First I bring you our camping trip. Back in July J. bought some land near Colorado City. We took the dogs and some friends of J.’s.
We had a good drive on the way there. We left late (which turned out to be a great idea), stopped for lunch and a hibachi. With some last minute directions we headed out.
Dagny and Whinnie explored right away. This was a good trip for them. We had to tie them up when we went shooting. Whinnie kept trying to bathe in the water dish.
Whinnie stayed close to people. She’s pretty good about that. D is taking a water break.
Next was camp setup. J. helped me with the tent then went to get the shooting range setup. The S family kept taking breaks. I was a little brutal about getting the camp set up first. There isn’t much to worry about except cows but I got into camp mode quickly. First thing is to set up camp first. Then rest. Never the other way around. D. probably should have rested more. She’s pregnant with the 3rd kid.
Once the tents were up we notice a little disparity. We brought a large two room tent for us and the dogs. The S family brought a two person dome tent for two adults and two kids. One of the adults snores like a fog horn…one of the kids ended up having an asthma attack. It was not pleasant. I quickly learned that I was glad we were camping on the plains with these folks. I wouldn’t want them with me in the mountains or in a forest.
Pretty huh? J.’s dad wanted pictures. These came out really nice.
By the time the camp was fully set up the boys had already started shooting. The kids had no interest and neither did D. I headed over for some pictures. J. is here with his mini 14. The same one I had pictures up from a later trip.
I took a few shots. This is the first time I shot the gun. J. has an arroyo going through his property then a fairly large hit rising from the back of the arroyo. It made for a nice place to shoot into.
S. spend some time with a Sig .22. J.’s target stand was blown away by the winds later.
That night we played some vols. J. drank too much and tried to set his shoes on fire in order to get ride of the grass prickles. He still claims it was a good idea.
There is no wood or accessible water on the land. Hence the charcoal and the hibachi. The middle of the camp had chairs and the two colors on either side. The S. family by in large did understand the no dumping in the camp scenario. Trash kept ending up in the middle of camp. When I got up in the morning S. and his boy were eating watermelon in the middle of the camp. Their cooler was drenched in watermelon juice and bits were all over camp. I can only assume there was a watermelon struggle of some sort. I quickly swept out the camp but his cooler was already a bug infested swamp.
Camping in 80+ degree weather only requires one trick…dry ice. Our cooler had such a trick and hence still had plenty of real ice. I dragged their cooler out of the way which got all the bugs out of camp. S. insisted on placing food there all the time which I quickly rescued to the cleanliness of our cooler. S. was perturbed, claiming that bugs are everywhere outside and I should just get used to it. I pointed out that no…bugs are just on his cooler, but he insisted that I was silly to be afraid of bugs outside.
That’s when I began to loudly proclaim that if we were ever in a survival situation…we would not be saving his ass. I may hate bugs in my house but outside there is no need to be swarmed with them if you practice a few simple steps. Like no trash in camp. Had this been a survival situation we probably wouldn’t have had watermelon mess to deal with…and bugs in this area would be a non-issue except for the odd mosquito. Even then there is things you can do.
I was a pretty gun ho girls scout group, went to camp, and camped on my own. I can start a fire with out matches if I have to, I can whittle, I can tie a good knot. I know a bit about edible plants, fishing and hunting (horrible at hunting though) in Colorado. I can build a shelter in snow and in summer. I can use a map and a compass. Best of all I have an unmatched direction sense. Give me a sec to orientate and I can tell you which way is which. If I can’t for any reason I can still tell you which way we came from and which way we need to go. I walked in the woods around the area I lived in as a child, alot. I never got lost no matter how far I went. Hell, last year I drove to Golden to find the old house I lived in when I was five with nothing more than the memory of the plateau we lived behind.
I found it.
Don’t tell me I’m over reacting about bugs. In the mountains that might have been a bear.
Sigh.
The boys and kids did some walking. Then we packed up and headed out.
On the way back we crossed some railroad tracks. The other side was washed out and even at 5mph we slammed down hard. Just as we hit the highway we noticed something was horribly wrong with the car.
We got off the highway. OnStar was able to get us a tow and a place to take the car…but they were unable to do much else. Colorado has blue laws which also prohibit various car things with out a special license on Sundays. It was Sunday.
So we started calling. We couldn’t any a hold of anyone except M. She found us a cab service and a car rental place. The cabby came and took J. to the car rental. So it was just me and the doggies for a bit.
It was a nice clear day and the prairie was pretty.
Then the tow truck came.
Leaving me with a soft shoulder to cry onI’ve been waiting months to write that.
I talked to M for a bit while I sat under that sign. The tow guy had be apprehensive as I unloaded the Caddy. Many people drove by…I got quite a few lots and two peal outs after a slow done. I was sitting with a .45 in my lap and two dogs.
Then J. came with a roomy van.
He drove that thing for two weeks while the Caddy was getting fixed. Poor J.
