Friends of ours from Albuquerque had been staying in Durango, CO and were forced to evacuate because of the 416 Fire.
We had planned on stopping in Durango for several days, taking in the galleries and riding the sightseeing train. A massive fire made us wonder if maybe we needed to change course, maybe head north and go to Colorado Springs.
At the time, Durango was over a week ahead of us. In years past we would have poured over reports and maps, planned an alternate route and made new reservations.
The “new us” checked a couple of on-line articles, looked at a map and decided it was too far in the future to worry about. We kept heading west.
When we reached Pagosa Springs CO, a place we did not know existed a few weeks before, we realized we might be getting too close to that fire. The San Juan Forest and campgrounds were closed. It was pouring rain, late in the day and we needed a place to stay that was not inside Sparty. We did a quick check of rental companies, VRBO and Airbnb, scanned the on-line pictures and sent a few texts. A few hours later we had rented a beautiful townhouse condo.
This process gave us a window into how much we have changed. We waited to make a decision till the last minute rather than having new plans and back up plans. But it also showed how much we have not changed. When we arrived in Pagosa Springs we did not just pick the first rental that popped up and looked good. We narrowed our list to 6 and then compared features, analyzed views and compared prices before making our selection.
The new us is different but still has lots of the old us. Or as Mr Ram has said, “No matter how much we travel, we still take us with us.”