November 10, 2024 - December 31, 2024 -- Harvest Host Circle W Farms Alpacas, NC to Thousand Trails Green Mountain, NC to Thousand Trails Carolina Landing, SC to Durango, CO to CANCUN back to Durango, CO and back to TT Carolina Landing, SC
Written By: Wendy
This next post will breeze over the next month a half. It is similar to our summer post in that it was a whirlwind of family and friend time. We headed south from Shenandoah and stayed at a Harvest Host Alpaca Farm near Greensboro, NC where we were able to meet up with a friend from college and her 3 year old son for a day at the zoo. Then we headed to western NC for a few days. We closed down the campground for the season, but we were able to see my cousin and his kids for a night of pizza and pie, obviously. We then continued our trek south to South Carolina, where we stayed for a week before we flew back to Colorado for a month for the holidays.
Honestly, to put it bluntly, the campgrounds we stayed at in the western Carolinas were not our favorite. Granted, we were there in the off season in the middle of November, with less than ideal weather, but they were still not great. We had just came off of highs in the past month of two amazing national parks, hosting our own event, and traveling with close friends. These two places just felt a bit run down and not as vibrant as some of the other places we'd stayed at recently. The gray skies and rain didn't help either. We were storing our trailer for a month while we went to Colorado for Thanksgiving and Christmas, so we had a lot of packing, cleaning, winterizing, and organizing everything while we were in South Carolina for a week. It was probably for the best that we were not in absolutely amazing locations for us since we had tasks that just needed to get done. Luckily our kids took no notice whatsoever. One dirt pile is the same as any other, and one patch of trees is just as good as another. They didn't realized the playground was falling apart, and they were just happy to be outside and play for hours at a time while Scott and I frantically worked to get our trailer ready. Somehow, our two weeks in the Carolinas flew by and before we knew it, we were saying good bye to our truck and trailer and on a plane to Colorado.
We had a morning flight out to Colorado, so we had to spend the night in a hotel in Atlanta. Scott found a "park and fly" deal where we could leave our truck at the hotel we stayed at. There were several options, and we purposely picked a middle of the road option. We didn't need extravagant, but we also didn't want sketchy. When we checked into the hotel, though, we quickly realized that we had not succeeded in our choice and were staying in a place that was on the sketchy side. The floors were dirty, dry wall was falling in off in parts, and my towels had large long black hairs all over them. Once again, the kids took no notice and were just thrilled the be staying in a hotel, so Scott and I quietly mumbled under our breath about being too cheap. The next morning, we walked down to the advertised free breakfast room to grab a quick bite, but as we opened the door, it looked like this room had not been used in years. The room was dark with tables and chairs stacked and cobwebs hanging off of them. We groaned again and headed to the airport, 3.5 hours early. Luckily we were there early because Scott saved an older lady's life while we were eating breakfast. She was choking, and Scott expertly did the heimlich to dislodge the stuck food. What a hero! After a long day of travel with two delayed flights, we finally made it to my parents house in Durango. They greeted us with a delicious pot roast, moist apple cake, and soft, cozy beds. It was like a breath of fresh air.
The next day we headed west an hour to Cortez to meet up with Scott's family for Thanksgiving week. Parker and Caroline had cousins around their ages, so it was a fun filled couple of days with lots of happy screams, laughter, and cooking. And then it was three days of lots, and I mean LOTS, of puking. Yes, one member of the family (no name shaming here) brought the gift of the Norovirus and every single member of the extended family ended up throwing up for 3 days after Thanksgiving.
By this point, after run down campgrounds, a sketchy hotel, delayed flights, and throwing up for days, Scott and I were quite eager for our 10-year anniversary getaway trip to Cancun to an all inclusive adults only resort. This trip was what sealed the deal that we'd see our families for the holidays. We were originally on the fence about flying back, but after my parents offered to watch the kids for a week, we gladly took them up on their offer and booked all the flights. We were extremely worried about my parents getting sick and us not being able to take our trip, so we quarantined upstairs for the days leading up to our trip. Alas, that was not enough, as my parents ended up getting sick, but at that point we were already on the beach sipping Pina Coladas, so there was little we could do. Oh shucks. (But really, mom and dad, if you read this, we did feel horrible about that!)
So, all that was to set the scene and to help you, dear reader, understand the immense relief and relaxation our bodies felt as we walked into the Sun Palace in Cancun. It smelled of sweet tropical aromas and we were handed some delicious fruity drink while a bell hop carried our bags up to our room. I don't know if he actually said it, but I could sense Scott saying, "Ahhhh, finally, this is where I belong." After all the puke, sharing of space with relatives, gross hotel room, and run down campgrounds we'd been at the past few weeks, we were fully ready for luxury and accepted everything they had to offer with open arms and wide smiles.
It was a glorious week. We slept in, drank ourselves silly (it was all inclusive!), ate until our stomachs couldn't take another bite (Scott's routine was to order an 11:00pm room service steak before bed, because why not?!), lounged at the pool and beach, and reconnected in a way that we hadn't had a chance to in about 5.5 years. It was a much needed break from parenting, and we are still so incredibly grateful that we were able to have that week.
At the end of the week, we reluctantly said good bye to the Sun Palace, and headed back to Durango. We were excited to see our kids, and boy were they excited to see us! Caroline leapt into my arms and then refused to be put down while she petted my face as if to continually confirm that I was really there.
The rest of December was spent as December is typically spent for millions of people. Shopping, wrapping, baking, cooking, and trying to make moments of magical lasting Christmas memories with our young children. Our favorite new tradition that we made up was a "candy cane hike." Our kids were cold and did not want to hike on a chilly December day in the snowy mountains of Colorado, but Scott and I desperately needed some exercise, fresh air, and time away from the crowded house of family members, so we were hiking, gosh darn it. I tucked some candy canes in my pocket and secretly hide them while we walked out on the trail. Upon our return, our kids were beyond delighted to find candy canes laying on a rock or in a snowdrift along the trail. I gasped in surprise and said that our elf 'Christopher' must have put them there! We ended the hike with smiles on everyone's face as the sun set behind the snowy peaks in the distance with the smell of peppermint in the air. Our kids ended up enjoying the hike so much, that the persistently kept asking to do another candy cane hike!
After our month long hiatus in Colorado, we headed back to South Carolina to pick up our truck and RV, but not without first stopping at our beloved Atlanta hotel (no sarcasm there). We picked up our trailer and spent a couple of days settling back into our trailer in western South Carolina before heading south and running away from the cold for the rest of the winter.