(Listening to “Can You Stand The Rain” by New Edition)

After a great family vacation in Pagosa Springs, we had one final obstacle…the 5 hour drive home.  GPS said it was 5 hours, but what GPS doesn’t know is we’re traveling with a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old.  I haven’t figured out a tried and true formula yet,  but I’m pretty confident it’s something like: for every 3 hours driven, add 30 minutes per child to the GPS estimate.  That will equal the total drive time.  Yeah, that sounds about right.  Anyway, the drive home went as smooth as possible.  Here are the pictures.

We’re all packed up and ready to head home!

Since we left our camera behind on the second day, we stopped by the “Hippie Dip” to take a picture.  The water inside the rocks is about 98 degrees.  The water outside of the rocks is about 50.  It was an economical way to enjoy the hot springs without having to endure the price gouging of the hot springs resorts.

Highway 160 just before beginning the trek up Wolf Creek Pass.

Taking a break at Poncha Springs. No pictures please.

Still no pictures.

Okay, I’m warming up…

There it is!  

Lunch in Poncha Springs.  On this trip, picnics quickly became a favorite pastime for our family.  It was always fun to stretch our legs and have a meal in the great outdoors!

Of course there was a ski area close by.  Snowboarding is never too far from my mind.

And we’re back to the open road! Colorado is really beautiful.  

The face you make when you’re driving on a two-lane highway and you get a passing lane at the perfect time.

Mom for the win!  Making a sun shade out of a sweatshirt. Innovation at its best!  Tiny is out cold. 

Closing in on the 1,000 mile mark for the trip!

The face you make when you realize you’re back in civilization. 

After 1,039 miles, we are finally back home.  As you can see, Littles is over the trip and done taking pictures.

I must admit, I wasn’t sure how this whole deal would turn out.  Taking a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old on a thousand mile road trip could have been a recipe for disaster, but the kids passed with flying colors.  We could have stayed home for 5 days and just relaxed, but what fun is that?  We swam in hot springs, saw Native American ruins, visited old friends, had picnics, saw some gorgeous scenery, and spent a lot of quality time together.  No technology, no work, no deadlines, just us.  And that’s what it’s all about…spending time together and experiencing different things. Years from now, when the girls are grown, we won’t be wishing we’d spent more time at home, we’ll be wishing we did more of this.  The girls probably won’t remember this trip, but the wife and I definitely will.  This was our first road trip, we made it, and we had a blast.  I can’t wait for the next one.