Adventure for Four: Running About in Colorful Colorado: Adventure #5: Camping Time

Date: Friday, July 25th 2014
Location: West Magnolia, Mud Lake

I left work early on Friday and we set out for our first camping trip in Colorado and our first camping trip with Fiona. We wanted to go someplace close and familiar, so we headed to West Magnolia south of Nederland where we took the 4 Runner on our very first adventure. I left work at noon and we were at the campsite by 2PM, I'd say pretty dang good considering the little bit of traffic we hit through Boulder. Logan again enjoyed the little bit of off-roading we did getting to camp. His giggles continue to make me smile.

We found a nice spot at the top of a small hill and unpacked. It's amazing when you're not in a group and one of you is corralling children just how long it takes to setup camp but I really enjoy that part so no big deal. Logan is old enough such that he can help carry stuff from the truck to camp. It's not entirely efficient but it's good for him to be part of the team. It was pretty cute when he attempted to drag the cooler, he got much further than I anticipated.

Our campsite

Prior to children you unpack, open the cooler and enjoy a beverage or two. Well with kids, it's "hey Dad let's go explore". But that is where all the fun is at! We took a handful of small walks around the area and Logan got a kick out of Maya joining us and being off leash. We also gave Logan a variety of tasks which included stacking rocks, moving sticks, and basically anything to keep him busy with his endless supply of energy. He was obsessed with the fire pit and we did all we could to keep him not entirely covered in soot. He's also gonna really enjoy camping if he gets to eat the variety of junk food he did this time.

The highlight of the trip was once the sun went down and we lit the fire. Due to the sun staying out till 9pm we did dinner on the camp stove much earlier and only did s'mores later in the night. Logan of course enjoyed the s'mores but he was his usual cautious self in roasting the marshmallow. He certainly is not the kid that plunges the marshmallow into the fire and let's it catch on fire. During the s'mores we told stories. Logan would start the story then Krystal or I would add another part and pass it back to him. We wound up coming up with some sort of story about horses going to the beach with their cow friends and Logan jumping out of a cake to surprise them. His imagination at almost four years old is just so wild and so much fun. He really gets a kick out of telling these stories. It probably started when we would make up stories about "a boy named Logan" when he was much younger and we got tired of reading him the same book. He would make us keep going on and on, but I guess he soaked it in and learned a lot. Logan had also been bugging us about flashlights since we basically arrived at camp, so once the sun went down he finally got what he wanted. I gave him a head lamp and it was so funny watching him turn his head slowly and look up and down in amazement as the light followed him. He must have worn one before but perhaps not since he was truly mystified. The lamp also had a red led which he called the 'red version' (seriously what 4 yr old uses that kind of language, what a goof) and it was the only way he wouldn't blind us. I'm certain that next camping trip his first request will be the headlamp with the red version.

We also enjoyed some fun times in the hammock and got this gem of a video. That hammock was the best $20 purchase I've ever made.

Sleeping was an adventure in and of itself. Fiona was a mess being up for a few hours and wound up having to sleep next to Krystal. We think she was cold, but who knows...basically everyone except Logan didn't sleep well. He was out cold (well except for his few moments of sitting and sleep talking them passing out again). The other fantastic bit of the evening was that the tarp I hung for shade was being slapped around in the wind ALL NIGHT! You could hear the wind rolling across the mountain (which was really neat) but once it hit camp that stupid freakin tarp was an obnoxious mess. Oh well, note to self, don't camp on a plateau and be sure to button up for a windy Colorado mountain night.

Krystal woke me in the morning saying "there's something outside, there's something outside". Indeed, there was, I heard it. Alas, we peeked out of the tent and saw nothing. Krystal was paranoid about bears (she claims there's bears in CO but wasn't in AZ) so she bought some glorified bear mace, a big purchase for her since it cost more than $24.99. She was very proud of herself. I simply packed the .45 :) I will admit there was what appeared to be bear claw marks on a nearby tree. Also as a kid you never think about these things, but once you are the parent to the kids it does cross your mind more often. Off on the hikes with Logan I was certainly more aware of my surroundings than I ever was as a kid or an adult with no children. But that's part of it.

We spent a short morning at camp and packed up for a quick hike at nearby Mud Lake. It was a kid and dog friendly hike, really easy and short around a small lake. The trail was marked with blue diamonds on the trees and Logan enjoyed guiding our way. I will add that having Maya along with us was a really nice change of pace. She's a really good dog as long as she doesn't see a squirrel...then it's game over, no listening, just chase mode ;)

I'd call our first trip a success. It was fun to just be the four of us, and I think that fun will increase once Fiona gets a bit older. Logan was a filthy mess when we got home so Krystal bathed both kids while I unpacked the truck. Good tag team. It's surreal to me now being the parent and going through all these responsibilities that were left to my parents growing up. It's like a time warp where I'm reliving my childhood but from my parents perspective.

We were back by 2 or 3PM on Saturday and had a nice Sunday in town. It was the first Saturday or Sunday in three weekends that we weren't in the mountains but we supplemented that by meeting Jenny for lunch in Denver and hitting up REI and Wilderness Exchange. We also managed some much neglected yard work...who wants to do that when the mountains are calling.

Until next weekend...