“It’s all downhill to Durango!”

At least that’s what Jacob kept saying on day 30 as we rolled into Pagosa Springs wet, frozen and exhausted.
Day 31 we woke up a little foggy-eyed after all the beer/celebrating conquering the rockies the night before. We had to wait for the First Inn’s continental breakfast to be served a few (15) minutes late. It consisted of cinnamon rolls and blueberry muffins… not my idea of “breakfast of champions” but delicious…and we just have to roll downhill today anyway, right?
Right… the day started off with a 5 mile climb out of Pagosa Springs. “I don’t remember this hill” Jacob said. “But technically we’re still in P Springs so it doesn’t really count”. Okaaay…but tell that to our legs too, will ya?
The morning was cool with a little rain. We hit our first “res”, Indian reservation, and saw Chimney Rock.

I asked Jacob if “that thing” was man-made (since it liked like right angles, and what do I know?) and he proceeded to tell me all about the volcanic science behind the formations. Don’t ask me to repeat it.
In the reservation we climbed another significant incline for about 45 minutes. I said “all downhill to Durango, huh?”, to which Jacob replied, with ultimate sarcasm, “this IS downhill, I don’t know whatchutalkinbout”.
We then arrived to the part of the day themed “you’re hot and you’re cold” (Katy Perry great rpm song!). Rain jacket on, rain jacket off…gloves on, gloves off… couldn’t quite figure it out. All I knew was that it was much more comfortable than the brutal cold and wet of the past two days.
It was 11a our time which meant 1p Redskins game time! We made it close to a convenience store and ran into an east bound british cyclist, Thomas. He was on a 90 day visa on his way from San Fran to Boston. He’s not sure he will make it the whole way in time, but he will try. We gave him some tips (we are the more veteran riders now since we are over halfway…weird!) and headed to the store to take a break. I checked the score and the skins were already down 17-0. Boo. Bad mood instantly.
We did finally find the downhill Jacob had promised. It was lovely. I texted our Durango host (my client/friend’s sister Kara) to see when and where we should meet her. We decided to get lunch together at Zia Taquerita, a yummy organic chipotle-like restaurant. I got a wahoo salad for uva. Kara and her fiancé Kyle were very welcoming. Their wedding was just a week away (can you believe they agreed to host us during this crazy time??) so we chatted about that and got to know each other. They are an uber chill, zen yogi couple and both work as therapists to at-risk kids and families.
Kara drove us to the grocery store to pick up food for dinner. Since Jacob had been bragging to me about his culinary skills, I nominated him (without consulting with him beforehand) to cook dinner for everyone. Not sure he appreciated that… but I did chip in as sous chef.
After getting supplies we drove up to “the Collinsberry birdsnest”, k&k’s bungalow on the mountainside, about 25 mins outside the city. Collinsberry has a kale garden, a hammock town, and they are constructing a sauna. So perfect.
Kara and I talked about our travel experiences. I told her about Egypt/Turkey and she told me about the many weeks she and Kyle spent in India as well as her kayaking bachelorette party to the channel islands. That’s my kind of party!
After taking “rain showers”…awesome shower head..Jacob cooked a delicious dinner of stuffed manicotti and we drank Ska beer. We watched a netflix dvd, The Road, and went to bed. Rest day tomorrow!