Garden of the Gods

After our impromptu visit to the vet in Raton on Tuesday, we drove to Pueblo, Colorado and stayed at Lake Pueblo State Park.  This was a one night stay so we had just enough time for dinner and a morning walk to the lake the next day.  It was chilly and cloudy and we didn’t do anything of note so there’s nothing much to report.

The area was muddy (but fun!) so everyone had to have their paws cleaned before getting back in the rig for our ride to Longmont, Colorado right outside Boulder.

The ride from Pueblo to Longmont wasn’t going to be too bad so we made a slight detour to Colorado Springs to visit the Garden of the Gods.  I’m embarrassed to say I’d never heard of this place and that’s my loss because it is breathtaking.  Huge red rock formations, paths to walk between all these massive mountains of stone, stunning views.

There were lots of visitors – human and canine - and the dogs had to dodge oodles of feet and legs and curious kiddos who wanted to reach out for a pat, but overall they loved the walk and we loved seeing something so naturally amazing.  Thank god Dave gets online to research cool places on our route or all we’d see is gas stations and public showers.

We got to St. Vrain State Park in Longmont, Colorado on Wednesday afternoon – our last stop before heading to Boulder on Friday to pick Mallory up for her adventure back to Austin with us.  St. Vrain was the perfect spot and I can say without a doubt that this is my favorite park we’ve stayed in to date.  Large lots for your campsite, right next to the lake, paths around for walking and exploring.  I loved it!

The dogs were so relaxed we didn’t even get the pen out for a while because they were just chillin on the grounds.  But then Belle had to lunge and bark at a passerby so I tossed her happy ass back into the rig and said, “Bye, Felicia!”  After that we started calling her Felicia when she acted up and then Dave said it should really be Bellicia so now that’s what we call her.  Bellicia.  That’s her RV alter ego, kind of like Beyonce’s alter ego Sasha Fierce.  Only Belle is no Beyonce.

Thursday was our last layover day of the trip and being in St. Vrain was the place to be for it.  Honestly I could have stayed there a week.  Must have been some sort of vibe it gave me.  The showers were a good hike away and out of curiosity, I timed myself to see how long it took for me to go from the rig to the bathhouse.

Yeah.  It was a hike. And I was glad Dave had already gone because I knew to bring quarters.

 

Now picture me, standing in a shower, naked, feeding quarters into the slot and praying that I get all the shampoo out before the stream stops.  The trick was that if you want more time, you have to put in more quarters BEFORE the water stops.  Huh?  If it stops, can’t I just start it again with quarters?  I was so soapy and confused that I put all my quarters in and prayed.  

After everything was all rinsed off I was enjoying the nice hot water when suddenly I was plunged into darkness.  Thinking that the lights going off was an indication that my shower was about to end I got out and dried off, water still spewing from the nozzle.  It went on for like five more minutes and I felt awful wasting that water!  The lights went out because they’re motion sensored and apparently my enjoying the nice hot water wasn’t enough movement to keep the lights on.  Had I known that I’d have done a little soft-shoe.  They should put that on the sign.

I hiked the 14 minutes back and when I stepped into the RV, to my amazement Bellicia was on the sofa!  Out of her crate!  You have to understand that since we started this whole thing, Belle has been in her crate the entire time unless we force her to go outside for a walk or it’s mealtime.  The.  Entire.  Time.

This was a huge sign of hope for me, that maybe the dogs are getting used to this nomadic lifestyle and we’re all going to start to relax and have fun.  That night Belle went back into her crate to sleep but hey!  It’s progress!

We grilled chicken and asparagus for dinner and it was rather temperate outside so we had our dinner al fresco.  Up till now the weather has been in the 40s around dinner so this was a nice treat to be outside.

Friday morning we were scheduled to get up and make our way to Boulder for Mallory pick up.  A new heartbeat in the RV was going to be fun and challenging and well, I guess we’ll see what happens!