First we explored some BLM land (Bureau of Land Management) out on the CO/UT border. We took our low car to some spots that shouldn't have; however it was fun exploring. Austin and Annabelle took a little walk to expore over the hill.
The scenery was beautiful.
After driving and walking around for awhile we decided that the primitative camping sites were not our cup of tea (at least for this first trip). So we headed to a local state park and set up camp. We found a nice little spot on the edge of the campground and were able to watch the sunset as we prepared dinner.
Austin did well at starting up the campfire with some sticks, dryer lint, and newspaper.
Sunset
The beautiful changing colors around the campsite.
I put together hobo meals for our dinner and Austin expertly put them in the fire. Unfortunately, I forgot that these are supossed to cook in the coals, not in the fire. So most of our dinner was burned; however, we also had some hot dogs so all was okay. We finished off the evening with sticky smores and good stories.
We went to sleep without the rain flap on because it seemed like a mild evening. However, during the evening, the tempertaure dropped considerably, a storm blew over, and it started raining. So at 2:00AM, we were running around our campsite putting on the rain flap, and pulling things in the tent so that they wouldn't get wet. It was an eventful night, but hey, we were camping in Colorado.
In the morning I got up and fried some eggs, potatoes, and such for breakfast. It was quite a hearty breakfast. Then we cleaned up, packed up, and headed to the lakefront to explore a bit.
After sitting next to the very windy lake, we decided to go back out to the desert on BLM land and hike the dinasour trail out there.
The dinasour is a pretty easy hike, but has increadible views of Rabbit Valley and multiple mountain ranges. Also, there are fossils still embedded in the rock at various points along the trail. We were proud of Annabelle for making the hike with us, despite her recent injury.
Austin was kind enough to move a boulder out of the hiking path.
We also made sure to follow all the directions and close the random fence gate.
I felt on top of the world
I set the camera on a rock and tried to take a "we hiked this together" picture for the wall. However, Annabelle kept getting in the shot. So I took care of that....
What a happy family. :)
After a few hours of hiking and visiting with new friends (people that we met on the trail) we headed back to the car. By this time, Annabelle was limping pretty badly, so Austin carried her the rest of the way to the car.
So what did we learn? (1) Prepare for extreme temperture drops at nighttime in Colorado. (2) When the sign says "only high clearence vehicles", they really mean it. (3) Dogs cannot do 2 mile hikes after breaking bones the previous month. (4) Cook the hobo meals in the coals. (5) We can't wait for our next adventure!!!
