BYGTWSO!-Day 34

Woke up at the Old Columbine Campground in the previously mentioned forest. So, on our way here the afternoon before, we stopped at the Forest Service in Norwood, Colorado to ask the nice lady how the roads were up to the mesa because July=Monsoon Season and there had been some rain and we didn't want to get stuck. Oh, she tells a good story. She told us the road was good and it was was. She also told us the scenery was great and there are tons of ELK up there and that we could camp anywhere we wanted on the forest, didn't have to be in a campground, and all that jazz. What she failed to mention were the thousands of cattle grazing on the forest. At least the campground was free. Elk schmelk. My favorite K quote of the day was, "By the way, I did step in that cow pie." On the other hand, K enjoyed watching me play the part of Bossy Cow by telling the cows in no uncertain terms to get away from the tent and the picnic table. These four cows were contemplating walking right past our table so I marched toward them, speaking in a tone of authority. They stopped. They chewed their cud or whatever cows do. They looked like insolent teenagers challenging me, "So what are you gonna do about it?" I stepped closer, raised my hand and pointed, "Go the other way!" The four gangstas continued to stare straight at me. One fine lady let 'er rip and just peed in all the silence while we stared each other down. I tried not to take it personally. They finally decided to go around. K says I'm pretty entertaining. We drove home, unpacked, and cleaned up.

Just a word about cleaning up. You know, I'm pretty good about all this camping. A lot of girls wouldn't be able to take it. I know how to get by without showers. Every wet wipe/personal wipe is worth its weight in gold. We know how to heat water and wash up. But sometimes, every so often, the grime of camping starts to get to me, and it really did this time, probably because of the cows. I think it was the smell of cows that put me over the edge. I got to thinking about all the suncscreen, the insect spray, the sweat, the salt, the sour body odor if you don't shower anyway, the coal cinders stuck in our hair, the hand sanitizer, the wipes. By the time we rolled in yesterday, I was thirty-one flavors of ripe camping. I carried two loads up the stairs and then jumped into the tub. After my bath, we proceeded to clean, wash, sanitize, and air out everything--all better now!

One last thing...while eating dinner after we got back last night, I grabbed some stuff my grandmother wrote about her life (I was reminded when we saw the bear and told K I would share some stuff with him when we got home). I read excerpts aloud to K about her trips with my grandfather. They hiked, they backpacked, they saw bears, they had picnics. They went to a lot of the same places we've been. My grandma was a teacher as well. As I read a few things about my grandma's life and things her students told her and their parents told her, and realized just how much my life seems to parallel hers, I cried. K just grinned and said "It's all in your blood; you're following her footsteps." I never even meant to. I thought I got the outdoorsy stuff from my dad. My grandma was a wonderful lady. If I'm turning out to be just a little like her, then I'm doing okay. By the way, she wrote about teaching kindergarten one year...get this! She had 42 students in her morning kindergarten and another 43 students in her afternoon kindergarten! I guess I shouldn't complain about 37 fifth graders!