Rocky Mountain High...

It feels great to be back in the camper van again.

Yesterday, I got up and on the road within 30 minutes of the target time I'd set for me to leave.  That's about as good as I get.  I left at 8:30 AM, and made it to Golden, CO shortly after 6.  Joe and his friend Ty were supposed to catch up with me to spell me, but they didn't have as much luck getting out of town on time, and I ended up beating them here by about an hour.

Western Kansas got long and boring.  (Surprised?)  Thank goodness for Colby.  That's right.  Out in the middle of nowhere Kansas you can find.... a Starbucks!  Caffeine!  The shot carried me through.

I was about 30 miles outside of Denver, and still hadn't seen the mountains.  I was beginning to wonder what was up, then took a closer look and realized that the bottom layer of clouds wasn't clouds.  Wound my way through the tail end of rush hour traffic, doing my best to focus on cars instead of mountains, and got to the campground without trouble.  The park we're staying in is run by the city of Golden.  It's small, smack-dab in the middle of town, and is a pretty little place.  It sits next to a stream; the bathrooms easily pass muster - what more could I ask?

I laid down around 10 last night, and didn't open my eyes until 5:30.  5:30???  That's what I thought!  I've been getting up at 6:30, and didn't make the time change.  That was fine with me.  I laid there, snuggled in a bit deeper, and cracked my eyes just enough to watch the world brighten.  I finally turned the heat up around 6:30, (you don't expect me to get up in a cold camper, do you?)  and got up around 7.  A beautiful way to wake up.

The first part of Joe's test this morning went very well.  Unlike the fitness ordeal of the first three tests, the test for 4th is actually kind of fun.  We met a friend of mine who lives in town for lunch, came back to the campground, took a nap, and then I went for a bike ride.  (Have I mentioned I miss life in the camper van?)  It's been a beautiful day.

Where do the ducks come in, you ask?  As we were standing around outside this morning, waiting for the test to start, I noticed a commotion at the other end of the parking lot.  Mama Duck was trying to shepherd her babies across a busy street, and someone got out of their car to stop her.  (Which is where I came by and took the picture.)  The gal had Mama convinced to stay in the parking lot until animal control showed up - and then she wouldn't move her brood.  I didn't realize it, but the animal control officer told me you can't just catch the ducks and move them.  Mama knows where she wants to go, and if it involves city streets, well, that's just too bad.  She'll try to bring her brood across the street.  Unfortunately, I don't know how the story ends.  When I left it, the ducks were ensconced beneath a parked car, the animal control officer had received another call and had to go, and I had to get back to the karate test.  I'm hoping they either all made it safely across the street, or Mama decided to take another route...