An alternate title:
There’s a Reason for Everything, Including Decaffeinated Coffee
I have long said that the only time I feel at home is when I
shut the door on the Beagle; it doesn’t matter where she is parked. But there are some places that are great to
come back to, and, for me, Colorado is one of them. After
five days of pulling Beagle over unfamiliar roads to unfamiliar places (all
part of the plan) I drew great comfort when I saw the “Welcome to Colorful
Colorado” sign. It’s nice to know where
you are.
Turns out I am here two days early: I did, in fact, tow Beagle up to Fish Lake,
Utah, where we drove up a pitted dirt road in the “rv park” to a surprisingly delightful
pitch up on a hill overlooking the lake.
(The Fish Lake Lodge RV Park is not my idea of an RV park; I don’t stay
at them often, but when I do it’s because I need a long, hot shower and to do
some laundry. This place had no showers
and the laundry room was a quarter of a mile away from my pitch.) But a lovely view:
With rain due the next day, I didn’t want to waste any of
the wonderful sunshine unhitching Beagle, rather, I hitched up the noses and we
went for a walk. After returning River
to the car, Opus and I set out along the Lakeshore Path, much in need of some strenuous
exercise.
It was a gorgeous trail (pictured above) and flat; I couldn’t
figure out why I was breathless. We
pressed on at a good 3+ MPH pace, clocking 5.5 miles total. Midway through we stumbled upon a creek filled
with one of nature’s most amazing wonders; migrating salmon.
I sat by the creek for a few minutes watching them in their
quest. I felt a keen fellowship with
these beings who follow their intuition to get somewhere no matter
the effort.
Back at Beagle I was not feeling well. My head was pounding and I was becoming nauseous. I tried to make myself eat and drink but it
was difficult. After doing some meditation,
I fired up Garmin to see what altitude we were at and was surprised to see it was
9,000’. Which explains my symptoms; I
can hike above 10,000’ but need to come back down to at least 7,000’ for
sleeping purposes. Tried and tested in
Machu Picchu and on Kilimanjaro, I did not need to repeat either of those
experiences in Utah, particularly with no cell service.
So, despite it being 4:00 PM, I put the noses in the car
(see? Good thing I didn’t bother to
unhitch earlier) and we headed back to Richfield, back to the KOA—a real RV
park with long, hot showers, a 24-hour laundry room, and good cell service. I needed to develop a Plan B.
I felt immediately better when I dropped down to Richfield
which sits at 5,300’; my pull-through site needed no adjustments side to side
or front to back, so I quickly walked the noses, threw in a load of laundry and
headed to the wonderful showers. (I do
shower every day in Beagle, but nothing compares to endless amounts of hot
water pouring down upon your head—a Beagle shower is military style; get in,
get wet, turn water off, soap up, rinse off, get out, dry your goosebumps.)
After getting all clean and toasty, I set about making my
Plan B; I was supposed to ride out the snow storm at Fish Lake and just because I wasn't there didn't mean the storm wasn't coming. I certainly
wasn’t going to stay another night at the KOA.
I decided to head toward Denver
and spend my extra days in Colorado; a place I know and love.
So here you find me tonight at the James Robb Island Acres State Park for two nights. It should rain here
tomorrow and snow up higher, so we’ll just hunker down and see what
happens. I do not want to traverse any
of the passes in the snow, that’s for sure.
I love the Colorado storms (and miss this kind of weather more than I
thought) and know how quickly they can come and go.
It’s a lovely campground, right along the Colorado
River. I remember passing it when
heading out with Alan in Salt and thinking it would be a great place to
stop. And here I am.
***
It is now Tuesday morning and other than River hopping out
for a quick pee, we three are sequestered inside (Opus can hold it forever.) The rain is pouring down and the wind
whipping around. While parking Beagle yesterday,
I made note of the branches and, thankfully, parked her in the open—no need to
have a branch blow down on my solar panels, I thought.
New to the food options in this Beagle trip is the addition
of decaffeinated coffee; I love coffee but can only have two “real” cups a day
and clearly this day is going to require more like four. Or six.
You know me, I believe everything happens for a reason; the trick is pausing
long enough to listen to your intuition; and then, like the salmon, having the
drive to experience your unique path in life.
-K
PS: Really glad we
are not on the road as a gust of wind just blew so hard Wurzig’s lights came
on.
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