The Ever Changing Sky

 

Greetings reader from Highline Lake State Park in Western Colorado where, unbelievably, it will reach 82 degrees today—the 26^th of September.  We are here for two nights—a brief stop on the Zag portion of the Zig Zag Zig Tour.

It was with a heavy heart that I pulled out of the Denver area; ever since Alan and I camped there at the beginning of Salt & Pepper Adventures (2011) it has felt like home.  Just a natural place for me to be—and Alan too apparently, since we moved there upon our return from Europe, already a well-documented story.

Just a few weeks ago I wrote about Placid Lake State Park in Montana calling it camping nirvana; the stop in Denver was a nirvana of another kind.  I wrote about Chatfield State Park before so I’ll just add that fifteen nights there is not enough (although one more than you are technically allowed.)  The joy of paved roads, hot showers, laundry and a cement pitch was addictive and I added four nights to my original eleven. 

What I was less prepared for was the joy of being near dear friends and a city!  We are talking multiple trips to PetSmart, REI, Whole Foods and Taco Bell.  Over the course of the fifteen days, Liebchen was washed four times; once by Porsche where she had her 30,000 mile check-up.  Liebchen was sparkly clean for over two weeks!

Why so many washes?  Often during the afternoon and into the night, strong thunder and lightening storms would roll through bringing with them a pounding, soaking rain that made my morning walks an absolute delight of fresh smells but left Liebchen spotty.  The sky was rarely the same; always with a deep blue background but often with large white puffy clouds until, of course, the black clouds rolled in and the excitement began.  The ever-changing sky of delightful Colorado.

And Liebchen was beside herself with her check-up complete, six quarts of new oil pumped in, always bright and shiny, and two weeks of not pulling Beagle.  We flew around the city (55 MPH surface streets!) and up into the mountains visiting Evergreen and Guanella Pass.

So you can imagine my dread yesterday when, after 258 miles, I turned into the West Entrance of Highline State Park onto a gravel road; with a strong wind, dust was flying everywhere.  Immediately Liebchen and Beagle were filthy.  Thankfully the pitch itself is loose rock of varying colors (living up to Colorado’s knick-name of the “Colorful State”), so minimum dirt gets tracked inside.  After so many days on the clean cement pad, I was spoiled! 

I have to remind myself that I am always grumpy when I pull in somewhere and it’s over 80 degrees; I certainly was yesterday afternoon.  The dirt, the wide-open campground without a spec of shade other than the (really nice) shades they have over your picnic table.  Plus I missed Denver!   To top it off, I looked across the lake to an oasis of green leafy trees—the location of the other campground.  Sigh.

Hot and tired, I set to putting up the Moon Shade for some added protection from the beating sun and settled in with a nice, cold NA Blue Moon.  Attitude adjustment hour; I turned on my piano music therapy and I took a moment to appreciate the mountains in the distance and, much later, the gorgeous full moon.

All that moodiness was washed away this morning as I watch the sun rise over the lake before taking Opus off on our morning walk.  We headed toward the oasis on the eastern side intending to check out the other campground.  As we got close to the main beach, I heard some loud music and thought someone was waking up really happy, then we came around a corner and there was a huge blow-up arch and an MC who announced, “Good morning athletes!” 

Turns out it was a triathlon; never have I seen so many zero body fat bodies in one location.

We climbed to the top of a hill and watched the first leg of the swim—so impressive!  And the sound of all those swimmers splashing through the water was mesmerizing.  The thin line you see mid-way through the water are the swimmers:

Now that said swimmers have completed their first leg, Opus and I are headed off to paddle; it will not be vigorous—those of you who have paddled with me before know I love to lay down on my paddle board and drift—which explains my higher than zero body fat.

-K