I woke up around midnight, went back to sleep, and never heard anybody leave. Amanda said she heard something shuffling around 2:30, though. We woke up to an empty house. Walking into the living room, Amanda said, “There are no people here!”
So, all alone, we were off on a drive to Durango. The first stop was coffee, this time from Starbucks, where we had points to burn for some free vaca coffee. There was a home not too far away that was offered to our pastor for us to use on the Native American mission trip. So we drove by to check it out. Then we were off on our mini road trip loop. We’d go a new way via Pagosa Junction and Ignacio. We drove a few miles out of town, then went south down a dirt road.
The scenery was pretty as we wound down the dirt road. There was lots of open pasture land with mountains as a backdrop. This area was ranch land, and we were officially out of the tourist zone. We drove for 25 miles or so and didn’t see but a single car.
We ended up in Pagosa Junction, an old railroad ghost town. There wasn’t much there but old track and a few rail cars, and old buildings. Then we met up with the San Juan River, the same river that flows through Pagosa. The river had a few tight turns through the junction, which made for some pretty scenery.
From there, the view turned more New Mexico-like. Trees were sparse with a more arid desert look, and the soil color changed. If you’ve been to New Mexico much you know what I’m talking about. We’d also been on the Southern Ute reservation for a while, long before the junction. The river would open up onto a large reservoir. As we rounded the lake bend, we finally hit the pavement after nearly 50 miles of dirt roads.
In Ignacio, we stopped at a grocery store I had seen on Facebook. The week before, they posted that fresh chiles were being roasted. I wanted to get a friend some. Sadly, they were out and wouldn’t have any in for a few days. Instead, I picked up some dried red and green chile powder for my panty.
After that, we made a short drive and were in Durango. We like a couple of thrift stores there, one of which is an outdoor store. We both like thrifting and finding good deals. We stopped at a new one on the outskirts of town. No finds there, and all the other spots, familiar and new, were closed because of the Labor Day holiday. We decided it was about lunchtime, so we looked for a park. The first one was a bust; too many people were there, and there was no place to park. We found another that was long and skinny by the Animas River and a paved biking trail.
Lunch was leftover fried eggplant made into sandwiches on some fresh rosemary farmers market bread. We also had leftover pasta and veggies complete with a pesto sauce I’d made earlier in the morning. As we stuffed our faces, I commented on everyone’s fitness in Colorado. All those coming by us were cycling, walking, or running were at the peak of fitness. Then along came a couple that wasn’t at the peak of fitness to make us feel better! There really is an abundance of fit people here in Colorado. Maybe it’s because we’re outside more here, and typically see people doing physical activities. On this day, however, I’m sure there were many more out because of the holiday. It seemed more locals were out and about utilizing their off day.
Durango is a pretty town tucked in between the mountains with the river running through it. It does seem to be getting busier, though. Pagosa is much more laid-back and our speed. Either way, we will stay away from holiday weekends from now on! Mainly because it was to peopley, but some of our favorite shops were closed, too.
After lunch, we made our way to another open thrift store on the way out of town. No finds there either. So we went back to Pagosa, but this time down the highway and not the dirt road. Just before we arrived in Pagosa, I took us on a detour a few miles out of town. I’d seen a property that would be within our budget if we’d ever consider something here as a vacation property. I’m a dreamer and always check the properties posted on the realtors’ windows, I wanted to see what a property I saw looked like.
So we made the drive a few miles off-road to get there. It quickly became steep and got even more steep the farther we went. The steeper it got, the more I realized why the price was more affordable than others. All we could think was, how would you do this in the snow!?! Once we arrived at the driveway, an even steeper grade took you up a washed-out road to the top of the mountain where the property was. There was a cable and no trespassing signs, so we didn’t reach the top. Out of the 4.5 acres, maybe an acre at best was usable. The rest was all hill! Either way, it didn’t stop me from dreaming.
Once back in town, we stopped by a few shops. We’d wanted to grab some gifts for a couple of friends. We also returned to a gift shop we always frequent in Pagosa. There’s a Native American jewelry shop that Amanda always “needs” something from! I’d picked up a turquoise necklace earlier in the week. Amanda had her eye on a unique turquoise heart necklace. It was a bit much, and she knew we wouldn’t get it. I told her to try it on again and said let’s get it, but it has to count as her Heartiversary gift, too. It did have a heart on it, so it seemed appropriate!
Once back at the cabin, I began to prepare dinner. We’d have a Korean-inspired meal. I prepped everything, then decided I wanted a break, so I first made Yachaejeon, a vegetable pancake I made out of leftover vegetables. While the griddle was heating, I had a glass of wine and sat on the porch to take in the view one last time. The wine glasses provided were relatively small, maybe 4 to 5 ounces to the brim. I told Amanda they must be Baptist wine glasses!
After our appetizer, I finally made dinner: a bowl of leftover raw veggies and baked tofu over crispy fried rice cakes made out of leftover brown rice from our first night’s meal. This was the first time we’d made crispy rice, and Amanda said, “Why haven’t we made this before?” We both enjoyed it and will likely be having it again.
We’d already been packing, and I’d loaded a few things. While I cooked, Amanda was packing what was left from the pantry, which wasn’t much. Most of the pantry items were snacks; we’d been a little overzealous in getting snacks for this trip. Most of the leftovers were used up or sent home. After dinner, I made empanadas from the leftover mole and baked them while we finished packing.