There is a lake in Colorado!
Bob, Coda and I packed up the car on 30 minutes notice and headed to Lake Dillon to go camping for the weekend. I read about a regatta that was taking place there and was anxious to get out on the water since I miss summers at Port Bay.
As soon as we got our tent set up we saw storm clouds rolling in so we got in the car and headed to Wal-Mart to get a hatchett and then stopped at Wendy’s for dinner since having a campfire was out of the question that night. When we got back to the tent it had partially collapsed from swift winds, and despite having an extra rain tarp on top, had soaked our mattress foam that we brought to sleep on. It was a damp, chilly slumber.
We woke up to clear blue skies and headed out to the regatta. While waiting for the race to start we watched as Coda enjoyed splashing and swimming in the water. Then we saw a water taxi that gives rides from one marina to another on opposite sides of the lake. We had no reason to go to the other marina, but were itching to be out on a boat so we paid to go for a 1-hour roundtrip water taxi ride.
The views were spectacular and our captain told us that the lake is about 30 miles all around the shoreline and gets to 300 feet deep near the dam, where the water temps hold steady at about 38 degrees. Burrr. I would not want to go overboard there! There was also a slight gap between the floor boards and Coda was fascinated, curious, and angry that water kept splashing up. Watch his reaction:
Coda attacking water splashes from Bob Spryn on Vimeo.
After our boat ride we went to a nearby park that overlooked the regatta and Chef Bob cooked some burgers while I read a celebrity gossip magazine and occasionally glanced up at the sailboats. I blame Aunt Jodi for my celebrity gossip obsession since she gave me all of her old People magazines.
After the boat race, we headed back to our camp where I was going to read up on breckenridge and see what we might do later.
That evening we had a camp fire and ate modified s’mores. Bob doesn’t like chocolate, so I got Reese’s Pieces candies to put on the graham cracker instead of Hershey’s chocolate. It seemed like a good idea in theory, but the small candies fell off and I ended up cramming them into the sides of the marshmallows. Despite the logistical disaster, they tasted pretty good!
On day three without showers, we packed up and headed to Mt. Evans on the way home. This mountain is slightly over 14,000 feet high. The roads were barely wide enough for 2 cars and there were no guardrails. I was sure we were going to die, but was pleased with the lovely views we would see if we fell to our deaths.
We made it to the top and saw mountain goats that were no more than 10 feet away from us! The park ranger said the goats put up with humans because they needed to be near the rocks at the top to lick the minerals out. They were cute creatures.
We headed back down the mountain and passed a Dodge Colt Vista along the way. My parents used to have this vehicle and I was amazed that one was still running, let alone climbing a 14,000 foot mountain!
