Weeks 9 + 10 + 11: A Vacation from the Vacation!
We decided to take the bus from Lake Isabella to Weldon to make a gameplan. We called Big Agnes, the Steamboat Springs, CO company who made our tent, to see if there was any possibility that they could replace just the tent poles. They don't make that tent anymore, but offered us 40% off on the newer version of our tent if we sent back the pieces of the tent that we DO have. We could no longer continue on the trail without a tent (although some hikers love to "cowboy camp" with just their sleeping bag, it's just not my thing - it feels too much like a human burrito to me). We decided to order the tent and have them ship it to my parents in Durango, Colorado. It was then that we also decided to ride the bus to Ridgecrest and rent a car to drive to Colorado. Cowboy camping at the Weldon KOA was especially funny that night because there were many camper families there for Memorial Day weekend in gigantic Costco-sized tents camping near us. I could hear other campers comment on us as we walked by, "Whoa, those two are REALLY hardcore without a tent." In short, I don't recommend camping without a tent in the KOA setting. It's pretty strange.
In the morning we rode the bus to Ridgecrest. This bus driver was driving very fast on the curvy road in a reckless manner. His music was blaring too. There were a couple of times we both felt sick on that ride. When we got to the car rental shop, there were no cars to be rented. We had to wait until 5 pm and come back later. We ended up killing time at the Baskin Robbins and went to the post office to mail our old tent parts back.
When we finally got our car, we went to the grocery store for snacks and hit the road for Death Valley. It was beautiful, and hot! We decided to stay at a campground in Tecopa where we'd have access to hot springs. It was way too hot for hot springs really (well into three digit temps, maybe like 108), but we wanted to give it a whirl. The hot springs were separated by gender, so the short time we each had in the hot water was more than enough. I ended up sleeping in the rental car that night like it was a hearse, with the back seats down and my legs sticking through to the trunk. There seemed to be lots of scorpions and snakes around and I wasn't as brave as Easy to cowboy camp on our Tyvek ground cover on the desert ground, yikes!
The next day we drove to Las Vegas, what an opposite scene from trail livin'! Easy had a very distinct desire for jean shorts ("JORTS"), so we popped by a Goodwill thrift store on our way into town. We ended up staying in "Paris" and had a blast eating delicious food and people watching. I went to the pool that afternoon and took selfies under the "Eiffel Tower." We both had only been to Vegas one other time and it was the perfect very different experience for both of us.
We then drove to Durango and were happy to see my family! We squeezed in visits with family (my 97 year old Grandma LOVES Easy - they play Words with Friends together), I went to a couple Nia dance classes, and we enjoyed the gorgeous mountain scenery. We had a friend who hiked in the Gila National Forest a few years ago as an alternate on the Continental Divide Trail (the CDT) who recommended that we go backpacking for a few days down there. After a couple of days in Durango, we made the drive to Gila (near Silver City in Southern New Mexico). We backpacked there for three days and two nights and had a wonderful time. A good part of the trail goes through the Gila River and the water had to be in the 70s - it was absolutely beautiful there! After the Gila, we drove to Santa Fe for a soak at the Ten Thousand Waves Spa and delicious food and sake at their on-site restaurant Izanami. If you've never been here, I highly recommend it. I spent one of my favorite New Year's Eve's with friends here in 2012. It's magical! Somehow a mouse had worked his way into my Mom's car that we had borrowed, which made for a strange smell and cleanup situation. Seeing the mouse scramble across our packs in the backseat really changed the mood at the hot springs. Easy was a champ at taking care of him - I'm not a fan of rodents. After Santa Fe, we drove back to Durango for a couple of days.We met up with some of my favorite Durangoans (there's never enough time to see 'em all) and got in a mini-hike with my Mom on the Colorado Trail - the true hiker of the family!
We then flew to New York to see Easy's family. It was SUCH a treat to be back in the city after being on the trail. The sights, the smells, and the general sensory overload was a real treat. We got to spend time both in the city and in Easthampton. We ate delicious food and had such a wonderful time with Easy's family and a few of our friends. While we were in Easthampton, we ate lots of lobster, walked on the beach a couple of times, went to the farmer's market (gorgeous flowers!) and Easy's mom and I even went on a garden tour. It was so relaxing to be there and to measure time not by miles but by when and what we were going to eat next. It felt like such a treat to be far, far away from the trail, the miles, and the Ramen noodle dinners. Our vacation from our vacation was exactly what we needed - thank you to all of you that we had the pleasure of spending time with!
