Oh What a Beautiful Day!

This is why we camp: the view from the front door... back door...only door. :)

Several weeks ago, Dan promised me that we would go camping this weekend. (It was largely in compensation for the fact that I didn't get to go to camp for the trail ride last weekend. I offered to let him guest-blog his adventures, but he refused quite emphatically.) So on Friday, we headed out for the Boulder River. Unfortunately, with the holiday weekend, a lot of other people had the same idea. We drove 16 miles on the gravel road before we found an open campsite. 

See "She's Over the Top"

Same river with a lot less water

Once we were settled, we took the ATV's back the 16 miles to Natural Bridge. There we had enough cell service to let our friends know where we were camped, since they were meeting us to ride on Saturday. Of course we had to take some pictures while we were there. Then we rode back to camp and made dinner. 

As it started to get dark, Dan suggested that we go for a night ride. I've never done that, so I agreed. We rode to Box Canyon where there were no lights and no clouds in the sky. We sat for a while just staring up at the countless stars before we went back and went to bed. 

Saturday morning, my alarm woke me up to the sound of raindrops on the camper. (Much, much better than raindrops on the tent!) I figured, "So much for a group ride." But I underestimated our friends. Just as I was finishing my breakfast, everybody pulled up. On to Independence!

The rain made for great puddles, and we had a lot of fun blasting through them. But after a while, as it became obvious that this was NOT a passing shower, the rain became rather tiresome. But since we were already drenched, we rode all the way to the ghost town. As we stood overlooking the valley below Independence, Ronny burst into song: "Oh, what a beautiful morning; oh, what a beautiful day!" It was good for a laugh, but we'd had enough and returned to the camper, where I immediately put on the teakettle. Some hot cider and dry clothes brightened the spirits immensely. Wouldn't you know it ~ the sun came out as we were leaving. A rainbow made a nice ending for the day. 

Fall comes early in the mountains.