A Wrap Up: One Thing I Should Have Done

A Wrap Up: The One Thing I Should Have Done 
(and maybe one that would have been a good idea)

For the most part I have got to say "No regrets" about the almost year spent in Colorado.
Even though I was away from most of my family and friends, missed my horse and cats (and the chinchilla, turtles and fish), and endured more than my share of car problems and plumbing fiascos, I loved the entire time there. Loved the weather. Loved being out in the country. Loved the mountains.

BUT.


The one thing I should have done is the one thing my expat friend has said about moving to any new place.

"No matter how long you think you will be staying, you should approach ANY move as if it is for the rest of your life."

Think about that.

Another friend's motto is "Do it like you mean it."

Basically I think both friends are saying the same thing.

And what did I not do?

Get a job.

Fortunately the hubs financed this expedition. I've pretty much been a Stay-at Home mom since the Big Guy was born. Twenty two years now. In that time I've volunteered at the schools some. And then a couple of years ago I got a part-time job.   Loved working again. Loved the people, the mental challenge, the routine. But I left that little job to go to Colorado.


I thought about getting a job once we got settled and school had started.  But I felt bad.  What if someone hired me and then I left three months later? Even if it was part time, that wouldn't be fair. Besides, the Fall was busy with friends coming to visit and weddings and holidays and the girls were cheering. So it just seemed easier to NOT get a job.  And I was going to be leaving mid-December.

Well, if you've been reading this blog then you know what happened. The girls decided to stay in Colorado for the entire school year.

And when January rolled around, the routine of a place to go would have been nice.  Because there were no more visiting friends or holidays or excursions planned. Just the day to day snow and cold.

Once it looks like this outside, a little diversion is welcome.

Even if it is work. 

If I had gotten a job (even a volunteer one- this really isn't about money but about becoming part of a community-although the money would have been nice) then I would have felt more connected. Would have met more people. Would have put down some roots.

Yes, it would have made it harder to leave. But it also would have opened up more opportunities.

So there's my regret. Not working somewhere.


And another little "maybe we should have".

Gotten a place in town. Just a little apartment or loft or tiny house. We talked about it but it seemed silly. And expensive.  But considering that it ran about  $7.00-$8.00 round trip every time one of the cars went into town...and we had three cars... and many days those cars went round trip twice and sometimes three times. One really bad day I even made that trip four times. Well, it all added up. I think for the three of us our gas bills ran about $700-$800 a month. Maybe more. (Some things you just don't want to know for sure.) The mileage on the cars certainly added up.
Definitely if we had been in town we would have felt more a part of the community.
And probably those girls would not have gotten away with as much as I suspect they did.
(Because really...when you are fairly certain they aren't where they say they are, but it requires a 30 mile round trip drive to check, things tend to slide.)

A little loft along F Street would have been nice. 

(Photo via here.)

So.... some things to think about. Do it like you mean it. Do it like it's forever.

Good advice no matter what.


And.

Everyone think some happy thoughts for poor Carlos.
He managed to survive ten months of running wild through the woods, avoiding the bears and mountain lions and gun-toting neighbors unscathed only to come home and slice his paw on a piece of metal in the back yard. I went outside this morning and he was covered in blood and licking his hind paw.
A panicked trip to the vet got him bandaged him and sedated.

Carlos's big adventure. 

Love Dr. Knox and First Colony Vet. 

Thursday morning he gets stitches.
Then he gets to wear one of those big party hats for a bit. How embarrassing.

Bunny gets the award for being the calm mommy of the day. She sat in the back of the car with Carlos on the way to the vet, talking sweetly to him. She sounded just like me.
"It's okay, Buddy, we're just going to have the doctor look at that foot. He'll probably put a Band Aid on it. No big deal. You'll be fine. You may need a tetanus shot. It's okay. Just sit down. Everything will be fine." No panic. No squeamish-ness. Just calm in the face of pools of blood. Seriously. It looked like there had been a murder. On the back porch. In my car. At the vets.
So proud.
Can't wait for the big dog to be home tomorrow. The house is too lonesome without him.

Exploring

Exploring....Being a tourist where I live.


You know how you can live some place forever and never see the "tourist attractions"?

I have tried to avoid that here and when the girls were younger (and didn't have their own cars) I managed to con them in to many adventures. Some were fun (St. Elmo's ghost town, white water rafting) and some were not (the Great Sand Dunes National Park, the Royal Gorge Train).

But realizing that there are only a few more weeks for my "full time" here in Colorado, I decided to knock out a couple more things that I have wanted to see, but haven't.

Today, Bunny needed my assistance at the Verizon store so I struck a deal.   I would help her get her phone activated, she would take me up "S" mountain and to the Smokestack here in Salida.

"S" Mountain looms over Salida.  Technically the name is Tenderfoot Mountain but it has a huge white S on it,  hence the nickname. There's a little building at the top, windows and door gone.   All the kids have been up there. Even the hubs and the Big Guy have hiked up to the top. But I had never been. Until today.

S Mountain from F Street- Salida, Colorado

photo - ColoradoGuy.com

Up Spiral Drive and thank goodness we didn't meet anyone on the way up.  A narrow, winding gravel road that could have benefited from the installation of a few guardrails.  O well.  We made it.

The wind was crazy but the view was worth it. 

Me, holding on for dear life.

I thought we were going to be blown away up there.

All of Salida behind me.

F Street dead ends into the turn around at the Arkansas River. 

You can see the S on the mountain towards the bottom of the pic.

Bunny, my tour guide for the day, on the steps up to the summit.

After S Mountain we headed to the Smokestack.  This is exactly what the name says- a huge smokestack towering over  a couple of falling down buildings and the surrounding fields. Old and abandoned.  When we first came to Salida, the girls went with their friends and said it was spooky and haunted.  Four or five years later, a few more windows and doors are gone, the space is more open and not so spooky. Maybe still haunted. 

The Smokestack

Photo- Salida Museum

The actual smokestack is 365 feet tall and was constructed in 1917. At the time it was the tallest smokestack in the world. It's in the area of Smeltertown, west of Salida, and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places back in 1976.  Built by The Ohio-Colorado Smelting and Refining Company to carry the noxious gases away from the smelter, the stack is constructed of beautiful brickwork with a concrete foundation that goes 30 feet into the ground.  The site was contaminated with lead, arsenic and creosote at one time, but has since been cleaned up. 

There are a couple of buildings around the stack and all of it is fenced off to discourage vandalism.

But, as Bunny says, if they really wanted to keep people out, they would repair the fence. 

We snuck in, no problem.

Bunny, breaking and entering.

Actually here we are leaving- but out the same way we came in.

Standing at the base of the smokestack.

Impressive.

Look at all those bricks.

Looking up the inside of the stack.

Again, notice all the bricks.

Inside the little building connected to the stack, looking up.

The stairs up to the second floor have wisely been removed.

But look! The ceiling above is also brick.

The brickwork is phenomenal, marred here and there by graffiti.

The smokestack entrance is on the left, at the back by the stairs.

 An adjacent building, also in disrepair.

Again, brick after brick after brick.

A fun couple of hours, a chance to spend some time with my youngest and have her show me around, with lunch thrown in for good measure.  So happy to finally visit these sites. 

What other adventures can we find? 

Stay tuned...