Spring Break in Salida - Part 1 Animals, Library Visits and Inspiration

Spring break is now behind us. While the rest of the family is back to school, I have one more day off, a trade of time for Parent/Teacher conferences.

We spent a bit of it in Salida. We are lucky enough to have friends who lend us their little historic house each time we go. In exchange we do something to improve it. Sometimes we leave new pans for the kitchen or nice towels to take to the local hot springs. This time Larr performed an asbestos inspection as our friends might need to do a bit of serious house maintenance. We've been there so many times that it is almost like going home, sometimes.




We've never been there in the spring. Oh my, is it ever windy. Ellie had her heart set on going to the Sand Dunes. Larr and Ethan wanted to check out the local mines and do a bit of exploring. I am happy to walk around town. There are two wonderful artsy stores, Fringe and Beadsong, in Salida that I planned on spending time in.

(This photo was from a different season.)


Each day we would go to the local Salida Regional Library to check our email and read a few blogs (okay, actually I am the only one reading the blogs. Larr reads news sites.)It is a wonderful, welcoming and comfortable place that invites you to settle in and feel like you belong there.


They happened to have an exhibit of art from Roberta Smith, a local artist. Each day I would walk through and look at the paintings. Each day I would pick one to examine closely. Though they are paintings, wonderfully full of texture, color and light, they rouse in me the desire to dye fabric and make a contemporary quilt. I wanted to know more about her, so I looked up her website. There I found even more inspiration of the mixed media kind.


We kept a more relaxed pace while we were in Salida. I spent time gazing at the mountains. I coaxed the local kitties into letting me pet the for while. One day we even had two does and their yearlings spend the day in the back yard. They were so tame that they did not seem to mind you getting within 10 feet of them to snap a photo. They seemed to know that they were safe. Days like these remind me how I so easily occupy myself with stuff on the computer. I must remember to unplug myself, even where there are things to be done.