Day Four Recap

First things first: Happy birthday, Mom! Hope it’s a good one. Last year at this time it surely was. 🙂

Yesterday we left the Lake Scott State Park campsite at about 6:30, happy to leave. Nothing really to recommend there unless you’re a fan of super close quarters with strangers, dust, and “amenities” that don’t amen. From there, we drove into Colby, Kansas and found a Starbucks where we could get some high-test covfefe and a bite to eat. Turns out that Wifi, whenever possible, is going to be essential as I am using up a ton of data already, in only four days. The posts without Wifi will need to have fewer pictures, I fear. Can’t afford a bazillion dollars in overage fees.

At Starbucks, we also reconnoitered and changed our plans for the next night’s stay. With the fridge/battery issues and our general road-weariness from an excess of miles covered, we decided to go online and reserve a spot at a KOA campsite in Central City, Colorado. From Colby, we drove another incredibly flat stretch for ages. When we hit Denver, Len wanted to drive through the city. He used to live in Colorado and was excited to see how it had changed. The area around Colfax Avenue, though, had changed quite a bit in 35 years (surprise!) and he was sad to see how rundown the area had become. We found a grocery store and picked up a few items then went on a search for red wine that proved fruitless.

The KOA, when we finally got there, was (just like the last campground) filled with giant RV’s, but this place was awesome. SO well kept, so organized, with amenities galore. Not a place we’d want to stay in for a week (just because we like wilderness and fewer neighbors) but for a night it was a perfect place to shower, wash clothes, cook an actual meal (salmon, couscous, and salad), and sit a bit and enjoy the scenery. The only campsite left to us was a “premium” campsite (high up on a hillside) that gave us water, electricity, a picnic table with umbrella, a stand-alone porch swing, a fire pit, and a heck of a view. It was very nice to relax and just wind down. (As into luxuriating as we were, we still couldn’t bring ourselves to soak in the clubhouse hot tub or order a fresh-made pizza that gets delivered by golf cart. Just, NO.)

Overheard from an older white guy in Starbucks opining to a table of his friends: “They used to tell you to get your head out of the clouds; now they want you to put stuff INTO the cloud!”

Note to self: Stop wondering what the hermit crabs are up to. They’re FINE and they surely don’t miss you. Well, maybe Kermit does … and Miriam, if she’s back up from molting. But the others are happy for the peace and quiet with no crazy woman staring at them while they eat, climb, bathe, and engage in antennae wrestling.

The only downside to this campsite had nothing to do with it and everything to do with two pernicious words: Altitude Sickness. Blech. We’re at about 8,000 feet and the ascent was too rapid for my body to acclimate. I’m drinking tons of water and taking it easy, popping Ibuprofen (some online sites said it might help), but still experiencing quite a headache. I slept fine and have no nausea, so I’m assuming it will be short-lived and I’ll acclimate soon enough, but for now the head is very unhappy and I’m moving a little more slowly through the world. (By the way, Len also has a headache, but he “can’t” be altitude sickness, because that wouldn’t be manly. His is merely a sinus headache because, apparently, he’s immune to venom.)

Also, I think I may have figured out how to allow comments. I received one comment yesterday (Thanks, Randy!). If you can see a comment box, would you try to leave a comment? It will help me troubleshoot. Thank you!