Before arriving here, we left Montrose and explored the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. We had a beautiful day to see the gorgeous canyon walls, and got our first little bit of snow!
The Black Canyon
Hiking along the canyon rim
Little snowman, which Kiska did not fully appreciate and promptly trampled...
The "painted wall," largest sheer cliff in Colorado
We then stopped in Gunnison to see where Kels's dad was born, which was actually a pretty cool little college town. We had planned on stopping for just a few minutes then making more progress towards the Springs, but could not get the car started up again (no turnover). We hadn't had this issue yet, but we know it wasn't the battery because the lights and radio still worked. Luckily, Gunnison is one of the friendliest towns, and several people stopped to ask if they could help. We kept saying we were fine, but finally a retired cop and home mechanic with a souped-up jeep insisted that he would push us a few blocks down the road with his car while we tried to start the car. To our surprise, it worked! But we stayed in the city to avoid any night time car trouble, and saved the driving for the morning. We found a park to take Kiska, which had by far the best playground we've seen on the trip, so both the dog and Kelsey were fully entertained for the evening.
Bones in front of the Brewery in Gunnison, before we knew he wasn't going to start back up...
We awoke in the morning to a chilly 24 degrees inside the camper, and ice inside the windshield where the fog usually is. Dave had sent us encouragement the night before in the form of a text saying that he once tried to get over the 11,000 foot pass we were headed for in his Westfalia camper, but didn't make it and had to turn around and find a different route. So not only were we freezing, but clearly had another big driving challenge ahead. We dropped all the weight we could from Bones, stopped for cofhead and headed out hoping for the best, especially since there really aren't any passes on the Rockies that are much under 11,000 ft.
The ice on the inside of the windshield
The downhill
We safely made it over the pass with not too much trouble at all, and were very thankful for the beautiful day for traveling and no snow on the road. With the pass behind us it was just a short couple hours before we made it to the house. When we got to the city, we stopped to give Kis a bath, which she did not exactly enjoy, but she was so fresh and clean and soft for our arrival to see Nate's parents! We pulled into the driveway around 2 in the afternoon, and got to show off all of our improvements to Bones, which was once Dave's. We then enjoyed nice hot showers and a wonderful homemade lasagna by Heather.
Sunday was another beautiful day, and we went for a nice hike up in the side canyons near the city.
Nathan with his mom, Heather, and Dave
On the hike, with the plains of the city just barely in view in the background
Monday was Halloween, and Heather had planned a party for friends to come over for dinner and candy distribution. We had been looking at the box of candy sitting in the entryway for the previous two days, and been a little skeptical that we were really going to go through twelve Costo sized bags of candy. We spent the day helping cook and get ready for the party, and then took post at the door starting at about 5. Kelsey, having grown up out in the woods, had never really experienced trick-or-treaters like this. The sidewalk in both directions along the block was crowded all evening, and we had a line of costume decked kids coming to the door for over two hours.
Halloween feast, Kelsey made so many wonderful things! Heather was happy to show off her future daughter-in-law
In position in the yard for costume spectating, with Edmund their dog dressed up in his hotdog costume
Kelsey getting to hand out candy
The line of trick or treaters outside the house and on the sidewalk
We got Kis a halloween toy since she didn't have her squirrel costume this year, and she was quite content to tear it apart and pull out all the stuffing.
The rest of the week Kelsey has kept busy knitting, baking, and planning the wedding decorations :), and Nathan has enjoyed getting to spend some time playing video games and watching sports with his brother Noah. We've been walking the dog around the block, taking advantage of the time to spend with family, and just enjoying the simplicity of things.
Mittens to keep Kelsey's fingers warm
Maple Buttermilk pie from 101cookbooks, so good!
Walking around in Garden of the Gods, Nate's bro Noah on the left
We will be here for another week or so before meeting Kelsey's family in Santa Fe for Thanksgiving!
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