big blue sky

for memorial day weekend, we decided to take a drive up to durango, co to see shawn mullins play at the iron horse bicycle classic. if i were a cyclist, i might have partaken in this cool event that has been going for 35 years, but let's be realistic - a 48 mile bike ride through the snow-capped mountains of colorado sounds awesome, but i think a 5700 ft vertical climb would kill me. literally.

instead, we loaded the munchkins in the car with bags full of snacks and set off through northern nm. i loaded the cd changer with a bunch of shawn mullins cds to warm up for the show. i tried to take pictures from the moving car, but there's only so much you can do through a bug-splattered windshield. at one point, the opening track on "big blue sky" came on and it was like serendipity.

"on a mantle made of oak wood,
there's a photograph from my childhood
it was taken in the desert early light...
there are canyons there are caverns
there are border roadside taverns
and i am held captive by the big blue sky above me..."





it's like these songs were made for this roadtrip.

"two lanes of highway stretched in front of me as far as i can see
the grass here's greener than most grass i've seen
the sky's a big gray hazy canopy up over me
nothing much here to do just keep my hands on the wheel and my mind on you..."




we pulled into town with time to spare and had dinner at the old tymer's cafe. all you can eat ribs? yes, please. durango has changed a lot since the last time i was there over 15 years ago. the main street is lined with locally owned shops filled with hip artwork and hippie shoes. sierra found a purple 1/2 size taylor guitar at a music shop, but i can't see spending $300 on a guitar for a 6 year old. maybe when she's older. we were lucky enough to see the durango & silverton narrow gauge railroad train coming back from silverton. it has been in continuous operation for 126 years. i couldn't pull my camera out fast enough to snap a picture, but it was something to see a genuine steam locomotive pulling up with the mountains in the background. i guess someone else's photo will have to do.


the stage for the concert was set up in the middle of main street and some people (ourselves included) were wise enough to bring lawn chairs to watch the show. everyone sat listening to the music for the first few songs, but once shawn started in on "beautiful wreck", people gathered at the front of the stage and started dancing with each other. it was beautiful and surreal.









we couldn't pull the girls away from the stage from the rest of the show. they had found a group of about a dozen kids and they were all swinging each other around and dancing. if durango is this cool all the time, i might need to visit more often.