This morning we all headed into Creede to do a little shopping and sightseeing. We went down to the Mining Museum, but didn’t take the tour with so many kids, but the kids all did pick out some souvenirs. Our next stop for today was Lake City, with the hope to see some great sights, see the amazing views, and catch a glimpse at a few animals. I think we accomplished all of that. We drove UP to Lake City – 11,000ft elevation. Only once we arrived, EVERYTHING was closed for the winter season. We did find a nice little pub that was serving lunch so we all had an amazing lunch there – the kids sat at the bar and we prayed before our meal in a bar. I bet that was a first. The owner there was a comedian of sorts and kept us laughing at stories of the town. For instance, at what elevation does a deer become an elk? He also told us of the time that he was chasing a bear out of the town and a tourist ran inside only to have her husband run out the other door with a camera. The husband asked, “Hey, can you get him to stop so I can take his picture?” Pub owner – “Sure! Hey, Bob stop he wants your picture.” Of course the bear keeps barreling though the town and the reply from the pub owner – “Sorry! Guess his name isn’t Bob. They all just look so much alike, it’s hard to tell which is which.” One of the other guys there in the pub actually has a sister who lives in Lake Jackson and as soon as he heard Lake Jackson, he yells “Brazoswood Buccaneers’!” It’s always such a small world anywhere you go.
We drove up to Ice Mountain after lunch, and the kids had fun throwing snowballs, Josh walked on the frozen river and broke off chunks of ice, and Dylan tried to climb Ice Mountain. Ice Mountain is created when the town drains the water from the water tower down the mountain and it freezes creating a wall that climbers can climb. We drove a short distance up Engineer Pass, but this weak soul can’t take the closeness of the road to the edge of the mountain and finally convinced my dad to turn the car around before we reached the part of the road where you share the one lane road with cars in both directions, while hugging the edge of the mountain. SCARY! 
We traveled back down the mountain to return to the cabin. We stopped at a rest stop where the kids got out once again and played in a large area of snow that was untouched and beautiful as the sun was glistening off of it. I got out in it with the kids (thankfully my mom had her rubber boots) so I could take pictures. I quickly sunk in the snow up to my KNEES!!! And that is just where I landed – not sure if I reached the solid ground or not. My mom thought she was safe from any snow by sitting in the car with Jordonna (who had thrown a fit about getting out of her car seat higher up the mountain and had an accident) but when PawPaw opened his truck window a snowball from Josh came flying straight in with Nonnie as the target. Bull’s-eye! Snow/Ice everywhere, including all over Nonnie.
As we were driving back down the mountain I told Abi that I may need to change sides of the truck with her because I couldn’t handle PawPaw driving so close to the edge. She asked if I had “car side edge sickness.” That would be a good way to explain it! Something else we learned driving home is “timberline.” When you look up to the top of the mountain you see a distinct line where the trees stop and there are no more trees from that spot to the top of the mountain. It’s amazing that trees can grow in one spot and two feet away they can’t. God has an amazing way with his handiwork!
We traveled back down the mountain to return to the cabin. We stopped at a rest stop where the kids got out once again and played in a large area of snow that was untouched and beautiful as the sun was glistening off of it. I got out in it with the kids (thankfully my mom had her rubber boots) so I could take pictures. I quickly sunk in the snow up to my KNEES!!! And that is just where I landed – not sure if I reached the solid ground or not. My mom thought she was safe from any snow by sitting in the car with Jordonna (who had thrown a fit about getting out of her car seat higher up the mountain and had an accident) but when PawPaw opened his truck window a snowball from Josh came flying straight in with Nonnie as the target. Bull’s-eye! Snow/Ice everywhere, including all over Nonnie.As we were driving back down the mountain I told Abi that I may need to change sides of the truck with her because I couldn’t handle PawPaw driving so close to the edge. She asked if I had “car side edge sickness.” That would be a good way to explain it! Something else we learned driving home is “timberline.” When you look up to the top of the mountain you see a distinct line where the trees stop and there are no more trees from that spot to the top of the mountain. It’s amazing that trees can grow in one spot and two feet away they can’t. God has an amazing way with his handiwork!
Just as we were about to arrive back in Creede, and thought our chances of any wild mountain animals had passed, we see about 8 bighorn sheep on the side of the road. We had the best view as they climbed up the rocks to get off the road when we approached. Around the curve were a few more and then up on the hill we see 4 elk! Beautiful creatures!
Good day – lots of fun – great company!Tomorrow evening we head home and plan to drive through the night again since the kids did such an amazing job, but not before the long drive home PawPaw, Abi, and I head to the slopes one more time. Everyone else is staying back to shop a bit, pack up and clean the cabin. WooHoo – I get to ski instead of clean (I did wash all the sheets tonight though! I did my part!) And since I don’t have to pay for any kids this time, I may take a private lesson to gain some confidence before I’m sent down the slope alone.
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