Friday, May 9, 2008

Camping in the Thicket of Rocky Mountain

Today we embark on our first camping trip for this year in our new camper, whoo hoo! We are all excited and looking forward to spending the weekend outdoors in nature; taking pictures, playing in the dirt and fishing. Camping is cool. I used to loathe camping but now that we graduated from a tent to a trailer and I have AC and Electricity, I have become one with the whole camping experience. It’s so relaxing and wonderful.

My family camped all over California when we were young and I have such great memories of all our outdoor excursions, my favorite trips being to the Northern Beaches of Cali. Danny’s first camping experience was not until he was eighteen years old; I was shocked and very naive to believe that every American family CAMPED? His parents are not camping people, although all the kids are SUPER campers!! My Mother-in-Law LOVES the comforts of modern conveniences (although I know we could get her to camp in the trailer…..showers…..nice) and well my Father-in-Law, he’s just not very outdoorsy! Danny and I agreed when we started our family that we would be outdoorsy and our spawn would be raised as CAMPERS, with memberships to Reserve America (no joke, I am a member).
Danny and I never camped until we moved to Colorado. Our first camping trip was less than pleasant but still an experience that will leave a lasting impression on both of us. Our first camping trip was to a nice campsite just outside of RMNP. One of my co-workers recommended the place so I happily made reservations and we planned and planned for a month. It was going to be a perfect trip; we were going to hike all over the park, spend quality time with one another, make-out, drink and just have a great time.

My dreams for the perfect weekend were quickly thrown out the door when we saw our back-forty campsite. My nice co-worker forgot to mention that the camp ground was mainly for RV’s but had a few designated areas for tents and that I should have picked the grassy tent area, RASCAL! Our campsite was behind some of these nice cabins, down a horrible washed away road (couldn't even drive up the road it was so bad), the site was surrounded with tall grass and wild overgrown thicket, perfect place for creatures of the night to hide until dark. OH-MY, I forgot to mention it started raining on our drive to RAMP, so the ground was wet and very muddy and it was not long after we arrived that we had two muddy dogs.

OK, OK Back to the campsite……It was not very inviting and after a small temper tantrum (yes, I still have those from time to time), Danny convinced me that staying would be an awesome adventure! So we unpacked everything, put up the tent and then sat starring at one another in complete silence questioning every crack, peep and howl we heard. Cody would not stop barking because he, like me, knew there was something out there. I was so scared, I really thought a Moose, Elk or worse a frothing Black Bear would appear at any moment from the bush and eat me. Scared out of my mind, I went to bed; I crawled deep into my sleeping bag, zipped it up and prayed that I would be alive in the morning. Danny took the dogs for a short walk before retiring to the tent and as we lay together; Cleo curled up in Danny’s sleeping bag, Cody stretched out between us, the silence of the night almost deafening Danny whispers, “I just saw the biggest piece of animal poop, EVER!”

We left the next morning!

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