At the beginning of the summer, we were shocked to realize that we are not getting any younger! We decided that it’s time to act like retired people, and admit that, though we love camping, we no longer enjoy tent camping or sleeping on the hard, cold, rocky ground. So we got a camper van. It’s not large and, in fact, with a growing-bigger-daily yellow lab, it’s downright snug! But it has been taking us to see new-to-us places; mostly Colorado State Parks, which, having lived in Colorado for over 40 years, we should have seen by now.
We started out very close to home, to get acquainted with the van. We just went to the James M Robb State Park in Fruita, along the Colorado River, and only about 5 miles from home. It was hot, but Murphy had four lakes to swim in, and he may have hit them all. I decided I was going to use my van time as studio time, and would document our little trips in a sketchbook.
Our second van trip was to Silverjack Campground. It was the first day the campground was open, and the site was pristine and beautiful! Silverjack is the most forested campground we’ve ever camped in, in tent or van, and the wildflowers were absolutely stunning all around us. I could have picked dozens of trees to hang my hammock from, and quickly hung it and put myself in it with a sketchbook and a small kit, with a marker and watercolors. My husband and Murphy headed off for a walk, and I sketched them as they returned to the campsite, though the breeze was enough to make sketching in a hammock a fairly silly endeavor. There was a moose and her calf in a nearby campsite, fortunately closed off, as that was not something we wanted Murphy to meet up with. While Silverjack is one of our favorite campgrounds, the drive there in a van along very bumpy roads, with a somewhat anxious puppy, was not a treat. Once again, Murphy rushed to the reservoir for a swim as soon as he saw the water.
By this trip, I had chosen a ‘dedicated sketchbook’ for our van trips, but it is not my favorite sketchbook. The texture on facing pages is very different, though both are watercolor weight paper. The left side pages (back of the right side pages) is very rough, almost like canvas. But I’ll do my best to fill it this summer, and choose a better one next time!
More ‘adVANtures to come, as we are now packing the van for our 6th camping trip!
