Clovis, New Mexico to Durango, Colorado

We started our day with two very tired kiddos. Coralee still had her battle helmet firmly in place this morning at breakfast.... to the point that we went outside twice to have a little talk because she was so teary about me pouring syrup on her waffle and asking that she eat with a fork. How dare I ask her not to make a mess! We got stopped in construction traffic for about 20 minutes between Ft. Sumner and Santa Rosa, New Mexico.

We plugged Coralee into Angelina Ballerina somewhere along the way when she started squealing. Can I say I am SO thankful that Ken's parents have the Rear Seat Audio thingy? I have been able to indulge myself in listening to Laura Ingraham and Rush Limbaugh while Coralee watches a DVD or listens to Veggie Tales! Everyone's happy! We had a few technical issues today but I think tomorrow I'll be able to operate it like a pro. We've been fairly successful in limiting her TV viewing. She fell asleep listening to Bob & Larry and took an hour nap (that was it for the day) before lunch.

For lunch we stopped at McD's. Not my personal favorite but a playground and a clean restroom go a long way. The girls were extremely excited with their Hello Kitty lip gloss sets but weren't too sure about the playground. I really thought Coralee was the only child in the world that didn't like climbing up in those things. They were fascinated with a moth in the part where you climb up; hence the hiney picture.

I am finding out that I require a potty break an hour after lunch. I feel so embarrassed to be the one that requests a stop instead of the girls. I used to have a bladder that lasted much longer. About 20 minutes after our latest stop, Coralee informed us that she needed to go poo poo. We immediately pulled over and let her do just that. She was excited to have made a "snake" in the potty. Oh dear me!

We got into Durango around 4:30 and checked into the hotel. The girls were more than happy to get out and run around. I'm telling you, we don't need toys, just space to chase!

We had dinner plans with our music minister and his wife. They are staying at the same hotel so we talked with them in the lobby for a while and then drove to the downtown area to look around. We were going to shop but it was raining. Instead, we drove out to Johnny & Debbie's property. Coralee informed us once again that she needed to potty (about two miles before we turned). Lovely! I can say that we successfully made it through the day with just one pair of panties which is beyond marvelous! Back to the property, it is great lot with a gorgeous view. The girls had a great time picking flowers and Coralee insisted the surveyor's flag was a Texas flag. Okie dokie! She also says that they need to build a purple house. She thought pink might be a good idea, too.

We had a wonderful dinner at Christine's. Ken had tomato basil pasta and I had chicken cordon blue. Yummo for sure! The girls were clearly exhausted but they behaved really well. Coralee's eyes were SO blood shot it was pitiful.

There was no time for swimming tonight. They didn't even ask about it when we got back to the hotel. Coralee had her bath and fought Ken a little bit but was asleep by 9:45. Still not great but at least we aren't having fights about bed time this trip! Tomorrow is the big train ride day and then we'll drive up to Telluride. I am looking forward to being in one place for a week!

Everyone is worried that I'll get dehydrated with the change in elevation. Okay, I'm concerned, too. My goal has been to drink at least 12 cups of water per day. I'm too tired to calculate how much I've had today. All I can say is that I'm about to float away and I'm tired of potty trips! On that note, I'll take another one and go to sleep!