Oh hey there! Funny seeing me here, huh? Well as I always say, better late than never! I am beginning to think that may be the theme for this blog? Kyle has given you a great overview of our trip so far... and I plan to continue giving you some juicy details of our trip...right after I share with you a few things that I learned on my first week long camping trip. Here goes.
1. Kyle is a good camping buddy. This was the longest tent camping trip I have been on. He listened to me complain and took good care of me.
2. Not much better than a good shower. When Kyle tells you he can't promise you a shower everyday, what he really means is you will only get 1 real shower for the week.
3. When Kyle says it's not that far, he really means it's far.
4. The sooner you accept being dirty, slightly smelly, and sticky from bug spray, the sooner you can relax and appreciate God's beauty and creation around you.
5. Just because you are camping, doesn't mean you have to eat simple... we enjoyed quite the variety of tasty meals!
6. Turns out, the sun is way different in Colorado than Texas- don't forget to put sunscreen on your ears.
7. Having a good sleeping pad makes all the difference in the world. Thanks to the Henegar's for letting me borrow theirs!
8. I learned how to go to the restroom (#1) outside. Now I am basically a pro. I don't know if that is a quality you admit to people, but I did.
9. Sometimes not having a plan is ok, and it makes your adventure that much more adventuresome.
10. After tons of luke warm water, a Coca Cola Classic really hits the spot.
Alright, now back to our trip...
So now in our journey, it is July 4th. That morning we woke up and decided we needed to do something real American. We hit up a small restaurant in the town of Silverton for breakfast and explored a little. We had heard there was going to be a parade, so we decided to stick around for the festivities. The parade didn't disappoint. There was quite the variety of entertainment in the parade, and it lasted for quite a while to be in such a small town.
Here is the main street where the parade went down. When I say main street... I mean, this was pretty much the town.
The Silverton Brass Band made an appearance.
Then out of no where, these Jeeps pulled this trick. I was impressed.
There were belly dancers...
And some runners too...
We saw the fire trucks coming and spraying everybody with the hoses, so we decided it was time to head out. After leaving Silverton, we headed towards Durango. We stopped for a quick hike on the Molas Lake Trail. It can be quite an intense hike but we decided just to do part of it and ate a quick PB and J along the way.
Little trail along the way.
The view while eating our PB and J. Not too shabby if I do say so myself.
Lovebirds. So rugged.
A view with a little of the lake in it.
After we finished the hike, we continued and made our way into Durango. We weren't sure where we were gonna stay, so we googled some places on our way into town. We found great reviews on a campsite in the National Forest, Junction Creek, so we decided to give it a shot. We got super lucky once we arrived... they were actually booked and supposed to be full for the night. However, they said that a group had packed up everything that morning and left and didn't appear to be coming back. They said we could have the site, but if the group showed up... we got the boot. Thank goodness that didn't happen!!! We hung around for a little bit before fixing some chili for dinner and setting up camp, just to to make sure we weren't gonna get the boot. Despite a little rain, we got the tent up and managed to freshen up a little before heading into town for some chocolate ice cream and of course... FIREWORKS!
Overall, I would say that July 4th in Colorado was a success. I was concerned that with all the wild fires and fire bans that we wouldn't get to partake in fireworks this year... but we did!
