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Posted in Family
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I had mixed notions about this trip before we took the plunge. Could I pull off camping 1500 miles away with all my kin except my husband? Well, we did it! And I'm glad I did. Of course during the trip there were certainly a few moments where I wasn't so glad. But I won't start with those! (We'd been cold/sick-free for months and wouldn't you know two days before the trip..."cough, cough, sniffle-sniffle.") My parents drove out from PA in a van packed with camping essentials. I threw in our 10 man tent plus bags. I thought I was travelling light. We left the dog and dear husband behind for the LONG journey westward. (He had to finish his thesis.) I was pretty excited to get the kids out West, since they'd never been past Indianapolis. We remembered Lewis and Clark as we hit St. Louis and when we crossed the Mississipi and Missouri Rivers. Kansas was as flat as ever further west and we finally passed through Colorado Springs heading on up into the mountains from there.
We went up Cottonwood Pass where we stood at the top of the Continental Divide. An awesome view we saw both East and West while straddling the mounains. I explained to the kids that on the one side, all rivers flow down toward the Pacific ocean, and on the other side, the rivers flow toward the Atlantic ocean. Even today I pointed out on the globe the lumpy spinal cord-like bump on North America, and said, you remember standing there?? Sophie grinned as the light came on in an "ah-ha" moment for her. We camped at Taylor's Lakeview Campground in the San Isobel National Forest for 4 nights. Things were pretty remote. No cell phone coverage! Nights and mornings were cold...much colder than I'd anticipated...around 38 degrees.
Listening to the morning devotional Bible reading.
Our tent held up pretty well. Only a few puddles after the daily thunderstorm did its thing. We fished every day for the plenteous rainbow trout in the lake. Sophie was the first one to make a catch. She was very pleased to earn that title. At night we'd fry them up in the pan for dinner. My mother was an old pro at that. They tasted marvelous!
Way to go, Grammy! My brothers and sons in the pontoon, glowing over their prize fish. I think everyone had success with fishing. Taylor Lake is a fisherman's dream.
All in a morning's catch! We also hiked up to the top of Park Cone, a 12,150 ft peak behind the campground, which was at roughly 9,000 ft elevation. Leaving the youngest two behind, the hiking group included my brothers, sister, sister-in-law, cousin, three eldest children and myself. About 30 minutes into the torturously steep climb up I wondered what I'd been thinking. We were blazing our own trail through a forest of fallen trees. And later what appeared to be a beige colored field from below was really an expanse of giant boulders. The top had appeared much closer than what it in reality was, but we made it to the summit and found a little jar wedged under some rocks, signing our names on the tablet within, the first names of 2006. My quads will never forget that climb. Once our camping days were up, we drove back to Co. Springs for some R&R. We enjoyed taking the children to Garden of the Gods and the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, the nicest zoo I've ever been to.
Now back home, I'm ready to stay put for a while. Our adventure served to remind us of God's glorious creation and the blessings of family. |
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