Location: Red Feather Lakes Area
I worked a few extra hours throughout the week so we could leave nice and early on Friday to go camping for the night. Mike and Sarah left early in the morning and headed out to the Red Feather Lake area to find a great dispersed camping site. Erick was going to leave work later in the day and then meet up with us. Friday morning was a little hectic as my cell phone went dark, and there was a nail and tire involved...let's just say some of us got spun up a little. But once we were on the road, everything was all good.
Mike and Sarah found an awesome spot that we arrived at in the afternoon after only one unexpected stop to save the carpet from Logan's car sick stomach. I think we may have scared the vomit back into him, as disgusting as that sounds. Maya came along with us on this trip and she got to hang out with Mike and Sarah's new pup Kasey. Poor Maya Bear is getting up there in age and she's not doing all that great, but having her in the mountains with us was a joy and I'm pretty sure she loved it too.
We spent the first night hanging out by the camp fire, drinking, star gazing, and having smores. We let Logan stay up with us for awhile and he really enjoyed being treating like an older kid and allowed to just hang out after hours (cue Logan losing his mind later in the day due to lack of sleep!). I was insistent upon staying up late enough for the sky to really darken (which in Colorado it's still light at 9:30 these days). I simply laid on the ground and stared off into space. I haven't had that chance in awhile and it was breathtaking. I really appreciate how a starry night can make me feel so...I don't know...I'm struggling to put it into words. I'll just use this quote I heard from an astronaut who was doing a space walk to service Hubble and upon returning to the shuttle told his fellow astronaut "Earth is a planet". It's like the feeling of being completely inconsequential but totally in the exact place you are supposed to be.
Well after the adults stayed up until 11:30, my doll Fiona decided it was appropriate to wake up at 5:30am. Before that though, I had a pretty darn good sleep and Krystal only once shook me awake claiming there was a creature outside the tent. We were able to sleep without the rain fly on, so I fell asleep with an awesome view of the stars. Morning started with a nice warm fire and cup of coffee while everyone trickled out from their tents. We stayed lazy for a bit and then headed out to one of the nearby lakes, Bellaire Lake, while Mike, Sarah and Erick went off on their own for a short hike.
Of course Logan was super excited to fish but was also easily distracted by all the nearby kids climbing on the rock formations. He fished for a short bit and then I took over, all the while loosing a couple lures and bobbers to the lake winds and rocks. After losing a few, I figured I'd just throw a hook and fake worm on there since I didn't want to continue losing anything more meaningful. Well...with the worm and Krystal now fishing she caught the first fish of the day within a couple minutes. Logan was going bonkers! He got to reel in about half the way after Krystal had snagged the fish on the hook. I came over to release the fish, but not before Logan could get his hands all over it and claim he really wanted to cook it and eat it for breakfast. Why he chose breakfast, and not dinner is beyond me. Why he wanted to eat it at all is beyond me, his food preferences are very picky. Just the fact that he wanted to touch it and hold it was progress, since he gets weird about bugs and insects sometimes. Either way it was really neat seeing all his joy come out and be so enthusiastic about catching his first fish. Technically, he didn't cast nor hook it but we gave him his claim and let it be. We caught two more fish that day and it was certainly the highlight of the trip. The lake was packed with Rainbow Trout and with the water so clear you could see them interested in the bait and watch as you snagged them. It almost felt like cheating :) We then met back up with everyone for lunch at the lake and headed back to camp.
During Logan's mini-hikes about camp, we had a call sign with him so we knew he was close. There is a hawk (or hawks) that are active in our neighborhood and we have loving named him 'Speckles Hawk'. So I would yell "Speckles" and Logan would holler back "Hawk". It was a good way to give him freedom but also to know he was safe. As he gets older he is certainly more adventurous and willing to go off alone. But if he wasn't hiking around camp, he could be found in the hammock. He LOVES that thing, and I can't recall another time when I have seen him stay put for so long that wasn't strapped into a car seat or involve some type of electronic.
We packed up and headed home Saturday afternoon so that I could babysit my cousins. Come Sunday, everyone was exhausted and we all ended up taking 2-3 hour naps. We finished off the weekend outside in dowtown Denver with Jenny at Jazz in the Park. It was our second time there and a really fun scene, with live music and food trucks.
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