg for food at the resorts. Since we would be staying at the resort hotels and spend all day in the parks it didn’t make sense to rent a car, so we just took a taxi. That also meant we couldn’t really go to a grocery store, so half our suitcases were full of snacks. We just got one meal per day and that worked out well  

Demi is de grootste fan van Minnie

Hollywood studio’s has Star Wars attractions. I still haven’t watched any of the movies, but Joe and the kids all love it, and of course the set designs are very well made so it was fun for me too  

We had been in line for over an hour for one of the Star Wars attractions, when it shut down. Perfect time for a nap! 

 

The love show for Beauty and the Beast is always one of my favorites.

Sing along for frozen!

 

Day 1: Magic Kingdom

After 5 short hours of sleep we took the shuttle to the Magic Kingdom. Since we were staying at the Dolphin hotel on Disney property, we could get in an hour early for Magic hour. We followed the Ridemax plan, and didn’t have to stand in line too long. 

The Magic Kingdom is a lot more focused on little kids than I remembered but it was the perfect park to start with.   

my favorite ride: space mountain was unfortunately closed several times during the day. 

This was the first time to Disney World for Miles, Chase, and Demi. Demi had been to Euro Disney when she was much smaller. 

 Since it was a Friday in January , and we planned out our day we never waited more than 45 minutes. My poor feet were not doing so good though. I had forgotten to cut my toenails and only brought one pair of shoes so the pressure was always in the same spot. 

I gave each of the kids $100 to spend during the trip. That way they could decide how to spend it, whether it was on souvenirs or treats, and once it was gone it was gone. Ginger always wanted to have one of these huge lollipops. 

With social distancing due to COVID still in effect, we had to wear masks inside and on rides and couldn’t get very close for character photos. But Mickey is cute no matter what. 

What a great first day, finishing it off with a fireworks and light show. My body wasn’t too sad that the park closed at 9pm instead of 11pm.