Since I have posted last, many, many things have happened. Here is the abridged version to get you up to speed until my missing blog posts are recovered and can be published.
We went on a two night three day backpacking trip in the Uncompahgre Wilderness (formerly known as the Big Blue Wilderness). We hiked out via the Alpine Loop Trail, Failes Creek Trail, Falls Creek Trail, then eventually got back to base camp on the Big Blue Creek Trail. Notable events: running out of fuel and having to use only primitive homemade fires, elk herds, sheep herder with herd, losing the trail and bushwhacking via game trails up the side of a mountain to find our trail in a pass, out hiking a thunderstorm to get off the trail and back to real food asap. That night we ate in Lake City and camped by Lake San Cristobal on a pullout because the land was public and free and we are young and cheap! :)
Next we drove to Denver, no Grand Junction, to take care of town business. I got a new pack (Osprey Ariel 65)! We camped on BLM land by the airport in the desert. We ate tasty tasty asian food at
Zen Garden (Tom yum soup and panang curry...so good!). We found a shady laundromat to wash all of our clothes and it turned out to be not so shady after all. We fled civilization and drove towards Yellowstone. We only made it to Jackson, WY though and spent a few nights on National forest land up shadow mountain. Others had discovered this free camping spot, but we found a nice place to camp anyways. The first night there was a party in the next camp over. Had a nice fire because brown pine needles burn like a champ! I am the fire queen now. Notable meals: Thai me up (tom kha soup was divine, making plans to make my own), shades cafe (great breakfast with real fresh ingredients), showering at the local rec center, just like a YMCA), provisioning at the Albertsons and getting a million powdered sauce mixes and finally fresh veggies (the powders are an attempt to improve our backpacking food which is sadly lacking in taste and nutrition), good Mexican food at Piglets Cantina and then getting kicked out of our campsite by a stock party picnic, jerks, this land is public! We are outty. Saw plenty of buffalo and a grouse that visited our campsite repeatedly. Time to move on though...to Yellowstone. (oh and Robert got a slingshot...of course he won't try to kill small furry mammals...no...he is a sweet boy....ha).
Drove up to Yellowstone, past the magnificent Tetons, paid our 25$ entrance fee. Went to old faithful, but then got nervous about getting a campsite. All full! You can camp in the back country about a mile in, but you need a permit. Where do you get those? The backcountry office...it's closed. So we skipped waiting on faithful and drove out of the park to find somewhere to sleep. Found free and deserted camping up a mountain at Timber Camp, again on forest service land, lovely and free. Made killer enchiladas in the dutch. (black bean, artichoke, shrooms, cheese and hatch green chili sauce) yum...we ate all seven of the massive enchiladas.
More later...gotta get real food!
Recording the adventures of Robert and Jenn since 2010.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Wordpress App SNAFU
The app I use to add blog posts has stolen many of my local drafts of multiple posts that I have written, but not yet published. I am extremely frustrated as it seems others are having the same problem, but I cant find a fix! grr.
I am posting this from the website, not the app so we shall see if I can post like this until the app bug is resolved.
I am posting this from the website, not the app so we shall see if I can post like this until the app bug is resolved.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Day Twenty-Eight: Chipmonks!
We woke up, tent in full sun, cracked the tent doors and relished the cool breeze. Only now did we realize how beautiful our camp was. Wooded valley with a meandering (beaver infested) stream, grassy meadow for our camp. We unloaded the car and sat on the giant picnic table to make mochas and more gourmet bean tacos. Let me explain the mochas. Robert likes his coffee, I like the smell, but I can't handle much caffeine without giving myself a headache (I know, I'm such princess). So we make hot chocolate with a shot of mocha (an Italian term for the type of coffee Robert's maker makes), and call it mocha, chocolate coffee.
As we cooked breakfast we noticed a few things. One: the firewood gods had smiled on us again. There were neat, tall stacks of sorted firewood next to our fire pit. Two: the large population of chipmunks was totally unafraid of humans. Curse those people that feed the 'munks! We spent the morning throwing sticks at them and I would run at them making crazed barking noises, whatever works, right? I preferred the run and bark method to the sticks because the dumb varmints would run closer to investigate the sticks we threw, they were that accustomed to people!
The rest of the day was spent taking pictures of this giant horned beetle that flew into our tent, gathering water from the pond nearby. It was moving slowly, had no direct signs of beaver and their guardia problems, and was the closest acceptable source. We then showered in the hunting blind again, it was literally steaming inside the blind when I stepped out. Only the best for us! We went on a short bike ride to the trail head and up the road to the cabin. There were VOC signs pointing around the corner and a field of tents, so we went to investigate. We found a volunteer crew restoring a few more cabins, so they was be rented out and generate some much needed funds for the park. Interesting, and we thought we were all alone out here! (not exactly true, the road had been busy all morning with day fishermen, but few campers)
Oh. The gazebo. We set it up to ward off chipmunks and because it threatened to rain on us. However, we didn't immediately stake it down because we were eating chips and salsa and sour cream, a huge distraction. All of a sudden, whoosh and CRACK! The elbow joint of one pole snapped directly on its seam. It was quite a tragedy. It was our first serious equipment loss. (cracked mug, hole in the blow-up mattress, broken spigot of water container, and now, gazebo- tomorrow Robert will blow out his flip flop to add to our list, but I'm trying to pretend that I am not behind on my writing, so I won't tell you that yet. We had to Jerry-rig a pole by tying the gazebo and fly off to a tree. It was quite a fiasco. Then we guyed down almost every side of the thing so as to avoid further wind damage. What amateurs!
We decided to push back our hike by a day so we could have more time to prepare and explore the area. We made a nice fire, salad and leftover beans for dinner. The beans are very much a the end of their life though. I'm done with them, another portion-size mishap. We sorted backpacking food into bk, lunch, and dinner sacks as we listened to Robert's iPod play Jack johnson and then Keller williams and phish on travel speakers. We discovered however, that a chipmunk had breached our perimeter and eaten into one of our rice dinners! Then it was war. Robert keeps randomly exclaiming, "I'm gonna get me a chipmunk!" He took it harder than me, I guess.
Fire-sitting then trip planning in the tent.
As we cooked breakfast we noticed a few things. One: the firewood gods had smiled on us again. There were neat, tall stacks of sorted firewood next to our fire pit. Two: the large population of chipmunks was totally unafraid of humans. Curse those people that feed the 'munks! We spent the morning throwing sticks at them and I would run at them making crazed barking noises, whatever works, right? I preferred the run and bark method to the sticks because the dumb varmints would run closer to investigate the sticks we threw, they were that accustomed to people!
The rest of the day was spent taking pictures of this giant horned beetle that flew into our tent, gathering water from the pond nearby. It was moving slowly, had no direct signs of beaver and their guardia problems, and was the closest acceptable source. We then showered in the hunting blind again, it was literally steaming inside the blind when I stepped out. Only the best for us! We went on a short bike ride to the trail head and up the road to the cabin. There were VOC signs pointing around the corner and a field of tents, so we went to investigate. We found a volunteer crew restoring a few more cabins, so they was be rented out and generate some much needed funds for the park. Interesting, and we thought we were all alone out here! (not exactly true, the road had been busy all morning with day fishermen, but few campers)
Oh. The gazebo. We set it up to ward off chipmunks and because it threatened to rain on us. However, we didn't immediately stake it down because we were eating chips and salsa and sour cream, a huge distraction. All of a sudden, whoosh and CRACK! The elbow joint of one pole snapped directly on its seam. It was quite a tragedy. It was our first serious equipment loss. (cracked mug, hole in the blow-up mattress, broken spigot of water container, and now, gazebo- tomorrow Robert will blow out his flip flop to add to our list, but I'm trying to pretend that I am not behind on my writing, so I won't tell you that yet. We had to Jerry-rig a pole by tying the gazebo and fly off to a tree. It was quite a fiasco. Then we guyed down almost every side of the thing so as to avoid further wind damage. What amateurs!
We decided to push back our hike by a day so we could have more time to prepare and explore the area. We made a nice fire, salad and leftover beans for dinner. The beans are very much a the end of their life though. I'm done with them, another portion-size mishap. We sorted backpacking food into bk, lunch, and dinner sacks as we listened to Robert's iPod play Jack johnson and then Keller williams and phish on travel speakers. We discovered however, that a chipmunk had breached our perimeter and eaten into one of our rice dinners! Then it was war. Robert keeps randomly exclaiming, "I'm gonna get me a chipmunk!" He took it harder than me, I guess.
Fire-sitting then trip planning in the tent.
Day Twenty-Seven: Stragglers' Move
We woke up to sounds of the others breaking down camp. When I got out of the tent, there weren't anymore tents in our group that were still up. They were in a hurry! We had planned to make eggs and pancakes together, but plans change and soon Robert and I were left alone on our beach sipping coffee. Robert made bacon (tainting my cast iron skillet for a second time!) and then we made gourmet bean tacos. They have many layers: tortilla, cheese, jalepenos, refried beans, avocado, fried egg and green salsa. Holy crap they were tasty. We sat around for quite some time, pondered out next campsite, next backpacking trip, how pretty it was in general and finally got around to packing up. I was on tent duty, Robert on kitchen duty.
I unstaked the tent and gently drug it into the shade and promptly took a nap. It was amazing. Robert joined and then we really slept like babies. (see why the post is titled stragglers?) Eventually, we got up and packed up. We stopped at the grocery on the way out of town for ice cream, pringles and a block of ice.
We drove to Lake City, snacking on the aforementioned vittles plus potato salad and grapes. It was another good drive. We stopped at the Wally in Montrose for backpacking provisions and a few things. It was a difficult trip to the store because I was sort of out of it. We were trying to plan four lunches, three dinners and I couldn't keep more than two things in my head at a time. Somehow we managed to get to a checkout line and back on the road. We drove past an enormous reservoir perhaps called Blue Mesa, but I'm not a 100% on that. It stretched for miles, we had to cross it three times! Finally, we made it to Lake City, Robert and I compared navigational notes, I realized we were going south, not north, and we turned around to find our turnoff about ten miles behind us. Ooops.
The drive to our camp was great, although it was dark at this point, so I'm sure it was less spectacular than it could have been, but I still enjoyed it. We had to take the dirt road eleven miles up the ridge line until we got to Big Blue Campground. Does this sound familiar to anyone? Dad? Ben? I swear we camped in the Big Blue Wilderness that summer we road tripped through Colorado. Any corroborators? This is technically the Uncompahgre Nation Wilderness, but the creek is Big Blue, as is the trail and the campground. In my head, everything looks familiar, the creek is a series of beaver ponds and moats, there is a little wood cabin where I remember a ranger staying right where the road turns, and there are A-Frame fences all over.
We didn't bother with dinner, just made a tent nest in the small tent and passed out, happy stragglers.
I unstaked the tent and gently drug it into the shade and promptly took a nap. It was amazing. Robert joined and then we really slept like babies. (see why the post is titled stragglers?) Eventually, we got up and packed up. We stopped at the grocery on the way out of town for ice cream, pringles and a block of ice.
We drove to Lake City, snacking on the aforementioned vittles plus potato salad and grapes. It was another good drive. We stopped at the Wally in Montrose for backpacking provisions and a few things. It was a difficult trip to the store because I was sort of out of it. We were trying to plan four lunches, three dinners and I couldn't keep more than two things in my head at a time. Somehow we managed to get to a checkout line and back on the road. We drove past an enormous reservoir perhaps called Blue Mesa, but I'm not a 100% on that. It stretched for miles, we had to cross it three times! Finally, we made it to Lake City, Robert and I compared navigational notes, I realized we were going south, not north, and we turned around to find our turnoff about ten miles behind us. Ooops.
The drive to our camp was great, although it was dark at this point, so I'm sure it was less spectacular than it could have been, but I still enjoyed it. We had to take the dirt road eleven miles up the ridge line until we got to Big Blue Campground. Does this sound familiar to anyone? Dad? Ben? I swear we camped in the Big Blue Wilderness that summer we road tripped through Colorado. Any corroborators? This is technically the Uncompahgre Nation Wilderness, but the creek is Big Blue, as is the trail and the campground. In my head, everything looks familiar, the creek is a series of beaver ponds and moats, there is a little wood cabin where I remember a ranger staying right where the road turns, and there are A-Frame fences all over.
We didn't bother with dinner, just made a tent nest in the small tent and passed out, happy stragglers.
Day Twenty-Six: July 4th
This morning we had coffee and I stoked our ashes into a morning fire because I was cold. I am beginning to become a bit of a pyromaniac. My ability to start a fire makes me feel invincible. I can burn anything I want and there is plenty around here to burn. Of course many of the Fourth of July-ers brought old pallets and chainsaws to burn, but I don't need all that. I'm a two paper towel special. I hope to get that down to zero paper towels and one match, but I'm pretty happy with my skills for now.
We quickly broke camp so we would have time to cook our planned feast once we got to Silverton. The drive was really nice. We stopped off in Ouray (pronounced U-Ray) for lunch because traffic was backed up like crazy and we were again starving. We were right proud of ourselves when we pulled over, unhitched our bikes and cruised into town while all our four wheeled friends waited interminably.
At the end of town and an interminable hill (curse those cars and their motors!), we found a German Biergarten that had spaetzle for me to eat. Robert got a brat, I got krautspaetzle (minus the bacon), and we split fries and a salad. The fries were so terrible we only ate half the basket, but really, they were an abomination. The krautspaetzle was pretty good though so it wasn't a complete wash. Then a short trip back through town via bike. Candy and people littered the streets and there were potato sack races in the park. It seemed like a very wholesome, American town.
We continued our drive into Silverton with a ridiculous stretch of road. Speed limit signs read thing like curly-q road ahead, 5 miles per hour, or loopy road, don't even try to go faster than 10 miles per hour. Oh, and there were no guardrails. The entire way. None. Who makes a curvacious road at the top of sheer cliffs and doesn't install guardrails!? Robert took it like a champ, he knew what to expect because he had driven it before, and I enjoyed the vistas, even when they made me remind Robert that two hands are better than one. There was a reason he wanted to drive this part and I respected his decision.
We found Silverton easily enough and David on main street restocking at the liquor store. More bud light lime...gross. We followed him back to their camp, basically just outside of town in some public land near a river. It was free, resultantly crowded, but nice enough for one night. We pitched our tent nearby and then set up the monstrous gazebo. All were appropriately impressed with our set up and story: we live outside. It was crazy windy so it took us a while to set her up and stake her down adequately. Thanks go to Jason for letting us borrow his mallet for the stakes; we had been using a framing hammer!
Next we unhitched our bikes again to jaunt into town to get brown sugar, fishing spoons, cinnamon, 'maters, white sugar and a few other unpass-up able items like lotion! It is so dry in CO that Robert and I are seemingly flaking away into nothingness.
Back at camp our cooking began. Everyone seemed fairly der-wasted and surprised at our culinary plan, standard fare for July Fourth, just a bit ambitious for camping I suppose: burgers, potato salad and apple cobbler. Robert was in charge of the potatoes as I sat and chatted while I peeled apples, ten apples to be exact. The potato salad turned out to be a big hit and only left us with one tupperware of leftovers, five potatoes maybe is two too many, even for a crowd. Then came burgers, mine an Amy's Texas Style veggie burger, Robert's a 1/2 lb monster with onions, jalepeno, bacon, salt, pepper, cayenne, garlic, and soy sauce. It made all the other boys drool.
Then came the apple cobbler. We got an apple crisp mix for the top crusty bit and ten peeled granny smith apples for the innards, plus sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, butter, and a little flour. We put it on the coals from the day fire that had been going most of the day and then thirty five minutes later....mmm mmm good. Everyone who tried it loved it and lots of people tried it, but we still had leftovers. Of well. We have been talking about how we need a miniature Dutch over just for us so we don't make too much food, which is our usually m.o.
Then fireworks. We could see them pretty well from our beach front camp. So we lined our chairs up next to the crazy bonfire the boys started and enjoyed the show. It was very nice, there were even some giant ones that were so big they took up the whole sky. According to our volunteer fireman on hand, then were sixteen inch cone fireworks that are no longer in production in the us. I haven't fact checked though, but they were by far my favorite. One was a waterfall, one was a jellyfish, another was a weeping willow. Then maybe a few duplications. The smaller fireworks were regular, but nicer because of the mountainous back drop. When the fireworks ended, we looked over at the road going from Silverton to Durango and it was one continuous line of cars all the way around the mountainside. It reminded me of those old coca-cola commercials, where it's snowing and cars are driving through the night. Locals said that last year it took until two or three in the morning to get home.
We sat up for a little bit, but it was cold and everyone was tired from a long day. We could see some beautiful stars though: big and small dippers, scorpious, corona borealis, and the Milky Way. I really really need a star chart app for this silly pad of mine, but i keep forgetting when we have internet.
We quickly broke camp so we would have time to cook our planned feast once we got to Silverton. The drive was really nice. We stopped off in Ouray (pronounced U-Ray) for lunch because traffic was backed up like crazy and we were again starving. We were right proud of ourselves when we pulled over, unhitched our bikes and cruised into town while all our four wheeled friends waited interminably.
At the end of town and an interminable hill (curse those cars and their motors!), we found a German Biergarten that had spaetzle for me to eat. Robert got a brat, I got krautspaetzle (minus the bacon), and we split fries and a salad. The fries were so terrible we only ate half the basket, but really, they were an abomination. The krautspaetzle was pretty good though so it wasn't a complete wash. Then a short trip back through town via bike. Candy and people littered the streets and there were potato sack races in the park. It seemed like a very wholesome, American town.
We continued our drive into Silverton with a ridiculous stretch of road. Speed limit signs read thing like curly-q road ahead, 5 miles per hour, or loopy road, don't even try to go faster than 10 miles per hour. Oh, and there were no guardrails. The entire way. None. Who makes a curvacious road at the top of sheer cliffs and doesn't install guardrails!? Robert took it like a champ, he knew what to expect because he had driven it before, and I enjoyed the vistas, even when they made me remind Robert that two hands are better than one. There was a reason he wanted to drive this part and I respected his decision.
We found Silverton easily enough and David on main street restocking at the liquor store. More bud light lime...gross. We followed him back to their camp, basically just outside of town in some public land near a river. It was free, resultantly crowded, but nice enough for one night. We pitched our tent nearby and then set up the monstrous gazebo. All were appropriately impressed with our set up and story: we live outside. It was crazy windy so it took us a while to set her up and stake her down adequately. Thanks go to Jason for letting us borrow his mallet for the stakes; we had been using a framing hammer!
Next we unhitched our bikes again to jaunt into town to get brown sugar, fishing spoons, cinnamon, 'maters, white sugar and a few other unpass-up able items like lotion! It is so dry in CO that Robert and I are seemingly flaking away into nothingness.
Back at camp our cooking began. Everyone seemed fairly der-wasted and surprised at our culinary plan, standard fare for July Fourth, just a bit ambitious for camping I suppose: burgers, potato salad and apple cobbler. Robert was in charge of the potatoes as I sat and chatted while I peeled apples, ten apples to be exact. The potato salad turned out to be a big hit and only left us with one tupperware of leftovers, five potatoes maybe is two too many, even for a crowd. Then came burgers, mine an Amy's Texas Style veggie burger, Robert's a 1/2 lb monster with onions, jalepeno, bacon, salt, pepper, cayenne, garlic, and soy sauce. It made all the other boys drool.
Then came the apple cobbler. We got an apple crisp mix for the top crusty bit and ten peeled granny smith apples for the innards, plus sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, butter, and a little flour. We put it on the coals from the day fire that had been going most of the day and then thirty five minutes later....mmm mmm good. Everyone who tried it loved it and lots of people tried it, but we still had leftovers. Of well. We have been talking about how we need a miniature Dutch over just for us so we don't make too much food, which is our usually m.o.
Then fireworks. We could see them pretty well from our beach front camp. So we lined our chairs up next to the crazy bonfire the boys started and enjoyed the show. It was very nice, there were even some giant ones that were so big they took up the whole sky. According to our volunteer fireman on hand, then were sixteen inch cone fireworks that are no longer in production in the us. I haven't fact checked though, but they were by far my favorite. One was a waterfall, one was a jellyfish, another was a weeping willow. Then maybe a few duplications. The smaller fireworks were regular, but nicer because of the mountainous back drop. When the fireworks ended, we looked over at the road going from Silverton to Durango and it was one continuous line of cars all the way around the mountainside. It reminded me of those old coca-cola commercials, where it's snowing and cars are driving through the night. Locals said that last year it took until two or three in the morning to get home.
We sat up for a little bit, but it was cold and everyone was tired from a long day. We could see some beautiful stars though: big and small dippers, scorpious, corona borealis, and the Milky Way. I really really need a star chart app for this silly pad of mine, but i keep forgetting when we have internet.
Day Twenty-Five: A Walkabout
Today was a lazy day. Robert fished and fished and caught lots of fishes. I went to the bathroom and never came back. (I decided to go for a walk that turned into a stroll that turned into a walkabout.) I went down a nearby trail, found the old mining town you drive past on your way up the mountain. Then I took the other public road the long way home. I took a few close pictures of a marmot (aka a whistling pig) because I whistled at it and it froze as I approached. For those that can't google, marmots are similar to over grown squirrels, about the size of a raccoon. They also stand at attention like ground hogs. I found two more Alta lakes, though arguably they were on private land because they weren't stocked with fish like public lakes and there were some ambiguous signs like, Private Land, No Trespassing, Keep Out, but I only found those as I was leaving the private land. Oops. I was gone for some time and I suppose I scared Robert because I didn't tell him that I was going anywhere expect the bathroom. Double oops. (but i had a lot of fun)
Then it proceeded to rain buckets on us. We sat in our gazebo, made a rain catcher and I think played more dominoes. This time I lost so as not to embarrass my man friend, whose domino skills are world renowned.
Early to bed because we were breaking camp to meet up with Brother David and company in Silverton for the Fourth.
We stayed one less day than the maximum allowed at Alta Lakes. We need to plan better...I want to overstay the limit at some point, at some campground, just for the fun of it.
Then it proceeded to rain buckets on us. We sat in our gazebo, made a rain catcher and I think played more dominoes. This time I lost so as not to embarrass my man friend, whose domino skills are world renowned.
Early to bed because we were breaking camp to meet up with Brother David and company in Silverton for the Fourth.
We stayed one less day than the maximum allowed at Alta Lakes. We need to plan better...I want to overstay the limit at some point, at some campground, just for the fun of it.
Day Twenty-Four: Business in Telluride
We awoke to the sound of cars and people. Lots of cars and lots of people. It was July 4th weekend and apparently other people knew about our free lakeside hideaway. We were worried that we would have tent neighbor up in our junk, but thankfully no one mounted our hill. (We parked the car on the road spur, next to the gazebo, then had our tent way on the other side of the hill, so the bears wouldn't eat us in the night, but it worked great as a people deterrent too!)
We slowly made coffee and showered again. This time I got the water, so I had to made two trips because I am a weakling, apparently, and I don't fill the bucket adequately, but I got zero floaters, so the water was just green, not green and dirty like Some people's water. We busted out Robert's hunting blind as a shower stall and it was amazing. We set it out in the sun and it got downright toasty inside. I especially enjoyed emerging from the blind and sitting next to our campfire in my towel to dry. I imagined our neighbors thought I was crazy, but I didn't mind.
We closed up camp and headed to town for more Internet, Robert needed to talk to the airlines about a ticket he bought and it was getting too crowded at our secluded lakeside resort. Telluride was similarly busy- we had to wait in line for the gondola and we didn't get a car to ourselves! It was terrible. :) We were half-starved when we got to town because neither of us wanted oatmeal for breakfast, so we only had coffee. (Robert has this single cup camping percolator that works like a champ. He takes the strong first cup with one sugar and a dash of cream. I run water through the grounds again for a weaker cup and add two and a half sugars and equal part cream. It's a perfect system.)
We headed for pizza. Tried the Butcher and the Baker, but it looked like a deli, not a pizzeria. Then we back-tracked to the Brown Dog Pizza Joint, which was hopping, so we knew they had good pizza. (In actuality, they had seven tvs playing the live world cup match between Spain and Paraguay, but the pizza was still good.) Rob had more pbr and I had a ska pinstripe for double the price, yummy! Then our pizza came. Robert wanted a large and large is what we got, with fresh mushrooms and bananna peppers, the best kind of pizza. Then we proceeded to eat the entire pizza. I enjoyed watching the soccer because the whole bar was into it and we caught just the end of the match. (and I don't know the rules so it makes everything a surprise, they got a goal, wow, now they are kicking it like this, wow, now they don't get a point even though they got a goal, wow!)
Next we headed off to take care of some business, Robert called the airline while I went bookstore grazing. Then we visited the Steaming Bean again for more coffee, internet and electricity. I think it got it's name because it is downright steamy inside. I had to keep walking outside because the beer then coffee then hot was making me sick. Robert's online errand turned into a major debacle because he didn't have an email he needed, then continental lost his flight information, then he couldn't find the charge on his credit card, then delta found his flight information and all was right in the world. :)
We went to Mountain Village to get groceries. They had a surprising selection and terrible prices. Notable on our shopping list were: ten apples (apple cobbler in the Dutch oven), sour cream, chips and salsa (it has become an addiction/cheap treat on store days), and twelve tasty left hand beers.
Home again home again to find more people invading our lake and stealing all of Robert's fishes. We fished a bit more and only had pbj for dinner since we were both stuffed still. Actually, it was peanut butter, banana and honey, tastified.
We were awakened about an hour after we fell asleep by a racket outside our tent. It seemed someone was trying to mount our hill because the voices were so loud. I was sent to investigate. Not on our hill, down by the lake. (I didn't have my eyes in, it was all I could gather. Why you would send blindy to do reconnaissance, Im not sure.)
In the morning we discovered the arrival of two rvs full of chitlins and drunk parents blaring rap music, right on the edge of the lake. Why their rvs didn't sink into the mud, I don't know. I was hopeful though.
We slowly made coffee and showered again. This time I got the water, so I had to made two trips because I am a weakling, apparently, and I don't fill the bucket adequately, but I got zero floaters, so the water was just green, not green and dirty like Some people's water. We busted out Robert's hunting blind as a shower stall and it was amazing. We set it out in the sun and it got downright toasty inside. I especially enjoyed emerging from the blind and sitting next to our campfire in my towel to dry. I imagined our neighbors thought I was crazy, but I didn't mind.
We closed up camp and headed to town for more Internet, Robert needed to talk to the airlines about a ticket he bought and it was getting too crowded at our secluded lakeside resort. Telluride was similarly busy- we had to wait in line for the gondola and we didn't get a car to ourselves! It was terrible. :) We were half-starved when we got to town because neither of us wanted oatmeal for breakfast, so we only had coffee. (Robert has this single cup camping percolator that works like a champ. He takes the strong first cup with one sugar and a dash of cream. I run water through the grounds again for a weaker cup and add two and a half sugars and equal part cream. It's a perfect system.)
We headed for pizza. Tried the Butcher and the Baker, but it looked like a deli, not a pizzeria. Then we back-tracked to the Brown Dog Pizza Joint, which was hopping, so we knew they had good pizza. (In actuality, they had seven tvs playing the live world cup match between Spain and Paraguay, but the pizza was still good.) Rob had more pbr and I had a ska pinstripe for double the price, yummy! Then our pizza came. Robert wanted a large and large is what we got, with fresh mushrooms and bananna peppers, the best kind of pizza. Then we proceeded to eat the entire pizza. I enjoyed watching the soccer because the whole bar was into it and we caught just the end of the match. (and I don't know the rules so it makes everything a surprise, they got a goal, wow, now they are kicking it like this, wow, now they don't get a point even though they got a goal, wow!)
Next we headed off to take care of some business, Robert called the airline while I went bookstore grazing. Then we visited the Steaming Bean again for more coffee, internet and electricity. I think it got it's name because it is downright steamy inside. I had to keep walking outside because the beer then coffee then hot was making me sick. Robert's online errand turned into a major debacle because he didn't have an email he needed, then continental lost his flight information, then he couldn't find the charge on his credit card, then delta found his flight information and all was right in the world. :)
We went to Mountain Village to get groceries. They had a surprising selection and terrible prices. Notable on our shopping list were: ten apples (apple cobbler in the Dutch oven), sour cream, chips and salsa (it has become an addiction/cheap treat on store days), and twelve tasty left hand beers.
Home again home again to find more people invading our lake and stealing all of Robert's fishes. We fished a bit more and only had pbj for dinner since we were both stuffed still. Actually, it was peanut butter, banana and honey, tastified.
We were awakened about an hour after we fell asleep by a racket outside our tent. It seemed someone was trying to mount our hill because the voices were so loud. I was sent to investigate. Not on our hill, down by the lake. (I didn't have my eyes in, it was all I could gather. Why you would send blindy to do reconnaissance, Im not sure.)
In the morning we discovered the arrival of two rvs full of chitlins and drunk parents blaring rap music, right on the edge of the lake. Why their rvs didn't sink into the mud, I don't know. I was hopeful though.
Day Twenty-Three: Hammock + Sleeping Bag = Best Idea Ever
I remember three things about this day. One, I took another epic nap in my lakeside hammock, snug inside my sleeping bag, using the guidebook as a pillow. Two, Robert caught his first fish (of many). Three, I beat Robert in dominoes, badly. I think we made borracho beans for dinner, minus the borracho unfortunately, but I'm not a 100% on that one.
Day Twenty-Two: Happy Birthday, Robert!
I am writing this many days after the fact, so the details are a little fuzzy.
On this day, Robert's day of birth, we went in to Telluride for Internet and Thai food. Telluride is a little ski town about eight miles from Alta Lakes, where we were happily camping for free because it is on national forest land. Before going to town, Robert wanted to shower. I was not keen on the idea, but Robert gathered water from the lake and boiled some of it for warmth. We set off down a little hill and I took the fastest, coldest shower ever. The wind made it brutal and of course the sun remained behind a few clouds for the duration of our shower just to spite us.
Regardless of our momentary discomfort, we went to town clean. Telluride is difficult to describe, but I will try. We drove to a place called Mountain Village, which is not quite Telluride, although Telluride's official name is the Mountain Village of Telluride. There we parked the car and got on a free public transport gondola. The gondola first took us to the other end of Mountain Village, thick with ski resort lodging. Then we got on another gondola that took us to the top of the mountain, where you get off to go skiing or mountain biking, but we stayed on and travelled down the back side of the mountain into Telluride proper. We brought our bikes, which proved a little interesting since the gondolas don't stop. There are frequently bikes on the gondola though so there were bike racks for us to use. I, however, proved to be fairly inept at getting my bike onto the moving rack. Ungracefully, I boarded the gondola just before it left the platform. I was a little timid on the gondolas at first, but quickly realized that I most likely wasn't going to plunge to my death and enjoyed the views.
We were fairly lost as we disembarked because we had no idea what we wanted to do in Telluride. Robert talked to the conveniently located information booth man while I used the conveniently located public restrooms; the city planners must have been smart people! We decided to tool around town for a bit to get oriented and then found the Steaming Bean Coffee Emporium, with free wi-fi. We read and played online for a bit, got dampish in an afternoon sun shower, then went to the Last Dollar Saloon to drink damn near free PBRs (pabst blue ribbon, for the uninitiated).
After getting a little smiley off cheap beer, we headed out to look for the free concert in Mountain Village that the nice man in the gondola told us about. Amusingly, he was openly discussing purchasing and transporting large quantities of drugs over the phone, but the concert sounded nice. We rode the gondolas back to Mountain Village and stopped in at the Poachers Pub to inquire. Three days early, we were. The concert series kicked off on Saturday, July 3rd. We opted for another round and some spinach artichoke dip, served with terrible red white and blue colored chips.
Now we stashed our less than helpful bikes (everything is within walking distance), got back on the gondola and went back to Telluride for dinner. Robert was hankering for green curry and we knew of one Thai place in Telluride called Siam, Sami to Robert. We got a small table in the corner, next to a window, but still blisteringly hot. The menu was huge so it took us a while, the man tried to be helpful by reading all the words to us, but the reading wasn't the problem, it was just a huge menu. Eventually we ran him off and decided on: psycho rolls (spring rolls with a spicy dipping sauce), green curry with vegetables, drunken noodles with tofu and the house unfiltered sake. The psycho rolls were good, but less than psycho in their spiciness. We enjoyed the curry and noodles, but we can make curry just as good as theirs and they didn't put the correct vegetables in it. They used baby corn and no eggplant nor potatoes. Oh well. I really liked the drunken noodles though, sort of pad Thai like, but with large flat noodles. The sake was tasty, but I was so full it was difficult to finish. Before we left, we made friends with our table neighbors, who thought we were looking through our southeast Asia guidebook for menu suggestions. They raved about the Tom kha soup as being the best they had ever had, even in Thailand, which segued into talk about our upcoming trip. They suggested we bring very few shirts and just buy more when they fall apart since they are so cheap in Thailand. The woman amusingly asked Robert, "how big are you?" I would have been offended, but quickly her husband helped her explain that in Thailand he always sent the shop keepers scurrying for the largest size they had and he wasn't even large by American standards. The woman decided Robert would find adequately sized cheap clothing too. Whew.
We made our way home slowly, enjoying the cool mountain air and the crazy expensive small, slightly run-down houses of Telluride. We had our gondola to ourselves, which is the best because it cuts off all outside noise and you feel like you are in this little private world high above the treetops and ant people. It was especially nice in the dark, slipping through the blackness like pirates.
A very low key birthday, but very enjoyable, I was told.
On this day, Robert's day of birth, we went in to Telluride for Internet and Thai food. Telluride is a little ski town about eight miles from Alta Lakes, where we were happily camping for free because it is on national forest land. Before going to town, Robert wanted to shower. I was not keen on the idea, but Robert gathered water from the lake and boiled some of it for warmth. We set off down a little hill and I took the fastest, coldest shower ever. The wind made it brutal and of course the sun remained behind a few clouds for the duration of our shower just to spite us.
Regardless of our momentary discomfort, we went to town clean. Telluride is difficult to describe, but I will try. We drove to a place called Mountain Village, which is not quite Telluride, although Telluride's official name is the Mountain Village of Telluride. There we parked the car and got on a free public transport gondola. The gondola first took us to the other end of Mountain Village, thick with ski resort lodging. Then we got on another gondola that took us to the top of the mountain, where you get off to go skiing or mountain biking, but we stayed on and travelled down the back side of the mountain into Telluride proper. We brought our bikes, which proved a little interesting since the gondolas don't stop. There are frequently bikes on the gondola though so there were bike racks for us to use. I, however, proved to be fairly inept at getting my bike onto the moving rack. Ungracefully, I boarded the gondola just before it left the platform. I was a little timid on the gondolas at first, but quickly realized that I most likely wasn't going to plunge to my death and enjoyed the views.
We were fairly lost as we disembarked because we had no idea what we wanted to do in Telluride. Robert talked to the conveniently located information booth man while I used the conveniently located public restrooms; the city planners must have been smart people! We decided to tool around town for a bit to get oriented and then found the Steaming Bean Coffee Emporium, with free wi-fi. We read and played online for a bit, got dampish in an afternoon sun shower, then went to the Last Dollar Saloon to drink damn near free PBRs (pabst blue ribbon, for the uninitiated).
After getting a little smiley off cheap beer, we headed out to look for the free concert in Mountain Village that the nice man in the gondola told us about. Amusingly, he was openly discussing purchasing and transporting large quantities of drugs over the phone, but the concert sounded nice. We rode the gondolas back to Mountain Village and stopped in at the Poachers Pub to inquire. Three days early, we were. The concert series kicked off on Saturday, July 3rd. We opted for another round and some spinach artichoke dip, served with terrible red white and blue colored chips.
Now we stashed our less than helpful bikes (everything is within walking distance), got back on the gondola and went back to Telluride for dinner. Robert was hankering for green curry and we knew of one Thai place in Telluride called Siam, Sami to Robert. We got a small table in the corner, next to a window, but still blisteringly hot. The menu was huge so it took us a while, the man tried to be helpful by reading all the words to us, but the reading wasn't the problem, it was just a huge menu. Eventually we ran him off and decided on: psycho rolls (spring rolls with a spicy dipping sauce), green curry with vegetables, drunken noodles with tofu and the house unfiltered sake. The psycho rolls were good, but less than psycho in their spiciness. We enjoyed the curry and noodles, but we can make curry just as good as theirs and they didn't put the correct vegetables in it. They used baby corn and no eggplant nor potatoes. Oh well. I really liked the drunken noodles though, sort of pad Thai like, but with large flat noodles. The sake was tasty, but I was so full it was difficult to finish. Before we left, we made friends with our table neighbors, who thought we were looking through our southeast Asia guidebook for menu suggestions. They raved about the Tom kha soup as being the best they had ever had, even in Thailand, which segued into talk about our upcoming trip. They suggested we bring very few shirts and just buy more when they fall apart since they are so cheap in Thailand. The woman amusingly asked Robert, "how big are you?" I would have been offended, but quickly her husband helped her explain that in Thailand he always sent the shop keepers scurrying for the largest size they had and he wasn't even large by American standards. The woman decided Robert would find adequately sized cheap clothing too. Whew.
We made our way home slowly, enjoying the cool mountain air and the crazy expensive small, slightly run-down houses of Telluride. We had our gondola to ourselves, which is the best because it cuts off all outside noise and you feel like you are in this little private world high above the treetops and ant people. It was especially nice in the dark, slipping through the blackness like pirates.
A very low key birthday, but very enjoyable, I was told.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)