40 Elk & a donut

Well, it’s been since Friday that I’ve showered.  Somedays, that’s just how life is=)  not that I’m too busy, of course, but because campgrounds in the high country shut-her-down fer the winter!  We can handle no water hook-ups for a few days, no problem.  But when the next place you count on for a nice hot shower turns out to be shut off, only to find that out after you’ve soaped up and put your token in (Keith), kinda is a bummer!  So….. I chose to stay dirty today and everyone around me (myself included) hopes that tonight we might find a not-so-primative campground with running. HOT. water. =)  

On the other hand, this primitive camping does have its perks.  WOW!  What an amazing sunrise this morning.  Never been in Wyoming before.  Never knew how HUGE the sky could look.  The stars at night.  The sunset.  The sunrise.  This is what we saw this morning out our back window!  Nothing short of amazingly beautiful.  Primative? Hmmmm. Who needs a shower!

So about the Elk and donuts……

The one thing I love about Estes Park, Colorado is though we stay at the base of the gorgeous mountains in a out-of-town campground,  in 5 minutes you can be right there in town with so many cool places to eat and shop.  I LOVE IT HERE!  We were one of maybe 8 campers the whole weekend.  Had we been there in the summer, we’d a been packed in like sardines with someone’s butt in our view! But we shut-her-down there too.  We stayed until the last day of their season.  It had the most incredible view of the Rocky Mountains.  1 mile from the National Park and 5 minutes from town.  It was a beautiful thing. The mountains make my heart come alive.  In a way it feels good to be 'home' (I grew up in Colorado for 15 years).  Now I know how my parents felt coming to Colorado for the first time many years ago.  I can only hope that I will feel that excited & alive about the next place I choose to call home.

Up until this point we have seen elk, mountain horned sheep, fox, birds in the sky, deer at our campsite, snow capped mountains, snow flurries, & golden aspens.  We’ve smelled the mountain rain, breathed the fresh high-altitude air (7,500+ ft), tasted delicious Mexican food (a few times!), and found a great local coffee shop. (yes, we frequented that just about every day morning, noon & night)  I LOVE all the local treasures we find along the way.  (thanks Beth for your influence!) 

So after seeing and experiencing ALL these treasures, whodda though there could be MORE! The other morning Dad, Kai, Jack and I decided to go to a local coffee shop to get some donuts or scones or whatever yummy we could find for a breakfast treat.  A small little outing turned into an expected surprise.  We stopped at this little coffee shop outside of town called Coffee on the Rocks (cute name) which looked like a little cabin on a pond.  We were greeted by about a 100 hungry ducks!  Sitting on the bench outside was a 5 gallon bucket of corn we could use to feed them.  With a cup full or corn, Kai found 3 ducks that now called her their best friend (from her perspective),  and Jack, well, got in the middle of the rest of the 97 ducks and thought that this was the coolest this ever to have these little animals quacking all around  him.  Of course he chased them, he squatted to touch them, and he threw a few pieces of corn to feed them.  They were both loving it! And did I have my CAMERA? – nope!  UGH!  But it was a sweet moment to see the delight on my kids faces!  By the way, we did find yummy treats for breakfast too.

After that we decided to go downtown quick to see what stores were open.  As we were driving around the bend, I saw this very tall-standing, statue-like 10 point (I don’t know how to say that correctly, but I counted 10 points) elk bull standing on the side of the road.  I did a double take, Dad slowed the car to a stop and we both looked back to see this HUGE animal cross the street toward the donut shop! We couldn’t believe our eyes to see something so majestic in a town!  We watched for a few minutes, then we saw ANOTHER bull walk across the street for a donut. They must know where to get the good stuff!  After we picked our jaws up off the floor, we drove through the park only to be wow-ed AGAIN to see about 40 more elk just chillin’ in the grass along the riverwalk.  Another bull elk, and the rest were momma elk and their babies.  For the next few days we continued to see them there.  It still amazes me, but I guess that’s just what they do here in these parts!  Us city folk are just left awe!

Ya know, it’s the little things along the way that are treasures in my day. I’m getting used to being on the road every few days.  I’m used to changing poopy diapers on my bed.  I’ve gotten used to living in 31 feet of space and not even 6 inches of it is my own. I’ve gotten used to not taking daily showers, puttin’ on a hat, wearing the same pair of jeans 3 days in a row (appreciating they get looser with each passing day).  I’ve gotten used to waking with the sun or my son, I should say, at wee hours of the morning.  I’m used to hollerin’ out ‘can I get a hotspot’ when I want to check email & facebook. (and Derek thinks I’m referring to something else!) For the last 6 weeks we’ve been on road, I can say that I am finally coming to understand ‘living in the moment’ and treasuring those moments that capture my heart and take my breath away.  It’s the herd of buffalo I see as we drive through Wyoming, the antelope crossing the river, the full sky of stars, the coral-colored sunrise, the look on Kai’s face (after she prayed to see deer) when she sees 6 deer eating right next to Maxine. It’s looking over at my husband driving the country roads & interstates, thinking’ WOW we are really doing this!  We are doin’ this together!  It’s seeing the land and imagining those that came west in their covered wagon (thank God I was born in this modern day!)  It’s seeing and hearing from friends and family along the way that encourage us to keep on going. It’s the animal cracker crumbs in our bed after everyone’s climbed in, Bailey included. It’s the question of the afternoon, wadka or tequila?! It’s hearing the elk bugle or coyotes howl in the evening air. I love the primitive sites that make us laugh. I love singing Carol King at 9am.  I love it that mom wakes up when the second pot of coffee’s being brewed.  I love it that we can get an ‘early start’ on the road….like 10:00am. I love it that the dogs smile when they see freedom.  I love these moments. 

On this journey I’ve expected a few things, but all the unexpected treasures have been precious moments. To think that we could be on the last half of our trip west makes me hope it won’t be over all too soon.  I’m not ready for it to be over yet! IT IS truly the journey, NOT the destination and I’m LOVING every moment (even the poopy diaper I smell right now) … we’ll maybe not!    =)