Colorado

Tuesday morning we woke early to tear down camp and get on the road. Tear-down took longer than I expected and we were about an hour behind schedule when we arrived in Dinosaur, Colorado, stopping for ice. I realized then that my wallet was missing. We searched the car with no luck. I had no cell service but the gas station attendant was nice enough to let me use hers to call the park. They didn’t have it at the main lost and found and weren’t able to reach the camp host. We drove the 30 minutes back, explained at the gate why they should let me enter without ID (luckily she remembered the stickers on my car) and waited while the rangers they’d sent searched the site. No luck finding my wallet. I filled out a form with my number to call should they find it. She wanted an address to mail it to, but that wouldn’t have helped me as we are not returning to Boise, and I’m not sure how I would’ve returned there with no money or ID in any case. I went out to the parking lot, furiously searching my mind for where it could be, determined to go through every bit of gear and clothing we had until I found it. I decided to start with my sleeping bag, and there it was! What arelief! Finally got on the road at 11, now 3 hours behind schedule. 

Our next stop was Rifle Falls for lunch. Admittance is free for military (active duty and vets) this August, so that was a nice surprise! The falls are right near the parking area, which was perfect given how behind schedule we were. We brought our packed lunches up and ate behind the waterfall.

 It is absolutely gorgeous up there and definitely work stopping for! I wish we’d had more time to explore

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The caves reminded my kids of Minecraft, who were sure it was going to be full of creepers and skeletons. Ha!

We continued on to Shady Grove Campground in Seibert, Colorado, arriving after dark. Tents went up, showers were had, ramen was eaten. We crashed hard only to be woken a couple of hours later by a severe thunderstorm directly overhead. I decided ground lightning was a valid concern, woke the boys, and we all fled to the car for the next three hours. The boys electedto sleep in the car while I returned to the tent with B at 4:30. Not much sleep was to be had.