we finally made it to the mountains

Ever since getting a tent from my parents for my birthday waaaay back in December, I have been eagerly anticipating taking it out for a spin.  Then when JP's birthday came in May I surprised him with a sweet new camping grill so we could not only have cover over our heads but also a means of heating some delicious camping food.  Our first attempt at camping was rained (or maybe snowed) out, and then I think GREland took over and we had no weekend time to spare.  I think I've spent over 75% of my summer indoors so far, working on all my important trying to be an adult things, and SUCH a small amount of time enjoying the summer weather and all that that entails!  What a shame!  With school starting next Monday (yipes!), I have been doing my best to pack in as much summer as possible in these few short days.  Mason (of the nerdiest study group ever) brought me out to Boulder Creek with his friend Scott to participate in an essential summer staple: tubing.  Wooo...umm hooo?  We maaaybe got in the freezing cold river a little too high up and rode some rough rapids through sharp pointy unforgiving rocks just as the sun was going behind the clouds and it was starting to sprinkle... but after that whole thing it was really fun!  A little bit terrifying, but all together some damn good fun.  I think next time I will make certain that the sun will be blazing, and I won't follow Mason without scouting the area for impending disaster.  Fun though, it really was fun.  Especially the surviving part.  In any case, camping was obviously on the super-short-packed-in-summer-list-of-awesomeness, and since I didn't have to work this weekend we seized the opportunity!  It turns out that everyone who lives in an around colorado likes to go camping on beautiful sunny weekend days too.  It just so happens that those other people plan on seizing the opportunity a few weeks in advance, which just isn't our style  We headed towards Estes Park with the assumption that something would work out, and we came up short.  It was a bleak outlook, pay $35 to camp on gravel sandwiched between two giant RV's while still in town?  Sandwich yourself between two RV's in the middle of a field?  Guh, our prospects weren't looking good, and such were our desires to make it work that we almost plunked down at one of those places.   We heard at the visitor's center that you could camp anywhere you wanted to on land that wasn't in Rocky Mountain National Park, so we just turned our car towards the mountains and drove with the intention of just finding a nice spot and clearing some brush.  We randomly happened upon a campground just 10 miles outside of Estes, and there was also one last little spot that we snagged up right quick!  We set up camp, and then took the pups walking around the area where we spotted the best site ever, and it happened to be kind of empty!  I asked the family next to it if there was anyone staying there, and they told us their friends had reserved it but couldn't come, so they offered it to us!!  We burritoed up the tent and moved right on over!  It was great, the furthest from neighbors, and with a little hiking trail in the back that O and I explored while foraging for kindling.  The tent was easy to set up and fit all four of us nice and snug, and the new grill was just perfect for our steak and corn on the cob dinner.  Mmmm camping.  What a great treat to get away from the hustle of real life.