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Wednesday, June 4, 2008 Okay, so we're up at 7:30am; gotta leave by 8:15 to make it to the Wydham by 8:30. Too much time in the showers this morning almost made us late for the appt. Believe it or not, Rob actually takes longer to get ready, but to be fair Jen has yet to wash her hair. Today's a big day; we might own a new piece of Wyndham property in a few hours! Just kidding. It was both of our first time-share presentations. We knew the basics; sit and listen to their presentation for 2 hours and walk out with a free gift. $75 dollars on AMEX and a 2 night trip (future) just for listening to a supposed "no pressure sales" presentation for 2 hours! That's a no brainer; we were in! The presentation was interesting and made a lot of sense...but come on, we're teachers. It cost more than buying a new car and who makes that decision on the spot? Maybe when we make more money and the economy's better it would make more sense. So much for no pressure sales, Julie from Evanston loved us in the beginning, but by the end she wouldn't
Funny Sign
Every time we passed this sign we laughed. Say it out loud. even shake our hands. We looked at each other like "isn't this what everybody does?" Show up - listen - act interested- ask questions - take gift and leave. Saying "no" was actually very uncomfortable for Jen, but Rob had no problem refusing to even list a referral (names of our friends and fam so she could contact you. don't worry, we didn't sell anyone out). In the end, we giddily walked out with our $75 & hotel gift. If given the opportunity again, Rob's all about it! Although, Jen might sit the next one out.
This day is probably the most uneventful yet. Don't want to bore you much. It's overcast & cold, so we found the library and decided to spend our time setting up our blog, catching up on emails, paying bills...all the usual stuff that doesn't get done on the road. We actually spent about 5 hours in the library which was humorous because it's one of the smallest libraries we've seen; so we were sitting on two chairs in the magazine room, laptops on our laps, outlets filled with all our cords: phones, ipods, camera charger, computer batteries (is this technically stealing power?), and
Welcome to Durango
One of our few pics from Durango that prove we were even there. as people walked by again and again they must have wondered when we would ever leave?
Dinner time, always a fun hour of bargain shopping. We settled on a $5 footlong (we're considering contacting Subway to offer our services for Subway inspections in each city - maybe they'll give us free subs for it) and some yogurt. The problem we were faced with though was that it was 45degrees, raining, and we weren't ready to shiver the rest of the night in the tent. So we used one new gift AMEX and treated ourselves to a movie. It was a nice treat. We saw IronMan and both enjoyed it. In all, it was a lazy day, but a good one - ending with more money than we had when we started is always a plus.
We had some middle of the night tent leakage; the rain was pouring, and the wind was blowing hard. But luckily we've got a hotel room booked for tomorrow night. We scored a bargain on Priceline, although the pictures of the lodge are kinda sketchy. Priceline must've been trying to get back at us for bidding $40 for a room. We may just
need to use our own blankets, but it's a covered roof, a bed, and it's right across the street from the hot springs. Can't wait.
Thursday, June 5, 2008 Under different circumstances, we'd likely have enjoyed Durango more, but we really didn't do much- the weather was pretty bad even this morning. So, we broke camp by 11 and headed 60miles east to Pagosa Springs. I give my sister Holly credit for this town. I've never heard of it before, but I did hear she loved it, so we're on our way. Again, Rob let me read to him the entire car ride - it sure makes the time go fast! Would you believe that I haven't driven more than 1 mile yet?
As we drove through the small, smelly town we began to get more nervous about what we were in store for. But luck struck again. It was a recently converted Best Western, directly across from the Hot Springs resort we planned on going to, and they sold discount tickets for the Hot Springs. $1 off the $20 admission. Pretty comical, but yeah, we did it.
To offset yesterday's lazy day, we went for a run
Pagosa Hot Springs
view from pool above along the river and into the mountains, then again to the grocery store for some bargain shopping. Our eyes have learned to zero in on the bright orange "Manager's Special" stickers that probably means the food is old, but for us it means dinner. Our bargain of the night was .99 cent hummus.
After dinner we went to the Hot Springs to relax. They're so cool! They've gotta be if Oprah's been here, right? There were about 20 individual tubs/pools at varying degrees between 90-110 to sit and soak in. They're all natural, smelly, and contain tons of minerals like; Na, K, Mg, Si, Cl, Fl, Ar, B, Li, Mn, S, Zn which all have benefits for our bodies. We sat, relaxed, even made a new friend - an older gentleman here for the folk & blue grass festival which begins tomorrow. He was so passionate about the music and his recordings of it that he gave us a cd to take with us. We didn't have the heart to tell him that Jen broke the cd player in Rob's car months ago (we're still hoping that little piece of paper will pop out sometime soon). By 9:30 we
had our fill of the springs, and decided it was time to blog again and go to sleep. Well...unless we decide to hit the town to meet more locals. We'll let you know tomorrow. We're hoping to take a rafting trip in town tomorrow before heading to Denver for the weekend. Thanks everyone for reading!!! We're enjoying your comments so much. Keep them coming.
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Jen Burcham
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As Junie B. would say...
Wowie wow wow - hot springs! This roadtrip is sounding almost spa-like, minus that pesky tent!(Did I mention that I have to teach first grade next year -I want to cry- which explains why I am reading Junie B. Jones. I have decided measurement is a skill they can master in grade one, so maybe I can teach them to mix cocktails.) So what is up with the scientific elements? I am thinking that Rob might teach science? I must have been busy doing something else in all my science classes because those letters representing the elements looked just like letters to me. Your pictures are so great! I have a recommendation for some inexpensive but fantastic pizza once you get to Chicago - Chicago Pzza and Oven Grinder at 2121 N. Clark Street in Lincoln Park. You have to get the Mediterranean bread and the salad. The pizza is a pot pie. Best of all, this place is a bargain and is was recognized for its uniqueness on Food Network. Here is the catch - the host, an old Grek guy, does not take names; he remembers your face. The first time I was skeptical, but several glasses of wine later he did seat us. It is one of my absolute favorite places in Chi-town! Looking forward to hearing about you next adventure...