The hour and a half drive was made longer due to a horrible accident but both kids had fallen asleep so were spared the aftermath we witnessed. Then we hit a thunderstorm which had us worried we'd be setting up camp in the rain. Luck was with, though. The sun came out just as we reached the campsite.
The boys had never slept in a tent by themselves so had a few issues setting it up. Fortunately, it was a tent we'd given Geoff years ago so we knew the ins and outs of its erection. Our poor old tent was showing its age and looked very saggy. This became an issue when it started raining (with Armstrong camping, rain is a given).
After a couple of false starts, we had a fire going and Melissa had all the fixings for chicken fajitas ready to go. I had bought giant marshmallows so the 'smores were amazing or so I was told. I don't like this camping dessert.
Rain began during the night and our tent got quite damp. Geoff fixed it by knotting up our bungy cords which tightened our fly. Just as well since neither Glen nor I had had a good night's sleep. Turns out some of the problems I foresaw about us 'oldies' camping actually transpired. Glen had been nursing a sore hip for several months and the stiffness made getting dressed a chore. This became a big problem in our tent (originally bought for backpacking 30 years ago). The bottomline is if we camp again, we need a taller and wider tent!
Saturday we were to go fishing. Miles is a great fisherman so we headed out with him to the Slough Pond. Glen did his first cast and caught a small trout. Before I could snap a photo, he'd had tossed it back. That was the first and last fish caught that day. Melissa and Elijah went on a hike and we all met back at the campsite for lunch. It was raining again.
When the rain stopped, we headed to Dude's Fishing Hole. A short hike meant we didn't take our folding chairs. Just as well as we weren't there long before it poured. I was the only one wearing rain gear so Geoff ran with the others back to the car while Glen and I brought up the rear. I didn't realize we were at 9000 feet so couldn't understand why I was having problems breathing. I'd had similar issues on Pikes Peak years ago so high altitude exercise is not for me.
Geoff got the fire started in the rain while we huddled under their picnic table cover. The kids had made a friend and we had fun playing a camping game Melissa had brought. We had hamburgers for supper and the rain let up enough for us to do 'smores again.
It was still overcast the next morning so Geoff built up the fire for a huge breakfast of bacon and scrambled eggs. Glen cooked the eggs as that is his specialty. We went fishing at Ranch Pond while Melissa and Elijah drove into Golden to get more ice. After an hour of casting, I caught a fish! I've never caught a trout before and it was pretty exciting. Geoff said it was a keeper so Miles helped me bring it in and Geoff used his pliers to remove the hook so it became 'our' fish.
When the pond got crowded, we headed back to Slough Pond and Melissa and Elijah joined us as she had seen the car while driving back from Golden. Geoff caught a fish on his bottom line so we had two treats for dinner. Of course, two fish do not feed 6 people so we fried some brats on the fire and had a side of beans. However, the fish were the more than delicious!
Just as we finished dinner, a man from the next campsite came over. He was with a church group and all of them were Asian (except him). They were having a cook-off and wanted us to judge their food since we'd be impartial. They were given certain ingredients and had to create their dishes using these. Melissa, Geoff and I enjoyed some excellent food and met some wonderful people.
Afterwards, Glen and I cleaned up camp while the rest of the family went to a talk on raptors. Melissa took some amazing pictures of the owls. Actually, the birds in our campsite were exciting, too. We had several Black throated hummingbirds visit as well as Steller and Grey Jays, ravens and chickadees. A hairy woodpecker also stopped by our tent.
It's always sad when one strikes camp but everyone worked together and left the sites cleaner than we found them. The kids were excited to get home as it was July 4th and we were off to have a BBQ at friends and then do fireworks (they are banned in Aurora but not where Geoff's friend, Brady lives). The minute we got home, Melissa had a load of laundry in the washing machine and Miles in the shower. Not sure how we did it but everyone had a shower before we left for dinner. Brady and Kelli have known us a couple years but we had never met his folks. What nice people! They sold airplane propellers of all things and had some interesting stories to tell. Brady's burgers were 2 inches thick, I swear and he cooked them to perfection.
As soon as it got dark, the fireworks began. Because this area of Denver is really several small cities, each one had their own display and we had a perfect view of several of them. When I say the light show went on for hours, I'm not lying. Brady had a collection of fireworks the kids could light so we had fun watching smoke bombs, firecrackers and explosions of all kinds. The kids set the fireworks off in the middle of the street then raced back to the house while it exploded. It was great fun. During a lull in the action, the kids wanted sparklers so Geoff began lighting them. The breeze kept snuffing his match so I got the butane lighter from our camping equipment. We wanted a picture of the four kids with sparklers so Geoff decided to light them all at once. Sounded like a good idea but what he created was a sparkler bomb which blew up and burned his hand.
He rushed into the house and dunked it into the ice cooler we had for drinks then Melissa drove him to the hospital. Being the states, he was in and out in under two hours. He had second degree burns to most of his hand but his fingertips were spared. None of the kids were hurt despite being close by.
The doctor also told him not to let the incident lessen his enjoyment of setting off fireworks on the Fourth of July. We thought the same so we let the kids have fun after Geoff and Melissa left and drove them home after the finale. Miles was a great navigator, getting us out of the neighbourhood onto a road we knew.
Geoff spent the night battling pain with drugs but seemed better the next day. He couldn't go into work but joined us for lunch at Mellow Mushroom Pizzeria. Glen and I shared my favourite, a vegetarian pizza called Kosmic Karma. It was a great way to end our holiday in Aurora.
See photos here.
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