Happily Ever Sunset, After All - Day 2, Colorado

I did not expect the eye roll and "gross!" response I got the first time I told someone (my sister) that Matt dries my hair for me.  I want to say I do not KNOW how I got so lucky to have a husband who cares so much about helping me (...every...little...detail), but that's not entirely true.  I like to say it's been an acquired skill he has learned based on sheer desperation to keep me from not continually losing my $*@! 😬😂, but that's also not entirely true.  (Failed that one this weekend.  😢). 

Let's leave it at I am grateful.  Self care (physical...I'm talking hygiene, people.) is a commonly known neglect in the neurodivergent world.  He's lucky I keep myself (mostly) clean.  I'm lucky he will dry my hair so I feel "pretty" sometimes (which is whenever I have time in between overbooking myself to ask for help).

The original "Foxy Lady".

We were early birds on our 2nd day in the mountains.  We took the time to enjoy the peace and quiet out on the deck of our cabin.  Matt spotted our little visitor for the first time (she became a regular we didn't always take the time to greet), and I did some research on local spots I had searched up to try to find a more local (and less touristy) spot.  I decided it would be fun if we took the kids fishing, since that's just about ALL Dillon had talked about the day before.

So...we ordered our licenses, went in town to Walmart for supplies, rounded up the kids and a picnic (anticipating a full day), and headed to a local state park I had chosen.

The chance I take when traveling spontaneously is completely messing everything up.  (Happens to matter more here, because we have a limited number of days and less time to lose.) In this case, I had the additional stress of very poor cell service between the cabin and the nearest major town (40 minutes away), which makes navigation and detail checks along the way next to impossible.  (And I don't have a tendency to be fully prepared on time.  🤫). 

I like to say, I tend to find myself in the right place at the right time...but only if I'm not trying.

When we got to the State Park, we passed what I would call a "puddle."  I started to freak that maybe that "blip" I had seen on the map was the only place to fish in the park, but I kept my panic and my prayers prayers to myself.  Everyone else was obliviously happy and positive walking into the Visitor's Center.

They enjoyed the little gift shop and nature displays, while I chatted it up with a friendly ranger who confirmed my biggest fear.  ("Could you keep it down, Mr.?").  The best place to fish in the area was "Dragonfly Fishing Pond"...the dreaded antithesis I feared it might be.  It was a "kiddie" pond, and the majority of my "kiddies" are closer to 20 than not.  ("I'm sorry.  I don't speak adult.") 

I asked for more reasonable alternatives nearby, and Mr. Ranger suggested a place about 30 minutes away (back in the direction from which we came).  Awesome.  My planning impediment strikes again!  

Mueller looked like a GREAT place to hike, but I had already paid for everyone to fish for the day...and fish we would...come high water or...I don't know...a grizzly bear.  (The worst thing is, I also KNEW we were going to have to come back this way again, because we needed more food (which we couldn't leave in the car all day).  For the record, I don't recommend forcing your kids to ride back and forth in the car retracing your mistakes two days after a big road trip...turns out, they don't consider that a fun vacation. 🙅‍♀️)

I do think, though, Lake George was worth our time.  It's one you won't find on the must do list near Pike's Peak...that's exactly the kind of adventure I'm looking for.

Unfortunately, it also involved a lot of driving.  We weren't sure how far it reached.  We pushed the kids just about as far as we thought they could go...hoping the fish would finally be biting just around the corner.

We got skunked.  We stopped in several places, got exactly about 0 bites, but I THINK (and Matt kept loudly reinforcing me) the time outside and the views along the way made it all worthwhile.

Just when we caught on that the kids had had about all they could take, we pulled up stake and broke the bad news about having to go back into town.

What is it about driving through natural tunnels??!!  The whole day can be progressively heading south and then you see a rock tunnel...everything is suddenly magical.

It was a giant big kid crank fest the whole ride back.  However, I spoiled them with a stop at a wonderful little pizzeria, they hung in for one more grocery stop, and we gave them the evening off to wander the cabin indoors and out.

I, however, was...well...if you know me at all, you know that I TEND to be competitively perseverant.  After we had the kids settled and the groceries put away, I dragged Matt out to one last place I hoped to find some fish...

I had in mind to discover an AMAZING "sure thing."  (She swings and...she hits the game winning GRAND SLAM!!!  This is unbelievable, my friends!!  Ground breaking!  History-making!  Hall of Mom Fame-Worthy!). My back-up plan was to enjoy getting away from the grumpy complaining for awhile.  (True dictators know, you will NEVER make them all happy.)

In truth, I found a beautiful lake that the locals, apparently, prefer to keep secret.  It was incredibly NOT busy.  I was initially a little annoyed by the two other fishing groups that were there, but...we had plenty of space to share.  

We threw our lines in a few times before I got bored with the location.  (Impatience is probably the reason I don't tend to be an amazingly successful fisherwoman.). So, I started working my way down the bank, exploring along the way.  I worked my way to the first fisherman, who happened to be alone and told me he was fishing for "whatever would bite."  I realized later that must be a common line between serious fisher people, because the people up the way started catching and he remarked, "Here they come."  Of course, I didn't catch on until later.  (Why am I ALWAYS the LAST one to get the joke???!!!)

I hiked on past them and ended up a significant distance from Matt.  Fortunately, I didn't catch anything, because I'm not sure what I was thinking going that far without any equipment or help.  And also NO cell service.  But....I enjoyed a peaceful time in a lovely place...

AND...

Matt happened to be paying attention.  In the end, we determined that we hadn't had the right bait.  I am too respectful of others to have intruded and demanded from the others their secret.  (Turns out my "anything that bites" buddy caught quite a few himself.). The thing that was the most important to me was that

Matt for the win!  

We did NOT get skunked that day!

Soon after we got our first fish, a fierce wind started blowing in some CRAZY clouds.

I was happy to have caught something, including an amazing sunset.

And we closed out of 2nd day happily ever after.  Good night!

Yours Truly 💕

Thanks for reminiscing with me.  I hope to get the whole vacation blogged by the end of the year.  😉😂