4th of July Weekend - #1

You just gotta love it when a holiday falls on the weekend so you get an extra "work" day for a 3 day weekend! But the downside of camping on 4th of July weekend was that we missed Aleah's 1st birthday party!! It's hard to believe our little firecracker turned "ONE" on Sunday, July 4th! We're actually celebrating it next weekend though, along with Jessi's, Jill's and my birthday so it should be one heck of a party!! So birthday pics of Aleah to come..........

Our office usually closes on noon of a holiday weekend and this time was no exception! By the time I got home and finished up packing and Glenn got home and got the camper loaded and the ATV loaded, we were out the door by 2:00 and headed west!

Glenn decided we would go to Sargeants as that is where he's hunting again this year and he wanted to scout a little bit too - it was fine by me - my usual requirements for camping are a view, pine trees (but I'll settle for aspens) and a stream! It's pretty rare when I get all 3 though as it's pretty tough to camp by a stream and have awesome views!! But we found a great spot in a grove of aspens and set up camp!


We roasted hot dogs for dinner that evening but before we hardly got into the camper to eat them it started raining - no toasted marshmallows that first night! Glenn was reduced to playing Scrabble with me where I totally whipped him! It was during that very quiet game of scrabble that I missed what I had forgotten - batteries for my boom box so I could play music! It was DEFINITELY different not having any music this trip!

The rain was nice I must say BUT it made for a dark and cloudy night with no stars or moon out - AND I had forgotten to take the solar light out of the closet at home and charge it up in the sunlight so I had a tough night for a while, trying to get settled without any light - eventually I did fall asleep.........

By 9:00 the next morning we were off to ride the ATV - the rain had settled all the dust so we didn't have to deal with that, in fact many places it was downright muddy!! Glenn had taken the ATV out for a quick ride while I did dishes and when he came back, he told me to dress warmly - and I did - and I was glad!! It was pretty cool most of the day and my long-sleeved top and 2 sweatshirts kept me toasty warm!

The day was beautiful - gorgeous in fact! And the wildflowers were out - the oranges, purples, yellows and blues - what a sight they were! I was one happy girl riding behind Glenn and enjoying the smell of the pines, after a rain!

Glenn showed me where him and his friend Bob usually camp and then we discovered an even better place! The views were magnificent!

We were up the mountain by this time and I just couldn't quit snapping pictures of the views! Some pretty rugged country up that way and I was glad I was on an ATV and not hiking it!

We had a great day riding and after coming down off the mountain, we ate our picnic lunch by a stream and then headed up another side of the mountain where the trail was pretty rocky! When it gets to be too bad or steep, I just hop off and walk!

The evening was nice with no rain so we grilled some chicken and foil potatoes and carrots and had a feast for dinner! It was definitely marshmallows night and we used these nifty new holders that Jaime had gotten us and they worked great!

This is the view from my chair by the campfire - we DID pick a good spot!! To be continued..