Monday, September 5 — Labor Day
Our last full day at Kinney Flats . . . .
Labor Day Weekend is peaceful. A man from Colorado Parks and Wildlife comes by Saturday.
“Are you hunting or are you just camping?” he asks as we meet outside the door of the Best Little Trailer.
I guess he’s out checking hunting licenses.
This morning, Labor Day, the crew and I walk the lane as we have done many times.
I fix the familiar scenes in my memory, wondering if we will ever come this way again.
This been a great camp. I’m glad we came here. It was too cold and damp for us at Park Creek Campground (near South Fork, Colorado). I’ve enjoyed soaking up the sunshine. And what a blessing to have peace and quiet through Labor Day Weekend!
Around noon men in a pick-up truck drive past our campsite.
Shortly thereafter the shooting starts. Reggie runs inside in a panic.
“Let’s go for a little ride. We don’t need to listen to gunshots. It’s a beautiful day for a drive.”
We head south and after a few miles turn onto Buckles Lake Road which takes us back into San Juan National Forest. The gravel and dirt road climbs steadily in a series of sharp turns, in some places only one lane. A glimpse through the tree tops reveals the valley below and gives me an idea how high we are.
By the time we come to a boondock, we’re a lot higher than our camp at Kinney Flats!
It’s pretty forest up here. I don’t know if I’d pull the Best Little Trailer up this road or not. Not this year anyway.
Our boondocking will be curtailed for a while due to hunting season.
Vehicles are in the first campsite so we continue onward and upward to the next campsite where I park and let out the crew.
“Wow! What a big, beautiful campsite! It’s nice here, isn’t it, guys.”
As we wander around I notice there are several trails that would give choices for walks. It’s very quiet, the air is pine-forest fresh, and the entire campsite is unusually clean. Not one beer can!
A flyer in a plastic bag posted to a tree says “No Camping.”
It states the reason being a mowing operation beginning in 2016 to cut down vegetation in order to prevent the rapid spread of wildfire.
Hmm . . . . No end date. Does that mean camping is still prohibited?
I check the fire ring. Apparently a fire was made in it sometime this summer. Of course, that doesn’t mean anything regarding camping. Before setting up camp here, I’d call the forest service office first for clarification.
The longer Bridget, Reggie, and I wander about the site, the more I like it.
It would be worth it to bring the BLT up here. Okay, so my knuckles are white for a few minutes. I can do this. Maybe this will be one of our camps the next time we come to Colorado.
We return to Kinney Flats. A few more gunshots and then no more. Reggie and Bridget take a nap. We have an early supper. I sit outside watching the nighthawks find their supper in the sky. Wind whispers through the pines.
Bridget relaxes in her bed next to my lounger.
She did a lot of walking today. I bet she’ll sleep well tonight.
Reggie brings Armadillo over for a game of fetch. When I tire of the game, he finds his collection of old bones in the grass and plays with them for a few minutes.
Reggie found those bones when we camped here in July, and, when we returned weeks later, he was delighted to find them still here.
A deep, thunderous moo heralds the approach of a . . . a bull!
I look him over from my camp chair.
Holy cow . . . I mean, holy bull! That’s a bull, all right. A big, red bull. I wouldn’t want to make that guy mad.
He bellows a few more times before turning toward whence he came. The steers respond to his command and trot after him. He leads the entire herd to the watering hole. Reggie watches.
“You don’t want to tangle with that big boy, Reg. His balls are bigger than your head!”
Later, right before dusk, I prepare for the move tomorrow.
I fold up the table and the blue mat, wrapping a bungee cord around the latter, and stowing both in the back of the Perfect Tow Vehicle. The lounger and its side table go in the side door area behind the driver’s seat. I place the doggie beds in the PTV, Bridget’s in front of the bench seat and Reggie’s between the front seats. Armadillo is placed next to Reggie’s bed.
I walk around the campsite with the shovel and toss doggie doo-doo into the deep grass, away from where campers would walk. The shovel and the broom go into the PTV, too.
I don’t usually hitch up the night before a move.
It’s not that big of a job. Today I’m feeling ambitious and the ground is level, so I go ahead and hitch up.
The above photo shows how dirty everything is!
I haven’t had easy access to, nor a plentiful supply of, water in a long time (which is my excuse!).
You can see the anti-sway bar is in place in the foreground. The hitch lock (gold) is on the coupler lever, and the break-away cable (red) is secured. The power plug on the bumper will be plugged in before we leave in the morning.
Here’s looking at the other side.
Notice how dirty it is around the hitch ball?
That’s because I always squirt some 3-in-1 oil on the hitch ball before lowering the coupler onto it. Then dirt sticks to it.
The cord in the foreground delivers the power from the two storage batteries in the PTV to the house battery in the BLT. Of course, that cord is plugged in whenever we are at camp, as well as when the BLT is being towed. If I should drive off in the PTV leaving the BLT behind at camp and forgetting to unplug that cord (I’ve only done that once!), it unplugs easily without damage.
The emergency chains are crossed and secured also. I toss the pink cone and yellow chocks in the back of the PTV.
There! We’ll have an easy start in the morning. All that’s left to do is put the antenna in the PTV and secure the inside of the BLT. Now to go write a post for the blog!
And that, dear reader, is what I’m wrapping up now.
I hope your Labor Day Weekend was good. Remember that tomorrow, Tuesday, the crew and I will be at a new camp. I don’t know if there is internet there, nor at the camp after that. No need for concern.
We will be back!
rvsue
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