Jenmenke

Road Warrior

Road Warriors

Road Warriors 2009 Day Two

Colorado Camping Trip 2009, Day 2: Sand Dune Avalanch

It’s amazing how easily we slide into our “camping roles” each year. This morning Charlie and Dave woke up early and started the fire. Charlie busied himself making hot chocolate and his “Signature Toast” which he roasts over the fire with a roasting stick, then slathers on butter and lawry’s seasoned salt. This, he serves up warm and toasty to Morgan, her majesty, in bed! I can’t be too critical though, as I think she must get it from me: I was directly across from her, snuggled into my own fleece-lined sleeping bag, propped up reading Shantaram, sipping my coffee that was made by Dave and served by Charlie! No wonder I love camping so much! It’s the best!

Charlie's Signature Toast

We lounged around and headed back to the Dunes around 10 am… or was it 9? I don’t know because I’m not sure which clocks have been set back and which haven’t. The Dunes are so amazing. Pictures don’t do them justice. Or at least MY pictures don’t do them justice. I remember being enthralled with them the first time we visited in 2004, but since that time, I’ve been to the Grand Canyon. And I’ve gotta say, I’m more impressed with the Sand Dunes than I was with the Grand Canyon. I can’t help it. I just am. Plus, they are just so fun! Maybe it’s because I had seen so many pictures of the Grand Canyon and knew what to expect and I really had no idea whatsoever that those sand dunes even existed. We saw a lot of  Middle Eastern people there and I was thinking that maybe the dunes were less impressive for them…

Anyway, we came upon a family that we spoke with the night before in the sandstorm. Their kids and ours started talking and playing, even though the kids were much younger. The best one-liners from the trip came from Danté and Eric. Danté — “nearly 10” — educated Morgan and Charlie about the drought in Texas while Eric, who seemed quite taken with Morgan, kept calling her “Merlin” and making spitballs out of sand. Pretty gross, actually.

Walking the Ridge

Running the Dunes M2Charlie Running Dunes 2At the Base of DuneClimbing the Dunes

The dunes were getting pretty toasty on our tootsies by 11:30, so we headed back to camp, packed up and pointed the car west to Pagosa Springs, stopping at Wolf Creek for a brief lunch (yes, yes, out of the cooler again). In Pagosa, Jennie got her much-sought-after outdoor solar shower and Dave bought some fly-fishing flies from a guy who was over 7 feet tall. I actually grabbed my iphone to take a sneaky photo, but then I thought better of it. I figured people like me must make him feel like a freak all the time. Thinking back on it now, I just wish I had taken the stupid picture.

Anyway. We headed off to our land in Piñon Hills Ranch, which I hadn’t seen since we bought it about 4 years ago. I was excited, but the kids could not have cared less. As we drove over the creek and into the gates (everything is gated down there and it makes me wonder what they are all afraid of) Morgan was watching Rent for the 5th or 6th time and Charlie was pissing and moaning about her constant singing, facial expressions and hand movements. (Thinking back on this now, I wish I had counted how many times I yelled “JUST STOP LOOKING AT HER AND IGNORE HER.” Because that was day two out of 8 days and she never stopped watching Rent or singing.)

Pinon Hills Ranch Lot 35, 36, 37

I do still love the land. I wasn’t sure if I would, but I do. What I find amazing is that after all this time there are still only 2 houses out of 42 lots. So you really can’t get a feel for what it will be like someday and whether it will still feel as remote and private. What sets it apart from any other place I’ve ever been right now, aside from great views, is the crazy quiet. Aside from the noise being made by us, better known as the Loud Family, there was nothing: no dogs, no birds, no planes, no cars, no water. Nothing. Charlie promptly stated, “I like this place because you can talk loud.” Need I even mention that he said it loudly?

We set-up in the “cul de sac.” (Sagebrush prevents any aggressive and inventive placement of the pop-up like normal). Then, we went to the river to fish while morgan washed her hair. I, however, waited until we got back to soap up and used my new solar shower. It was AWESOME!

IMG_5482

We made green curry with chicken (my personal camping favorite), then hung around our first fire. Morgan saw what she thought was a firefly, but turned out to be what looked like a baby tarantula (its eyes blinked?). The spider totally freaked Charlie out, but we calmed him down enough to have a few s’mores. Then to bed! The day was hot – 90-ish. the night was cool – 45-ish.

Sunset in the Sagebrush. Pagosa Springs

Road Warriors 2009

Road Warriors begin 2009 camping trip

Backstory:

It’s no secret that I feel I missed my calling as a writer back in 1985, midway through my second year of college when I took the much-traveled path from the University of Minnesota’s Institute of Technology to… what? Well, that was the decision. I knew at that point I wasn’t cut out for a career in Chemical Engineering. (Don’t ask.) But what DID I want to do? My dad sent me to a career counselor, I did a lot of soul searching and what did I choose? Business school, aka Carlson School of Management. Now, don’t get your undies in a bundle, I know that Carlson is considered one of the most highly regarded undergraduate business schools around, but back in 1985? Suffice to say: it wasn’t. So why did I choose the Business School over the Journalism School? Because I didn’t lose any credits. Simple as that, and my fate was sealed. So I graduated in business (with a big, fat crush on my Econ teacher, Wade Dyke–what a name!). And promptly got a job at an ad agency doing account work. After a rather dramatic end to that job, I started freelancing in the new field of “desktop publishing” while I looked for a sales job in the computer industry (my other big love). The late 80’s were tough times to find a job, so I just plugged along doing my freelance work. Today I call myself a bona fide graphic designer. I know I’m not actually a “real” designer, but my clients seem to like what I do well enough, so it’s all good.

I know what you are thinking: I digress! I know it, I do! But the background is important, because it’s my rationalization for starting this next series of posts: The Road Warriors 2009. It’s simply the journal I kept while on our annual camping trip this year. To be honest, my garden is a fricken mess, my chickens have turned out to be roosters, my menopausal rage is in remission and I don’t have any good recipes to share. So I figured, why not? You might find it interesting and laughable. Plus, Dave and I tend toward the obsessive/compulsive when finding camping spots, so maybe you might even like to try some of the spots we picked.

Road Warriors 2009: Colorado, take 2 August 19-27, 2009

August 19
 Pre-trip: no planning at all this year. Might backpack, might not. Might balloon ride, might not. Might get a hotel room, might drive all night. You get the picture. This morning I brought the car in to have a slow leak on the front tire fixed. Turns out it wasn’t fixable and now I have four brand new tires, to the tune of $940. It rained all day, 3.5″ to be exact, preventing me from popping the camper up to determine if any mice have taken up residence and packing it with sleeping bags, cleaning it up, etc. Hope all is OK!

The tentative plan was to leave around 5:30, after soccer. As usual, we were late getting started and didn’t roll out until 8:15pm, turned around about 3 miles from home to get Charlie’s Camelback, another backpack and what else? I’ve already forgotten… In Waconia, kids moaning about being hungry (15 minutes from home, mind you), so we stopped at Subway (picking up the requisite mayo packets that my kids insist is “way better than Hellman’s”). Dave drove from there, and in Belle Plain (another 10 minutes from Waconia) decided he was too tired to continue. How we doin’ so far?

Jen drove till about 2:30 am, being the rock-star that she is, only screwing up once outside of Mankato when she chose hwy 60 instead of 90. Oops. Road closed detours delayed about 30 minutes, which she wouldn’t even had to divulge if she weren’t so honest, as everyone was fast asleep at the time. Jen made it to Oakland, NE where Dave took the wheel.

Lots of construction and more detours and delays later, Dave took a sleep pit stop from 5-6 am. Potty and coffee at 6:30 in Kearny, NE. Stopped for breakfast and gas in Julesburg around 8:30. Jen drove from there, through Denver, quick stop at Walmart for new water jug (we have the hardest time finding a non leaking water jug!) and propane.

As usual, we had a very hard time finding “just the right spot” to stop for lunch (out of the cooler, of course, because we like to torture our kids with homemade food). Out of desperation and memories of eating lunch at 4pm during vacation’s past, Jennie pulled over at the top of a mountain pass and we ate a loud and dusty lunch around 2:30 as semis roared past the “scenic overlook.” Dave was highly critical, but at least we got to eat.

Dave drove from there to the Great Sand Dunes Campground. We took site #49. We were sure our site from the 2004 Colorado trip was right next door (#51), which is pretty funny because we drove around the whole place 1 or 2 times before settling on #49. I guess we know what we like. We ate penne pasta with roasted turkey, browned butter and sage leaves. Had a couple beers and went out to the Dunes for the sunset. But it was so WINDY! We couldn’t even open our eyes! Sandstorm!

Windy Sunset at Great Sand Dunes, COHoofed it back to the campground. The wind was literally rocking the camper and a fire was impossible, leaving us only one real alternative: GO TO BED! The kids couldn’t figure out why we were so tired… driving all night will do that to you, I guess. From their point of view, they drove all night too, so it just didn’t make sense.


Sunset on the Dunes

Day two: Pagosa Springs, here we come!