August 20, 2019: Level Achieved: Spotting all of the Big Five These sighting span all of my trips to the Caldera. Moose: 1989 Thirty years ago, this summer, the Moore’s had an adventure across the country. Epic, and I refer to it often. It was a pivotal trip, three weeks packed into the 1980’s, light blue Chrysler New Yorker, it talked (“A door is ajar.” No, a door is a door.). There are snapshots I remember, and stories that my…
I was motivated by a few things, the first being that I had a feeling in my gut that Colorado’s winter was going to be a doozy. Winter 2017-18 was a mild one where I was in Denver in the trailer, there were only a few days that made me queazy with a dip below 32 degrees, but in all that was a mild winter. There’s nothing in my mind worse than frozen pipes, and there are certainly more things…
Recently Jen visited me out in Colorado for her Mountain Sabbatical, and as usual it was a glorious trip. We snowmobiled out in Leadville, tubed in Frisco, dined in Minturn, biked in Carbondale, and soaked in Glenwood Springs. One night I was telling a story that up until then had kept to myself. Since the telling I have been giggling up a storm remembering her face, with tears of laughter streaming down. Good belly laughs. And so I will tell…
The most unimaginative name for a state park in Colorado that is surrounded by stunning views, and the wilds of all wildlife. Kristina, my sophomore year college roommate came out to visit for a long weekend, and I wanted to incorporate some trip with the trailer. Originally I was thinking Taos, but let’s be reasonable… her time out wasn’t enough for that type of road trip. I had heard great things about Walden, and SFSP; it is the moose viewing…
Mid July I headed west through Monarch Pass to get to Lake City. Of all things they have an art fair on a Tuesday in July. I had been in Estes Park for a family reunion (tip: do a PRIVATE tour of the Stanley with friends and family. I had been on the tour twice previously, and it had never been as exciting, or have as much “activity” as with the O’Donnell clan). I headed out Monday in order to…
Boondocking is parking for free out in the boonies. I had been nervous to just go somewhere and park. Lots of obvious reasons: number one on my list is that ever present desire to not get stuck. What if the roads are too narrow, what if I need to turn around? Another hurdle is that this is Colorado, and everyone in their mother is here camping in the summer. It has been a bit of a hustle finding regular camping…
I left Golden Gate Canyon to head to camp. Girl Scout camp that is. As a counselor I noted a few weeks back that my CPR/First-Aid was due to expire, and while blood and guts stuff really makes me weak in the knees, I am pretty proud of myself for getting through it the first time, but needed to re-up. As summer resident camps kick off, GSCO certifies all of their counselors, and I asked if I could head to…
The last two weeks I have been able to breath. Maybe not the best at 9100 feet elevation when walking an incline, but I have breathing room. This week has been nearly a vacation. My stay has been at Golden Gate Canyon State Park, and it has been wondrous taking in this world, I love this park. I firmly love coniferous trees, and their heavenly scent, and the stands of aspens, which right now are just starting to have tiny…
The first craft fair of the season was at the National Western Complex in Denver. The Denver Handmade Homemade was being held in tandem with the Alpaca show. I figured, the Alpacas needed to be trucked in somehow, and that with the live stock in and out of there, they would need to have some trailer parking to accommodate them. I called, and lo and behold, there was free trailer parking! I arrived, and the gentleman working the door pointed…
It’s been one week since I opened the trailer door on full-time RVing. My water ran out today, so that’s another think to figure out how to do. As with most things on the “rig” (not used to calling my home and tow-vehicle a “rig” it’s a little twitch-worthy for me) it’s not hard, just a lot to navigate. I thought my propane tanks were already empty, pulled up to a place and found that they were practically full. With…