Packing the car - we almost had a stowaway!!!!!Memorial Day weekend: We don't have a good track record. We have been camping with this group for about 5 years now, and we usually have some sort of "undesireable" weather" on this weekend.
That said, I don't have too many camp pictures. The reason? I didn't want to get my camera too wet. That kind of says it all.
Here is breakfast on Saturday morning - our first "tent city" of the weekend:
Just trying to warm up a little:
Gathering firewood, after we realized there was no "camp host" and no firewood for sale in the campground. The men drove to town for some firewood.
Saturday afternoon, we took a trip to the highlight of the Pawnee Grasslands, the Pawnee Buttes. (The campground is about 20 miles away from the buttes, so it was trip in itself.)
So it is a huge surprise to see these huge rock structures out in eastern Colorado. I imagine it was a huge surprise to those travelling across the plains, to come across the buttes.
Looking for frogs - out here, you must be an opportunist. (Miniscule runoff pond under a windmill.
Here it is! We actually found two. They were incredibly noisy for their size!
Of course it rained during our hike. Makes for some pretty wildflower pics. (Of which I took many - I'll only share a fraction of them with you here today. Someday I'll even look up what they are.)
Did anyone see Tanya's mystery scat photo? Well here is what made it up. What ate this?
Amazing rock formations.
Lovely friends.
Prairie - then rock.
More wildflowers.
See the darkening sky? Yes, it rained. Look at owen's major curly hair - humidity does that for him.
Some of the flowers grew in a mounding pattern - the roots held the soil close, but everything else eroded away.
Flowers on the edge of the mound:
Flower fairy.
I guess the rain had really set these all to blooming.
Gathering firewood, after we realized there was no "camp host" and no firewood for sale in the campground. The men drove to town for some firewood.
Saturday afternoon, we took a trip to the highlight of the Pawnee Grasslands, the Pawnee Buttes. (The campground is about 20 miles away from the buttes, so it was trip in itself.)
The buttes were amazing. Eastern Colorado is, well, flat. With grass. Our campground had a grove of trees, but that's about IT.
So it is a huge surprise to see these huge rock structures out in eastern Colorado. I imagine it was a huge surprise to those travelling across the plains, to come across the buttes.
Looking for frogs - out here, you must be an opportunist. (Miniscule runoff pond under a windmill.
Here it is! We actually found two. They were incredibly noisy for their size!
Of course it rained during our hike. Makes for some pretty wildflower pics. (Of which I took many - I'll only share a fraction of them with you here today. Someday I'll even look up what they are.)
Did anyone see Tanya's mystery scat photo? Well here is what made it up. What ate this?
Amazing rock formations.
Lovely friends.
Prairie - then rock.
More wildflowers.
See the darkening sky? Yes, it rained. Look at owen's major curly hair - humidity does that for him.
Some of the flowers grew in a mounding pattern - the roots held the soil close, but everything else eroded away.
Flowers on the edge of the mound:
Flower fairy.
I guess the rain had really set these all to blooming.
The menfolk looking at something far away.
Owen in a poncho - I got a rain splotch right in the middle of lens.
Fun with focus.
The girls.
Relaxing at the base of a butte.
This was on eof my best shots of the wind farm to the north of the buttes. There were hundreds of giant windmills. Hard to see with a photo, though (look right at the horizon - all across).
Flower fairy again.
Sunday morning, we found a lovely climbing tree. All the kids loved it.
Sort of a "Swiss Family Robinson" type tree.
They never slowed down enough to get them all in one photo!!!!!!
Warming up the toes:
Wet girl:
Our campfires often have the lovely music of Bob and Marcos accompanying the crackle. Owen decided to join in with some recorder. It was too dark to see people, so just the fire is in the picture, but guitar and recorder is on the background. :-)
Owen in a poncho - I got a rain splotch right in the middle of lens.
Fun with focus.
The girls.
Relaxing at the base of a butte.
This was on eof my best shots of the wind farm to the north of the buttes. There were hundreds of giant windmills. Hard to see with a photo, though (look right at the horizon - all across).
Flower fairy again.
Back at camp, trying to start a fire before campfire time. They worked on it for quite a while.
Concentration.
Sunday morning, we found a lovely climbing tree. All the kids loved it.
Sort of a "Swiss Family Robinson" type tree.
They never slowed down enough to get them all in one photo!!!!!!
Sunday evening - another tent city. In desperation to have "Campfire Time", a tarp was rigged to allow children to sit near the fire and still roast marshmallows, in spite of the drizzle.
Warming up the toes:
Wet girl:
Our campfires often have the lovely music of Bob and Marcos accompanying the crackle. Owen decided to join in with some recorder. It was too dark to see people, so just the fire is in the picture, but guitar and recorder is on the background. :-)
