 |
|
Instead of venturing west to camp in the mountains, we
decided to visit northeastern Colorado and spend the weekend at Jackson Lake
State Park. I booked site 15 in the SandPiper loop and it was without
a doubt the best site at the park. Of course, having the site with the
easiest access to the water means you get people meandering through your
site to get to the water. But we understood since there was really no
other option in our loop. |
 |
|
We brought our Porta-Bote along on this trip, too.
Our second outing confirmed what we learned on our first outing at Chatfield
State Park...we need a motor. Fear not, for the motor has been
purchased and is on it's way from New Hampshire as I type this. |
 |
|
We rowed out a ways in our Bote and took this picture
looking back at our site. That is our camper right in the middle of
the picture. |
 |
|
This is the view from site 15's back yard. The boat
deployment dock is what you see in the background. No dock needed with
a Porta-Bote! |
 |
|
Here are the kiddos attempting to corner a fish for
dinner. The lake was full of big fish jumping out of the water.
Had we brought our fishing poles, the kids may have caught their first fish
ever! |
 |
|
There's Randy taking a row in the Porta-Bote. It
paddles a lot faster without 4 additional people and a dog in it!
We still can't wait for the motor. |
 |
|
When the Porta-Bote was docked, several people stopped by
to check it out. One guy even asked, "Is that a folding boat?
And it floats?" Yep, even with 5 people and a dog. |
 |
|
We also noticed more and more people stopping by to gaze
at our Outback. The Outback line by Keystone is among the most
sought-after campers, and the 26 RS model (which we have) is quite possibly
the world's greatest floor plan for a family of five. |
|
 |
State Park Rangers, and even a park volunteer had the
guts to walk right up next to our camper for a closer look. We figured
they would have to perform crowd control if any more interest was shown in
our camper.
|
|
 |
|
Later we learned that the interest in our camper was due to more than the
premium features in the Outback line. It seems our neighbors watched
this bad, bad rattlesnake slither its way across the road and under our
camper. They were kind enough to alert us to stay inside until Park
Rangers arrived. Had they not been driving by when this snake crawled
under our camper, the outcome later that evening could have been completely
different.
When the Park Rangers arrived, they captured the nasty
fellow and put him in the back of one of their trucks. Had I killed
the snake (yeah, right) I would have been subject to a substantial fine.
Believe it or not their protocol is to take the snake back into the remote
wilderness and set it free. I wanted someone to shoot it or run over
it!
Even better, the Ranger told us they responded to a
rattlesnake encounter the night before at the shower facilities in our loop.
So, given everything that happened, we have enjoyed
our last trip EVER to Jackson Lake State Park. We had a super time,
but their apparent love for poisonous snakes is questionable. We'll
head west above 8000 feet to go camping instead.
|
BACK HOME |