Days 12, 13

Days 12, 13:
       After "surviving" the mountain passes we finally arrive at our first "destination" of the trip: the home of April and Kelvin. We visited them about 8 years ago while living for a short stint in Colorado. They are tons of fun! And April is an amazing cook! I will have to share some of her recipes. Again, when we have a lot of fun we forget to take photos. This was our third day at April and Kelvin's and we decided to take a 20 minute drive up to the reservoir for a picnic and swim. So much fun! Larkin and I napped in the shade while Jesse took Harper and Bailey on a raft ride.

Setting up the awning. At some point a big gust of wind came and blew it up and over the vehicle bending one of the corner rods. We tied it off after that. We learned the hard way - always tie your awning down even if there is no wind when you set up.

Lovin' those chubby cheeks and those precious lips!

Happy girl!!

Hanging out; just drinking a beer and wearing a cool, purple Hannah Montana life jacket. Nothin' wrong with that.

The only picture we took of them all weekend!

Their cool house! Totally off the grid. Rain water collection system for running water and solar array for power.

Their driveway.

Kelvin took Bailey into town to fill up the supplemental water tank. They primarily use rain water collection but with an extra 5 guests in town who were in desperate need of showers and laundry, needless to say they needed more water.

While there Kelvin predicted that Larkin would be walking by the end of the trip. I wasn't sure. He was right.

 Clean after showers; what a treat.

 Crying because I wanted her to come inside and rest (and give April some much needed alone time!), and not help April in the garden.

 Solar panels.

Kelvin working with his bees. We definitely want a hive when we get home.

 Watching from the sidelines. Cheering him on and asking lots of questions.

He was fascinated! We will be getting bees soon :)

 Fascinated as well.

Whilst having an amazing visit with April and Kelvin, I (jesse) was working out the car situation. Kelvin took me to his mechanic who was extremely knowledgeable (and knew it) and spent much of his time working on cars from Telluride locals. After driving the car he agreed that there was probably some wear/play on the front wheel bearings and that he could probably get my truck in the shop on Monday if I could find the parts. The labor was going to be expensive, very expensive for what I'm used to, almost prohibitively expensive. Having never taken my Cruiser to a mechanic I was unhappy but had my hands somewhat tied as I lacked the special tools and experience to do the job. At least, that's how I felt. It would also mean a delay and with all of our kids under a small roof we were feeling pressure (probably needlessly) to move on. We'd already broken half of the glasses they owned! Clumsy kids, I know. Uh, clumsy parents too. I broke at least one glass.
    So I bought the parts on Saturday and we settled in to wait until Monday when the mechanic could probably get it done. I was to show up at his shop at noon.