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Reflecting Back on 2005
Part 2
by JdyJdyJdy
By now it is Sunday July 10th. Granny had arrived late in the afternoon and it was time to get her tent all set up.
Then we figured it would be good just to kick back and relax!
She found a nice shady spot. Rocky was hanging out with Granny's dog Myatuk(white fang). Jon said, " Hey Granny, come look, I think its going to storm, the clouds are looking weird."
That was one side,
this was the other
It was not very long after that the wind picked up. The sky got increasingly darker and darker and clouds were just crazy! It started to rain and the WIND! OMG...I had to grab Granny's cat, who was still in his carrier, get 3 dogs and Jonathan all to the bathrooms. We made it in there just before the torrential downpour, lightening and wind like crazy! Jonathan said, " Mom? Do you think this bathroom will hold up?" I said, " Well it is better than the tent!" Then we realized, Were is Granny?
Well she was trying to secure her tent! LMAO It is not easy to do with winds speeds gusting up over 50 mph! So she finally gave up and got in her car. She drove over by the bathroom. Her dog was in her car. She was soaked!
Well the storm ended and we got camp put back together. The tents actually did stay up! It was however a good thing we had taken out all the blankets and sleeping bags. The inside of the tent was kind of wet. We got towels and dried everything off and proceeded to get ready for bed. WELL!!!!! The storm happened to be just in a lull or the eye or whatever! LMAO... snuck right up on us! No time to get to the bathroom this time. So there we sit in the middle of the tent with Granny's cat and one dog. The other dogs were in the Jeep. Granny was in her car again. Mind you my mother had not sleep in like 30 some hours by now!
Even though the tent stayed up it sure was scary being in there. The sides would suck in and touch us. The dog was shaking to death and the cat was meowing. Then as quick as the storm hit it was over for good now.
My Mom asked, "So has it stormed like this since you been here?" I laughed and said, "No! That's your welcome to camping Storm!" We found some dry wood we had put under the picnic table and made a fire. Had some coffee and went to bed.
The next couple of days it was HOT! I mean HOT! 100 degrees in the shade. Mom started complaining about the heat. She took a nap and got up and said, " I got it! We are going to New Mexico! I had a dream about the house we will get and everything!"
Now you need to know my Mom a bit to know this isn't how things are gonna work out! I said, " I have no money left!" She said, " Well I got money and we are getting out of here." Now that I look back I must have had sun brain to go for her PLAN!
However, we leave the next day for New Mexico. I had had a lot of hits on my resume and only from New Mexico so we figured I would have a better chance at a job there. Ya go figure! lol Anyway the shortest way would have been straight down I-25...but NOOOO we had to take HWY 71 through CO. talk about the middle of nowhere land! We drove and drove and drove...it was getting really late and we had no clue where to camp etc.
We ended up stopping at a gas station and mind you there is a campground right there! Well now is when Granny starts to wig out and realizes this is going to cost some cash! We sit in the cars outside the gas station for hell, hours! it seemed. She did not want to pay 15 dollars to camp. However we had passed two FREE campgrounds right before that, but she said it was too windy and they did not have drinking water. WHO CARES?? Its FREE! We are homeless! Good grief!
She goes in the gas station and talks them down to 10 dollars to camp, well by now its friggin pitch dark! Almost midnight and then she decides she wants to go back to the FREE place! ( Lake Henry) Oh I forgot to mention that my tail light was out and of course in nowheresville nothing is open. Sooooo after all that we get ready to go back to the FREE place. Oh great! A semi now almost rolls over on the only road out of that gas station...so of course there are cops and we cant go by them with a tail light out. Well don't despair we found a bumpy gravel back road to get back to the FREE place. I left my lights on and sat up my tent in the pitch black night! The ground is hard as rock and bugs city! I go to help Granny with her tent, well now she is pouting. I said come on lets get your tent set up. She said, " No, I am gonna sleep in the car!" OMG! What the hell ever!
Next morning I take down the tent. Had about 5 hours sleep I guess. Not sure if Granny slept at all. There was some weird giant birds running around out there and they kinda freaked her out I guess. lol
So the journey continues, we make it the bottom of CO. and now we are getting up higher in elevation and my car is really screwing up. Second gear is just not there anymore. I was shifting it manually, but now its not working. I stopped at a parts store to get a new bulb for my tail light. Luckily there was a mechanic in there and he came to look at my car. We looked pitiful by this point. No showers, its was hot etc. They thought it might be bad plugs, so they gave me the tools to get the plug out! ha well ya I got one out and took it in ...nothing wrong with the plugs...soooo I couldn't get the plug back in now! lol Thankfully the mechanic guy came back and he got the plug in. He said you can drive the car without second gear, but sooner or later they will all go out and that car is not worth fixing!
Question is now, should we go on or go back?? Go back where? We are HOMELESS. Well Granny is the leader in this pack and she says we are going on! So off we go to New Mexico. The roads are getting steeper and steeper now and we have not even reached Raton Pass! If you have been here you know that Raton Pass is some scary ass shit in a car! lol Its not bad going up, but going down.....weeeeeeeee...it scared the hell out of my MOM! Awww but we made it!
In Raton we stopped at the visitor center to get information on campgrounds. Anyone who has ever been to New Mexico knows that road signs are not real prevalent! It took forever to find Sugarite Canyon State park campgrounds. Finally we find it! Its getting later in the day now ...of course! We find a spot and guess what?? Ummm Granny says, "Oh this just won't work!" WHAT?? oh hell....anyway they have another campground up on the hill! Ya okay we need more hills at this point!
We go to that campground and yes it is way better! Really neat actually. They gave us the horse campsite because of all the dogs. Granny had once again talked them into 10 dollars a night instead of 20. We get set up.
I said, " Hey look at this, they have a place to put your firewood in case it rains!" Granny says, "Well that is really neat! I hope it doesn't rain though." We got some supper cooked and pretty much fell fast asleep that night.
Next day, Granny was teaching Jonathan how to play cards.
It was just a beautiful day! The ranger then stopped by to inform us that bears were in the campground last night and to make sure we put our food up. I said, "Up in the car or tree??" He laughed and said no in that metal box right there." I said, " Oh I thought that was for the wood!" ( haha we were clueless! )
Notice we had food on top of that box!
Then Granny has a really strange look on her face. She said, "Bears? I heard something last night by my tent and Myatuk was acting strange. Then I smelled something really bad right by my head. There was a bear by my tent!!"
After that bit of news Jonathan said he wanted to go on the trails. So here we go with dogs on leashes and up the trail...
The farther we get up the trail, the more I noticed Jonathan slowing down. Then Candy tried to go off trail and had her tail standing at attention! Jon screamed, " Candy sees a BEAR! I am getting the hell off this trail!" He drops Candy's lead and hauls ass back to camp! I stand there debating whether to go on up to the top and see the view or go back...
Well shit by this time I am getting scared too! So I just went back to camp! After all Candy was acting weirder than normal. Rocky and Sam wanted to go, but Candy was like NO WE ARE GOING BACK TO CAMP WITH MY BOY! She made a sound of some kind, scared the hell out of me and then Sam and Rocky beat ass and pulled me the rest of the way back to camp! So no trail hiking there.
When we got back to camp Jon comforted Candy. She seemed really freaked out and needed
some loving.
Time to break for part 3...guess this is way longer than I thought!
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