If you missed Day 1 and 2, you can find it here. I would say that we slept well the night of Day 2, but that would be a dirty lie. My husband slept on a queen bed with our daughter who kicks in her sleep as much as she kicks during soccer games. I slept with our 3-year-old who can best be described as a sleep deprived tyrant. Do it this way! Don’t do it that way! No, not that way! And that was just for the placement of pillows. It wasn’t exactly the best night of sleep, but it was more than I got in the car. I will note that as soon as we got on the road, my husband mentioned that there was an optional family suite with three beds at the hotel we were staying at in Glenwood Springs for an extra $20 a night. Seriously, I married the smartest man in the world or maybe he just fears for his life when I’m lacking sleep.

Our goal for the day was to head to Glenwood Springs and possibly make some fun stops along the way. We stopped in Buena Vista because the 3-year-old tyrant could not take a single moment longer in the car. Or at least that’s what we gathered from the kicking and screaming. It’s in those moments, that I again renew my desire to invest in a sound proof limo window to separate the front two seats from the rest of the car. Why Honda hasn’t come out with that as an add-on to their minivan is a mystery.

Outside of a cute little coffee shop overrun by Young Life campers, there was not much going on in Buena Vista on a Sunday in early March. But there was an open coffee shop and that’s enough for me. Or it’s enough when I’m about to get in a car with the same 3-year-old referenced above that still have plenty of kick and scream left in him. The Arkansas river provided a small bit of entertainment.

Terribly exciting I know. Through it all, my husband and I manage to get in workouts. We alternated carrying an extra 35 lbs up stairs or steep inclines all at much higher elevations. We like to call it “whose turn is to carry the 3-year-old when he’s tired” workout.

After this much needed break, our next stop was Leadville for lunch. Little did we know we would happen upon an annual event celebrated in Leadville known as skijoring. What is skijoring you might ask? According to the interwebz, it is a sport in which a horse (sometimes dogs) pull a skier for time or through an obstacle course. In Leadville, they close down main street for this event. What are the chances that we would arrive at the right time and on the right day?

And while skijoring left me thrilled, one of the main objectives of the day was to arrive in Glenwood Springs in time to go down an Alpine Coaster. Back in the car for more driving and after more yelling (do you see a pattern), the 3 year old fell asleep. The drive from Leadville to Glenwood Springs was scenic, quiet, winding, elevated, gorgeous and slightly nauseating.

My cure for this – sunflower seeds and suckers. It’s the same cure I turn to when fighting sea sickness. I wasn’t about to ruin a perfectly peaceful drive with no yelling only to find myself throwing up.

As we got closer to Glenwood Springs, we spotted deer, climbers and traffic.

I started to panic when we hit traffic.  I couldn’t help but think that we were about to live out that moment during National Lampoon’s Family Vacation where they finally arrive at the amusement park only to find it’s closed. Thank God that was a movie and this is real life.  The Alpine Coaster lived up to our expectations – fast and thrilling. My only regret is that I don’t have a picture to show of our 3-year-old, white knuckled, holding on to my boot for dear life as we made our way down the coaster. It shouldn’t be so funny, but it was.  He obviously was not that scarred given his need to go down the coaster a 2nd time.

On our way back down the mountain, the sun did what it does – magic.

What else is there to say about Day 3 – we had dinner. We ordered a hot dog for our 3 year old only to be reminded that his taste in hot dogs is singular. At dinner, we received a few stares.  This is probably because we are cute and are model parents in public never raising our voice or the like.  Most likely it is because we were out with small people after dark and kept shushing our small, loud talkers in order to draw less attention to ourselves.

Sigh.  Tomorrow is a new day.