Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Where has Clan Daniel gone?

It has been such a long time since my last post I forgot my password! Clan Daniel has been very busy over the last month and without much fun until the last week or so. A couple of months ago my mothers(the Nannie's) house flooded. A water filter under the sink burst in the middle of the night because of 130 psi water pressure and flooded the entire house. The bottom 12 inches of Sheetrock and insulation had to be removed, all new flooring and trim, and new paint throughout. Needless to say we have been very busy. The Nannie was living in our travel trailer and we were working to get her back home. We finally got it all completed just in time to leave for a family vacation in Colorado. We left at 4:00am on a Saturday morning for the Pike's Peak area. We were to be in Grand Lake by Sunday afternoon. The whipper-snappers were awake the whole trip! I couldn't believe it. I thought for sure they would crash but they watched movies and played video games the whole way. BTW, the DVD player in the vehicle may be the best invention to date.
This is where we camped the 1st night. It's called 11 mile lake.

It was a beautiful spot at about 8200' elevation. A valley lake with mountains about a half mile away.

After a 13 hour car trip we arrived and started cooking dinner. We had chicken and dumplings cooked in the dutch oven. The whipper-snappers roasted biscuits on sticks over the fire.


We got the tent all set up and were ready for a long nights sleep.


The whipper-snappers are smiling and happy in this pick but in truth they were a little nervous of sleeping in bear country. Bub was ready for an attack with a fillet knife at his side the whole night. Fortunately Sissy traded places with him so he didn't have to sleep next to the tent wall.



A wonderful way to wake up. With a beautiful little girl snuggling up next to me. BTW, it's freezing cold in July in Colorado at night.


A great way to wake up!


Sissy pumps well water for morning coffee.


Bub gets the fire going for dutch-oven biscuits and bacon.


The Mrs. and Sister get it fried up.

After breakfast we feed the birds and then break camp.

We pause for another look at the mountains and a morning moment alone. (until a whipper-snapper finds a camera)

We stop long enough for for a quick picture and we're off for Grand Lake and the rest of our trip.



To be continued.....