Vacation Memories

So. . . we took this vacation back in September. . . and I know it is NOVEMBER. . . but here are some of our favorite moments.

Vaughn LOVES trains and he enjoyed getting out to stretch his legs and play on this caboose at the welcome center in Raton, NM.

We stayed at Antler’s Lodge and this was our view from the  campsite.  Not too shabby!

This is a picture of the RV forman – Mr. Wayne.  He and his wife – Mary – are from San Antonio, but spend 6 months a year living at Antlers.  Vaughn loved him from the word go and we found out they (Vaughn and Mr. Wayne) share the same birthday – 60 or so years apart!

  The property at Antler’s has a lodge and 5-star restaurant, cabins and RV sites.  They are also home to several sheep and goats (you can see their barn in the background).  Here, Vaughn is sitting on an antique hay rake that “dresses up” the property.

Because it was SO cold in the early mornings (down in the 20’s and we even got snowed on a couple of times!) we spent the mornings in the trailer playing games, reading books and generally goofing off.  Here is photographic evidence!

Once the day finally warmed up – to the low 50’s – we would get dressed up and set about exploring.  The Rio Grande river runs through the property so invariably, Vaughn would want to walk down to the bridge that spans the river and connects the property to the public lands behind it.  He spent HOURS throwing rocks off of the bridge into the river below.

One happy boy on his way to the river!

  THE bridge.  Vaughn’s vacation would have been complete if we’d spent it all right here!

Make no mistake – time spent on the bridge was not a waste of time for us (me and Jason) either.  This is the view upstream from the bridge.  If you look just to the left of the the first cabin, you can get  a feel for where the RV spots were in relation to the cabins and the river.  What a great spot!

Vaughn’s face says it all:  I love this place!  Here he is kissing Bruce the Moose’s catch of the day.  Bruce is a giant stuffed moose dressed in fishing gear who greets all the visitors at Antlers.  He stands on the deck of the lodge and restaurant .  We visited Bruce and his “catch” daily.

We didn’t spend ALL our time in Creede at the campsite.  And during a couple of our outings we were lucky enough to spot these two beauties.  The top is a cow moose we spotted on our way to Lake City and the bottom picture is a bull moose we saw as we were driving to Alamose to catch the train.

And speaking of trains. . . one of the BEST parts of the trip was the train ride from Alamosa to La Veta on a restored steam locomotive.  The scenery was beautiful and Vaughn did GREAT – and we were on the train ALL day.  We rode to La Veta where we stopped briefly for lunch and then made the return trip to Alamosa.

Waiting with daddy. . .

The boys enjoying some fresh air on the open-air car.  As you can see the weather was less than ideal, but that didn’t deter them!

Vaughn loved everything about the train. . . except for the conductor.  As you can tell by the look on his face. . . he wasn’t quite sure about him!

Although we brought back MANY memories, the favorite souvenir from this trip HAS to be these cowboy boots.