Putting Some "Zip" into a Colorado Family Vacation!
My
whole life I've been one of those people buried in a book, or in my own world
with music playing through my headphones. But when we drive through Colorado
I'm not that way—I'm mesmerized by the view. Around every corner, over every
hill or mountain, there is something amazing to see. There is no better way
to visualize the power and glory and generosity of God (to me, anyway) than
seeing the beauty He's given us here on this earth.
We arrived in Durango from Colorado Springs (about 6.5 hours) to find that
it's an adorable little historic town with lots of great restaurants and shops.
Our second day was our "day of adventure" which each of our girls referred
to several times as "the best day of my life!" We started out taking the Durango
& Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad through the San Juan Mountains. This
train is 125 years old and cuts through an area of the mountains where there
are absolutely no roads. It is also some of the most gorgeous scenery I've
ever seen in my life and if you ever get a chance to take that train, I HIGHLY
recommend it.
We
arrived at the Tall Timber Resort, which is also the home of Tree
Top Soaring Adventures and hopped off the train. There are only two ways
to get there, train ($79 and up) or helicopter ($1000 an hour). No roads,
no cars. Talk about remote!
There were only seven of us doing the zip line tour, our family plus a dad
and his two teenagers. We met everyone, including the 
owner
of the resort, and all the friendly and talented Sky Rangers. They gave us
a little orientation about ziplining and explained that this is the most advanced
zip line setup in the world, all created and invented specially for Tree Top,
and the owner holds all the patents. The setup is SO impressive, with the
ziplines going from tree to tree, and sturdy platforms, and NO climbing of
ladders or anything like that—we actually got hoisted up and down a couple
times. Fun!
So, off we went to our first zipline, a rather short one, about 40 feet off
the ground. I was a little scared the first time. But what was truly stunning
was how quickly we grew accustomed to being perched in the tops of the trees,
"soaring" through the forest very high off the ground, and it was so fun that
it was NOT even scary. We did 32 zip lines in all, stopping halfway through
for a gourmet lunch by the river, and the second half of the day almost all
our zips were across the rushing river. The incredible scenery was JUST as
exciting as the adrenaline rush of the zips several of which were over 400
feet long and 100 feet off the ground.
After our full day of ziplining, we took a helicopter ride back to Durango—a
first for all of us! Amazing fun and of course, incredible scenery. (DETAILS:
2008 pricing for a full day of ziplining is $339 pp. Ages 5-90 welcome. Includes
train ride, lunch and ziplining. Train ride alone runs $79 and up.)
The
next day we drove out to Four Corners, USA, the only place where you can stand
in four states at once. We all got a kick out of it, of course, and lots of
pictures. It sits in Navajo territory and we enjoyed seeing all the jewelry
and pottery being sold by the Indians, and of course we had to buy a few things.
Then we visited Mesa Verde
National Park, where they have some fascinating cliff dwellings of native
peoples who lived there 800 to 1500 years ago. The kids love these historical
sites (which surprises but delights me!) because they really make history
come alive.
All in all, it was a fabulous vacation and we were surprised how much fun
we were able to pack into four days. It seemed like just enough, and we were
happy to be home, too. What could be better?