Part 7: Man Does Not Live by Cookies Alone

Unlike our usual vacations where we eat out for virtually every meal, the Weenies decided to prepare most of our own while in Colorado. Now this probably sounds like a completely normal thing to do for most people, but in case you haven’t noticed, the Weenies are not most people. You see, even when we’re…

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Part 8: Mountain Mama

The Weenies’ second hike was somewhat more successful than the first. For one thing, we didn’t get lost in the parking lot. As a warmup we decided to take what the brochure called an “easy” jaunt up to a mountain lake. Note: “Easy” in Colorado is not the same as “Easy” in south Austin. I…

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Part 9: Why Poodles and Spas Don’t Mix

One of the top items on the Pagosa Springs “must do” list is soaking in the healing waters of the hot springs. While the sulphuric smell of rotten eggs is a bit of a turnoff, the nose quickly adjusts once the soaking has begun. The Weenies decided to splurge on a spa that offered massages…

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Part 10: On The Road Again

After a wonderful week of hiking, the Weenies said goodbye to Pagosa Springs and turned their sights westward toward Durango and beyond. Sadly, the Durango Railroad didn’t allow poodles, so we continued on up past Silverton to the heart-pounding twists and turns of the “Million Dollar Highway” (named, I assume, for the amount of money…

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Part 11: Vail

Exactly 20 years ago I graduated from The University of Texas, sold my car and bought a one-way ticket to Vail, Colorado. Burned out after college, the last thing I wanted to be was a practicing graphic designer, so I packed up a few things and headed off for life as a ski bum. “Weenie’s…

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Part 12: Rocky Mountain Hell

We decided to spend the last week of our Colorado vacation in the secluded town of Alma, just south of Breckenridge. Alma had everything we were looking for in a quiet hideaway—snowcapped mountains, a winding creek, wildlife to watch, trails to explore and seven whole days take it all in. We couldn’t wait to get started doing nothing. What we…

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Part 13: Travelin’ Weenies: Epilogue

With a tattered map in the back seat and muddy footprints along the floorboards of our rental car, the Weenie family said farewell to the majestic Rocky Mountains and headed back home. Curiously, we left Austin with three bags and returned with four. It’s as if our luggage went on the same high-carb diet we…

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Bad News in the Garden of Eatin’

Last fall I wrote a post describing my first real foray into agriculture, where my enthusiasm was outweighed only by my ignorance of all things vegetative (other than myself during Law & Order marathons). Contrary to my hypothesis that vegetables don’t really come from seeds, but rather from Whole Foods, I quickly found small green…

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When Pigs Don’t Fly, They Walk

You may not know that my two all-time favorite bands are The Who and Pink Floyd. Choosing which I love more would be a heartbreaking Sophie’s Choice of rock anthem proportions. I could wax on and on about how fan-freaking-tastic they are, but there aren’t enough adjectives synonymous with “awesome.” What I can talk about…

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