vacations, part 5 of 5

Here is a picture as pictures were then, very bad: and a picture of our second camper at the side.
As one of the girls mentioned, we started out in a old army tent. We tried lake cottages, then campers, the first one was tossed around by an Indiana tornado, then we went to larger and yet larger campers. As the kids grew up and left home, we finally sold the camper, and went back to a small up to date tent in the back of a volkswagon.! By then we had pretty much narrowed down the necessities in life!

I remember the first camping trip through Colorado on the way to the coast on old highway 6. We climbed and climbed ; I was so thrilled to be in the mountains, just the awesome-ness and the wonder, then we came out on a high plateau . I thought" what is all this flat country", And I remembered a long ago geography lesson. OH, this is what a plateau is.

It seemed that the preparation of a year for out trips,where we saved half dollars in a jar, and I built up my courage to face another onslaught of misquitos, and hot weather and disconfort were actually worth it to see this great country! Just a few things to mention, The mountins, the ocean, the california poppies covering the hillside, sand dunes, the redwood forests, Crater Lake, Yellowstone, Mount rushmore , and on and on, with the long distances in between. Now we can see all this on TV but somehow the" roughing it " experience is not to be forgotten.

And it is a fact, that my husband never got a misquito bite. The misquitos could sit on his hands and face, and never a bite! None of the kids shared his gene. Sorry.

vacations, part 3 of 5

I remember that I loved Kansas. Don't remember where it was....but we stopped at a park that had hot showers and they were free. It must have been the only place that summer because I decided I loved Kansas....they had showers!
And I remember that old army tent.....smelled so horrible inside that I wanted to sleep outside, but we couldn't, it was raining.
Washing our hair in ice cold water because we were teenagers and couldn't possibly go without washing our hair.....then tying a hanky over it to cover it up. Pretty funny.
I remember sitting on a rock at Kelly Dale....outside of Boulder (I went back to find the exact spot as an adult). Looking west to the mountains with a lake in front of me and "talking" to God. It was the most beautiful spot on the planet...I must have been 15 or 16. And to this date, I have never found a spot more gorgeous. I remember sitting on the rock until Dad came looking for me. I found peace there as a teenager. And since then, when I have needed "peace", my mind has taken me back to the beauty of that spot.
Going to Estes Park and buying salt water taffy. Never quite understood how they had it there with no ocean around.
Going to Central City and watching the goldsmith forge earrings. Climbing that forever hill back to the top because I swear, dad parked the camper as far away as he possibly could!
Dad driving into the gas station and hitting the overhang. I was up on the top and thought I was going to die for sure.
How you and dad always seemed to hook up with another family who followed us for a few days and they always had kids.
The week in Afton Wyoming and the Baptist church there.
Bouncing around in the camper when we went over rough roads thinking it was going to come disconnected from the truck and we would never see you again!
Laughing.
Praying.
Mt Rushmore. Dad said a man could stand inside the eye....and it looked about 2" tall from where we were.
The snow in the middle of the summer at Rocky Mtn National Park.
Swimming in the ocean and hearing the sea lions somewhere on a cliff.
Seeing the world's oldest tree.
Dad making me read a map. Telling me we were lost when he knew exactly where we were.
You getting so sick to your stomach and looking like you were going to die. :o)
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