The Adventures of Macy and Mimi...

The Marvelous Macy is here in Colorado for a visit. She and Mimi got up early Friday morning, loaded the car (this took an hour--you need a lot of stuff for an adventure) and headed out to the Indian Peaks Wilderness to find a camp site. We got a late start and I was really stressed--I know that these days, being later than 10 AM on Friday morning means you probably will NOT find a good camping spot. We drove up Boulder Canyon, stopped in Nederland (home of the Frozen Dead Guy) and bought firewood, being really optimistic about the campsite, and headed up to Rainbow lakes.

It seemed that we were lucky...a group in a motor home was just finishing breakfast and said they were leaving in 10 minutes and we could have their campsite! Yeah, it was a miracle, I thought. We paid for the site, and pitched our tent and then headed up the Rainbow lakes trail for a hike and a picnic. Here is Macy, hammering down the stakes (it was windy then) with a rock.



And then we headed out on our hike, Mimi carrying Belle and the lunch. Macy was our scout, as she exhibits goat skills in scrambling up rocks!

When we returned from our hike, though, things got a bit more adventurous. There were people in our campsite, and they claimed that they had paid for the site but just didn't pitch their tent. This is against the camping rules--you have to physically occupy the site--like pitching your tent--but I didn't want to argue. It was truly Mimi's lucky day--a man (Miguel) with a 6 year old came over and said, "My site is huge, you are welcome to pitch your tent over here and you can even put your door the other way for privacy. And my 6 year old would love to play with your 6-year old! The sites were indeed huge, so we found a flat spot and moved our tent across the road. Miguel then showed us the bear scratches on the picnic table and the trees near his site...hmmm, I am beginning to wonder about this adventure! He said not to worry, though, if a bear came, I could blow my whistle and he would come out with his Bear Mace and run it off.

We roasted hot dogs filled with mac and cheese, and strawberry marshmallows (Mimi let Macy choose the food...) and then we played in the creek--this is a picture of Gabby (Miguel's daughter) and Macy splashing in the very cold water. We had a great day, and it turned out that Miguel was a musician, so he played his guitar that evening, and then the girls took turns playing the guitar and singing (at the top of their lungs) Sponge Bob Square pants and Scooby doo songs!

Macy and I got in our tent after dark, and off course, Macy had to throw up in the tent (probably from altitude and too many strawberry marshmallows). There was a lucky stroke to this, too, though, as Mimi had the window open and she threw up out the window onto the ground. Mimi was seriously hoping that bears do NOT like recycled food...

Anyway, about 4 AM, the neighbors who had STOLEN our campsite shouted "Get out of here" and I knew there was a BEAR!! The bear was growling and hissing at their tent and it ATE their plastic water container and their foil. The bear teeth marks were really far apart too--a very BIG bear. I was safe, of course, because I was across the road, sharing a tent site with Miguel and Gabby, and Miguel had Bear Mace. The camper next to me came over (in his shorts, cowboy boots and cowboy hat--did he SLEEP in those things?) and said, "Honk your car horns!" so we did, and the bear ran off. But our neighbors were terrified and said they were leaving and going to a hotel, and Mimi just laughed because she felt so lucky that they had STOLEN her campsite and she was forced to move away from the bear!

The next morning, we had breakfast and Macy and I headed out across Trail Ridge Road to Winter Park--for a stay in the hotel and a hot shower!