Would love to visit Pagosa Springs again. It has been 3 years and am missing those healing hot springs. It is a lovely little community. People are friendly, quint little restaurants and some hiking trails I would like to try. Here are some pictures from our last visit.
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One of my favorite places to vacation is Pagosa Springs, CO. It is just up north across the NM state line. It is a small town and not too far from Wolf Creek, a popular ski resort. Pagosa has these natural hot springs everywhere. There is one hotel with 21 natural hot springs. A couple of years ago I posted some pictures of the place. A room in the hotel we like is pricey but worth it. They provide you with a white terry cloth robe and you can go out and spend the day and/or night just going from one hot spring tub to another. They all overlook the little town and the mountains. Each tub has a different temp water from about 89 to 112 degrees. I like about 92-94 degrees myself. Some have water falls. There are some great hiking areas in the town too and some great eating place
This 1st comment I brought over from last post.
Look closely at the 1st picture, bottom right corner. A woman who I think had been hiking is using a small waterfall as a "personal" shower. I felt a little like a voyeur taking this picture, but could not resist. Fortunately, I did not get her face. After all, it is a very public area.
Carol, I went back and looked at some earlier posts and found the one you wrote when Lobie died. You are so amazing. You wrote beside Lobie's picture, "A lady always knows when it's time to leave." And you copied the most beautiful poem. You have no idea how much that meant to John and me. I don't think I have ever been as touched by anything before and after. Thank you so much from both of us.
I am going to bring the poem here to this post. I think it is just perfect for any person or being that is lost to us, through death or in any way whatsoever.
I am going to bring the poem here to this post. I think it is just perfect for any person or being that is lost to us, through death or in any way whatsoever.
Thank you Jan. Do you know where I borrowed that line from? It was one of the last scenes in Fried Green Tomatoes. One of the women was dying and the old house lady said it.
I guess all that talk of hot tubs got to you. I love them also. I think I would do the 112 degree one. I like it hot.
I’m Still Here
Friend, please don't mourn for me,
I'm still here, though you don't see.
I'm right by your side each night and day,
And within your heart I long to stay.
My body is gone but I'm always near,
I'm everything you feel, see or hear.
My spirit is free, but I'll never depart,
As long as you keep me alive in your heart.
I'll never wander out of your sight.
I'm the brightest star on a summer night.
I'll never be beyond your reach.
I'm the warm moist sand when you're at the beach.
I'm the colorful leaves when fall comes around,
And the pure white snow that blankets the ground.
I'm the beautiful flowers of which you're so fond,
The clear cool water in a quiet pond.
I'm the first bright blossom you'll see in the spring,
The first warm raindrop that April will bring.
I'm the first ray of light when the sun starts to shine,
And you'll see that the face in the moon is mine.
When you start thinking there's no one to love you,
You can talk to me through the Lord above you.
I'll whisper my answer through the leaves on the trees,
And you'll feel my presence in the soft summer breeze.
I'm the hot salty tears that flow when you weep,
And the beautiful dreams that come while you sleep.
I'm the smile you see on a baby's face.
Just look for me, fri
The last line should read.
Just look for me friend, I'm every place.
Author unknown.
If anyone wants to see the picture of Lobie and the post Carol wrote, it is May 8, 2010.
Great pics. Looks so inviting!
Jan, I can't believe you just posted those gorgeous pics again. I was just over at the last thread asking you to do so, because you had made a comment about how much you loved that vacation.
I wrote it on word pad, because I've been losing comments and when I got to the end of the thread, I so your 'new post'.
Here's what I wrote: Jan, I remember that vacation you took to Pagosa Springs a while back. I wish you could post those pictures again. Maybe looking at the pics I can pretend I was there. :) If I can't travel for the time being, I can live vicariously through the rest of you.
We are pretty easy to Google. If you want to find an old post just put in our blog name and the name of the post or probably even the subject and it comes up on the search. We'll be 4 years old this year.
Synchronicity Chloe.
Thanks so much for reading my mind before I even asked. :)
Love them even more than the first time, Jan!
I also had typed a comment to Renee, but I guess she already left for her trip (it is this Saturday she was talking about, isn't it... or is it next?)
... anyway, I was responding to this: Renee said: "Geez... I'm chatty this morning... :)"
Renee! I love it that you're being chatty. Carol and I don't go on many vacations, so its fun to hear about yours and Jan's (hope I can speak for us both, Carol). I love getting to know you better and learning more about your and Ricks life together.
The pool and hot tub sounds great. And the part about not cooking for a week... well that is right down my alley. I'm not the great cook that Carol is.
I hope you and Rick have a wonderful vacation... I guess I may be writing this to late and you've already left. But I look forward to hearing more when you return.
I am a believer in Synchronicity, Carol.
If ever I doubt it, it comes along and hits me across the head, just like now.
To you Carol, I was writing regarding what you said about Pistoris not being quite right. (I do agree that here he would have never gotten bail, btw.)
"maybe steroids are involved"
It wouldn't be the first time, Carol. Remember that wrestler, Chris Benoit, who murdered his wife and young son before killing himself. I remember it was strongly thought that his habitual use of steroids were the cause of his flipping out.
Tony, over at Trailmix, posted a link to an article stating:
"February 22, the House Republicans once again revealed their, what, disdain for women? Or at least for women of certain groups. Whatever it is, they removed protections for women who are lesbian, bisexual and transgender, and to a lesser but still significant extent, for Native American women.
At the end of 2012, VAWA expired because House Republicans wouldn’t accept protections in the Senate bill for LGBT, Native American, and undocumented victims."
http://www.taylormarsh.com/blog/2013/02/queer-talk-lgbt-protections-stripped-from-vawa-by-house-republicans/
God is watching them.
"We'll be 4 years old this year."
Same age as Emma. How time flies.
Chloe, We were watching a "Big Bang Theory" rerun and one of them toasted to "quirky friends." I thought you might like that.
This show is my favorite escape. It is like Downton Abbey. I love the characters.
cannot believe we are 4 years old. How time flies. You all are my bestest friends.
I haven't seen Tony's post. I'll go look now.
He keeps me on top of things with his great links. Love him just like you and Renee do.
I'd forgotten you had met him Renee. Lucky you... he is such a sweet heart and does so much for others.
Renee, I too hope you have a wonderful vacation. Sounds wonderful, especially the olympic size pool and he hot tub.
I went home to wash clothes today and was watching Rock Center that I record on my DVR at the house. They had a story about Pistoris. His girlfriend's family was unaware of any violence in him. His girlfriend was just launching her reality show. She was also to do something on domestic violence. She had been in a abusive relationship in the past and wasn't going to tolerate that again.
I heard that neighbors heard them in a loud verbal exchange. Maybe she learned that night that he was abusive and decided she was out of there. That might be what set him off.
Big Ban Theory... hmm, I'll have to look it up.
I feel the same way, Jan.
'You all are my bestest friends.'
sticky keys, but I know it was Bang
Jan, I also watched a recorded Big Bang after Rock Center. I laughed so hard that it hurt my back. I had to stiffle my laughing. You are the one who turned me on to to that show. It's hysterical. I love all the characters.
The longer you know the characters, the funnier that show is.
"That might be what set him off."
These poor women. They get out of a bad relation, and have the misfortune of unintentionally ending up in another bad one.
That's when these guys always kill them... when they're going to leave.
That slime ball Drew Peterson comes to mind. But there's plenty other to choose from.
Chloe, yes - you are so right. The most dangerous time for a victim is when she leaves her abuser.
I read that Pistorius and Reeva had only been together since Nov. 2012. That is not a long time. I wonder what women in his previous relationships would say.
Carol, so happy to hear you like Big Bang. There are lots and lots of reruns. I still enjoy the reruns. John is hooked on old 2 1/2 men and Big Bang reruns.
If his behavior was steroid use related, maybe it could be that he doesn't have a past history of abusive behavior. Time will tell.
Fixed linguine and a meat sauce for supper. Used a store bought sauce - browned a chopped onion and a lb of ground round - added a can of chopped artichoke hearts to the sauce. I prefer linguine to spaghetti. I put a little shredded mozerella and parmesan on top of mine. no bread or salad -just the pasta. Delicious.
Carol, will steroids do this? I did not know that.
Yes, Chloe was reminding us about that wrestler who went nuts a while back.
Jan, where did you get the idea of adding artichoke hearts to a pasta sauce? Sounds interesting.
I had my taco salad last night. It's almost a weekly meal. I broil some chicken in lemon juice, butter and lots of Tony's seasoning. It's perky. I lay down some tostito chips, put some shredded up chicken on that, cover that high with my organic baby spring greens, then a dusting of shredded pepper jack cheese, some chopped deseeded jalopenos, one chopped up olive, grape tomatoes, and some type of taco sauce. Often I also put some dollops of perky guacamole but decided that was a layer of extra fat I didn't need.
I love avocados and get nervous if I don't have at least three available at all times. I try not to eat more than a half at a time which has 160 cals. They are high in fat even though mostly monosaturated, a good fat.
Speaking of avocados, I can't get this image out of my head. Remember Jan, when Katie and I were working in the lab at the hospital when we were nuring students? Katie was hanging out there cuz whe was dating Arther, a married man, and me cuz I just wanted to learn about lab stuff.
We would draw blood and help run lab tests. It was in the days before universal precautions. We'd handle blood with one hand and eat a burger with the other. We weren't scared of shit, well, maybe we were scared of shit. We always knew that shit wasn't good for ya, but that wasn't part of our experience.
I remember, vividly, one day having had my blood drawn, Katie's turn to practice, and it being full of this clear globby stuff. It almost took up all the space for blood in the test tube. I was wondering how my blood could carry any oxygen. I said, what's that? Arther laughed and said it was fat. I had eaten an avocado that day. It looked like the entire avocado was in that test tube, musta caught my blood at just the right moment. I really tried hard to erase that image from my brain because I love avocados.
I have a lot of fun memories of nursing school, even though the blob that invaded my blood stream wasn't one of them. Some of my best memories was when we all went to the mental institution. No, we weren't patients but we could have qualified. At that time, most nursing programs had a psych rotation. Now it's all integrated throughout the curriculum. Kinda takes the fun out of it.
It was interesting that when students did their psych rotation, especially when they did it at a mental institution, it brought out some hidden psychosis or neurosis in many of the students. I think the only thing it brought out in me was...I'm practicing to be an alcoholic but the alcohol just won't agree with me, dang it. I could have a few beers and I was snockered. I think I got in at least an hour of fun each time.
We found us a little dive in a near by town. We headed to the institution on Mondays. It was in a town about 90 miles from where we lived. Jan and another lady, who were both a little older and more mature than the rest of us, were put up in some apartments on the grounds. The two guys in our class were also. The rest of us, less mature girls, were put in a dorm.
Every Monday night we headed to our little dive. We drank beer and danced to the music on the juke box. I'd dance with Arther, one of the two guys with us. The other guy was kinda shy. Arther was short and fairly fat and I was tall and fairly skinny. We'd do the jitter bug, making up the dance moves from what we saw on TV. I remember once, when he tried to throw me between his legs, I caught him in a vulnerable place and he dropped me. He had his nerve.... and I think I hit it. By the time we got home every Monday night, I was selling Buicks, but it didn't stop me from practicing the next week. You're tough when you're young.
One night, after we were well lubricated, we went across the street to a local park in town. I remember we were running through that park. I came up to a hurricane fence in my way. I vaulted right over it like it was nothing. I was quite athletic back then, track and field was one of the areas where I excelled. Arther tried to follow and took out a good section of the front of his lower leg. He was also athletic but too heavy to attempt that jump, but too drunk to know better. Probably took a while for that abrasion to heal.
They really need to bring back those mental institutions if for nothing more than the experience it gave nursing students. It was a vital part of my education. I coulda written "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" after that summer. Twin said she got a huge charge outta of the letters I sent her that summer. She was up living with big sis in Little Rock back then.
I remember our experience with electric shock therapy. They did quite a bit of that back then. It was used on people with severe depression and even though it seemed a little barbaric, it was probably safer than using some of those anti-depressants we now have. It did work. It scrambled the memory and they were hoping that when the parts of the memory found each other again that maybe it wasn't so bad. It did save some people's lives.
We got up early one morning, no breakfast, better that way. We had instructions from nurse Ratchet. She told us not to think of it as herding cattle through the shutes. That's the first thing I said when we left...looks like their herding cattle through there. Not good to give me that sort of description, especially when it fit so well.
We had to help. They put one of us students on each extremity of the patient. They were going to pass a volt through the patient's brains and they were going to have a seizure. We were to help protect them, I guess. It wasn't a pleasant experience for any of us. I'm not sure if we got happy hour that day but I know we probably needed one.
Please excuse all my spelling errors. I'm an awful speller. This IE doesn't help out there. Sometimes Google Chrome does.
I know I told y'all this story and probably some of these other ones but humor me. I'm getting old and that's one of the prerogatives of getting older, we can repeat ourselves.
Jan and the other older student in our group got to live in the apartments and so did the guys. Katie and I, me, having the middle name of devious, decided we'd have a little fun. We broke into their apartments and took one pair of underwear from each of them. We planted one of the guy's drawers in the girls suitcases and one of the girls, into the guy's suitcases.
We all went home for the weekends. When she got home, Jan was doing her laundry and her then husband was standing by her talking. She pulled out that pair of guy's underwear and I'm sure she had a shocked look on her face when she did. Could have been interpreted by Bob, her then husband, as guilt. Fortunately he was on to me but he did play along and acted shocked. The only person who didn't get a laugh outta that was probably Jan. I'm still LOL. Sorry Jan.
Forgive me Jan.
Carol, I don't know what you were or are on today but I did not live in those apartments when we went to Pineville. I was in the dorm too. Only the guys and the teacher were in the apartments. The other older student was Linda and she was in the dorm too. You guys went out to the bars on Mon nights. I think Linda went too. I didn't go. Linda was also involved with Gil. When you came back into the dorms one night I remember holding your head while you puked in the toilet.
I don't remember the underwear thing although I won't dispute that it happened. However, I do remember very distinctly that I did not live in the apartments. We all got up in the mornings and walked to the psych units together. In fact I have some pictures of us all in the dorms somewhere. Will have to look for them.
Nothing to forgive Carol. Your memory is just faulty on this one.
I think I remember where I lived. We all went through some stuff when we went to Pineville. It was a strange summer. I went to Pineville 2 more summers after we graduated but I never stayed any where but in the dorms. It was Lynn W. who went on those two trips to Pineville when I went as a teacher. Students acted out on those 2 trips too. I think psych nursing just brings out lots of crazy stuff in students.
Jan, you're right. It may have been just the guys. You didn't live close to my room though so it seemed like it was somewhere else.
I promise, that underwear thing did happen. You may have blocked that one out. It may have been traumatic.
I couldn't remember if you went out to the bar with us or not. You did think that you should act more mature than we did because you were older and married.
I do not remember the underwear thing but it could have happened. Bob was not the jealous type so I don't think it was really traumatic. I do admit that I was pissed at all of you. I thought you were all acting like children. However, I think I was really pissed because you and Katy were my friends and you both had nothing to do with me that summer. You both were all over the guys and running around in Arthur's van. I felt really lonely that summer when we went there.
Do you remember that time when you and someone else were helping my drunk self back into the dorm? Yep, you were in the dorm. Later, the dorm mother said for us to be careful because there were two women and a man out there wondering around. I guess they thought I was the man.
Sorry about that Jan but you were certainly welcome to come along. I think that Linda did. You just thought that you needed to separate yourself from us crazy youngsters. If you had it to do over, I bet you might not.
And Linda and I were friends too and she was all over Gil. So it was just not a good summer for me. The other group that was there were all into their own stuff and if you remember we all kind of high school in that the 2 groups did not associate much with each other. I think Darlene was the only person that I spent time with when we were in Pineville. I don't remember if she went with you guys to the bars. I don't think so because I think she was sort of religious. Do you remember her falling face first down the stairs and knocking her 2 front teeth out and we put her teeth in milk and rushed her to the dentist.
I was acting out quite a bit because daddy was at home dying with cancer. It was a horrible death. I had to grab some fun when I could find it. I hated to go home.
You are wrong there. Darlene and Leslie, another really religious person in the group, big Baptist, both went to the bar with us. I think it may have been Darline who helped you walk me into the dorm when I was so drunk, after about 3 beers.
Carol, you don't need to apologize for anything. No one needs to apologize. We were all going through our own crazy stuff. I was too - but I went through my crazy stuff alone. I think that was the time when I first felt my marriage was not a great one. I had two teenage boys and life was a little more difficult than it had been before. Before that time I felt stable in my life and my marriage. When I look back now, my life was never the same after that summer.
Ok, I did not remember that about Darlene and Leslie. I just remember my own stuff. Yes, If I were me now, I would go with you and I would be ok with everything. But I was not who I am now. Like I said, each of us was going through some crazy stuff. Everyone thought I was the stable one and I probably was the least stable one in the group.
I do remember Carol that about your dad. I think he died in our senior year. I remember you did want any of us to come to your house because of the way he looked. You finally invited me to your house to study later. I never saw your dad.
Did you go with us to that drive in restaurant that we frequented? I remember once, Leslie, the religious one, was trying to fit in with us hoodlums. He decided he would try to lift a mug from the drive in. Arthur noticed what he had done and when they came to pick up the mugs, Arthur said, I think one of the mugs is missing. Arthur knew what Leslie had done. He was like that. He loved to do that to people, dang him.
Poor Leslie had to dig out that mug and put it back. His first attempt at being a deliquent and it was foiled.
He did the same to me once. We were all going around the room reading a section from our psych book. How dumb was that. Arthur and I were talking and not paying attention. When it came my turn to read, I asked Arthur, where are we? He didn't know either but whispered...I'm not going to tell you. He wanted me humiliated. I think the teacher yelled at me. She may have thrown me out of the room...with Arthur smiling the entire time.
I got over it next year. After that I was just focused on getting through the program and passing boards. I think everyone thought of me as the "older person" and not as a playmate. I guess I resented that. It is easy now, when I am not feeling the pain of it to look back and see what was happening.
The interesting thing was that one marriage and one engagement broke up over that summer. Actually, 2 marriages broke up - but mine just had a slower demise.
No, I didn't go with you all to the drive in. Arthur had not been part of our little group before that summer and I felt he purposely did not want me along. He was the same age as me, actually a year older and he did not want to be reminded of that so he purposely left me out.
Actually, Arthur and I never got along after that. I was really pissed off when he was hired to teach. He was such a jerk. He was funny so he got away with a lot. He and Katy continued their relationship and still his wife stayed with him.
Yep, Linda did hang with us because she was after Gill. Nursing school often got some of the married nursing students together with each other. Happened very frequently. I think it was because it was such a close and intense experience. When I later was teaching, there were many married students screwing around with other single or married students. Some marriages broke up and others did not.
Arthur ended up following me to every job I had. He was in ICU/CCU when I was there. He then went to the University after I went there. It was just a coincidence. He was still there when I left my full time job there and went to work at the hospital.
He developed diabetes. He was so overweight that that wasn't a surprise. I was a diabetes educator at that time. I worked with him after work on his diet. He really tried but it wasn't helping. I told him that something wasn't right. It wasn't, he had pancreatic cancer. He died not long after that.
Did I ever tell you that I ran into Linda in Austin. She divorced after finishing the nursing program. She remarried a man in Austin who had a camera shop. She was working on her MSN while I was working on the PhD. She still looked the same. I cannot remember what her last name is. We got together a couple of times. We never mentioned that summer. Gil went on and married his girl and Arthur and his wife stayed together and had 2 little kids. It was sad to see Arthur died - at a pretty young age. But he was much too heavy. He was really not a good looking guy but he was so witty. John Belushi reminded me a lot of Arthur. Arthur did use people though. Katy and Gil were sort of innocent victims. Linda was one who manipulated people too.
Now that I'm thinking back, we weren't that close until later in college and much closer in grad school and when teaching. I was too naive to realize what you might have been going through and I did have too much of my own crap going on, dad dying. None of my parents went easy.
I have noticed the same thing. As teachers we sometimes see it and I am sure there are many we don't see. I bet the same thing happens in other programs like medicine and law because students are thrown together for several years.
Arthur was still alive when I came to McNeese to present my research in 1987 or 1988. He was still the same guy. He was telling everyone something about "trying to get into my drawers." I ignored him. I did hear about his death but did not know what was the cause.
I didn't care for Linda. I did try to include you in our fun, even if sometimes the victim of it, but you kept yourself somewhat separate from us.
Anytime you throw men and women together in a close intense experience, the hormones can cause trouble. It's hard to have a close friendship with the opposite sex without SEX getting in the way. That's sad.
I think you saw me in a certain way - as a stable person- and in some ways I was, but I had a lot going on inside that I did not share with anyone. I don't think you wanted me to be anyone other than what was showing. Moving a lot helped me keep up my facade.
You did end up letting your hair down later.
Linda and I were first friends in the early years of school, but were not close that last year of our nursing program. I purposely excluded her from my life. I was pissed at her for getting involved with Gil, so I was being pretty judgmental too. I was never upset with Gil or with Katy. I think I felt they were both manipulated. They were also the young ones.
I wasn't the one expecting anything in particular from you. It was you kiddo, expecting it from yourself. I was cool with any ole crazy stuff, the more the merrier.
Yes, I did realize that Arthur was making me one of the people he was so good at making fun of. I felt very hurt over the fact that all my friends allowed him to do it.
I hope we haven't made anyone uncomfortable here with our therapy session. I hope I haven't made you uncomfortable Jan. I really did forget that you weren't part of some of those experiences.
I was never pissed at any one except Arthur and Linda. They manipulated all of you for their own purposes. That was easy to see. The rest of you were just going along for the ride. Literally. Like I said Carol, it started me on a trip that didn't stop and for that I am grateful. I might have lived the rest of my life, feeling trapped.
I never saw Arthur as making fun of you, ever. I think everyone respected you.
Not uncomfortable at all Carol. It is good to talk about it. I have never talked about it with anyone else. Even when I saw Linda in Austin - we did not bring it up.
You lead the smarts in our group.
I guess we each have our own perceptions of some of these experiences. I acknowledge that I had my own ideas as to what was going on and was coming from my own deep down crap.
It is harder to look at ourselves and our own feelings than it is to look at others.
I could not have talked with you about this for the next few years. I was not even aware of what was going on with me.
Remember, you graduated from undergad school Summa cum Laude. I graduated from undergrad school...I think she's finally got it.
I was pretty full of myself too Carol. I am not being judgmental. I would have loved to go with you all to the bars and certainly did plenty of that in Austin. But I was not in a place where I could let myself go and have fun. It is just where I was at the time.
I had started school not being sure that I could hack it. I had finally gotten to a place that I felt confident that I was actually smart enough to do it. I think coming down from that and going out to have fun would have ruined my image - of myself.
It seems that all of these experiences happened to someone else. The thing I remember most is driving to and from Pineville and singing all the songs that were popular then - like the Carpenters song "Raindrops..."
I would come home from Pineville and I was a wife and mother again.
I think going back to Pineville 2 more summers as a teaching assistant helped me to look at my experience as a student there in a little different light.
There were only 7 of us in our close nursing school group and like it or not, you were one of us. I posted a pic of the 7 of us here somewhere. We all went on to do wonderful things in nursing.
Going to Pineville with Lynn W was an experience. Interestingly, I stayed in the dorm with students and she stayed in an apartment. Ha ha.
I just saw that picture on here the other day. You could write a story from that picture. The date is aug 1971. That was when you and I graduated.
Doing anything with Lynn W was and interesting experience. She was chaos on wheels but it never phased her. She could drive off with the gasline thingy still stuck in her tank or take the bank teller drawer out and it was like just another day at the park. After you left us, I hung out with her a lot. She was entertaining.
I graduated in Aug 1972. That pic was taken the year we went to Pineville, our junior year.
Do you remember where you saw that pic?? I would like to find it again.
NEW POST
Between the two of us, we might be able to find one decent memory.
Hey... I really enjoyed reading your exchanges Carol and Jan. It's funny how we all remember things differently.
I'm still at home. Sorry for the confusion... we are leaving for vacation this coming Saturday, March 2nd.
We always take along a laptop. We can connect to the internet in our condo with a local dial-up and ethernet box. I always post over on TM during the week. If I'm able to create a new account, I usually post for that week as "Hot Tubbin' Renee".
I was just a punk 19 year old kid in that pic.
Don't drop your laptop in the hot tub Renee. They usually don't take too well to water.
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