Day 5 Mueller State Park, CO

Day 5

Our tummies probably weren't completely empty from the spagehtti, but we have food that we can't waste – so we decided to fixx eggs, baxon & biscuits for breakfast.   I looked out the front of the RV & saw David coming back.  I could just tell by the way he had a bounce in his step he had seen something!  2 elk.  Awesome!  It was great hearing his description of them.  They are HUGE! David was talking to this lady about seeing the elk & she told him they were having bacon, eggs & biscuits.  He was pleasantly surprised we were having the same thing!

After breakfast, we got everyone dressed in layers because we were heading to the Garden of the Gods.  Liz was already there waiting for us.  Her girls are adorable & beautiful!  (Did not expect anything else!)  Garden of the Gods was amazing!  It was privately owned.  Once the owner passed, it was his wish that his children donate the land and that it always be open to the public for free.  I am so glad there are people out there that appreciate the fact that land is a beautiful & precious thing.  Giant red rocks punctured the sky in a way that I had forgotten in my many years away from the area.  It was amazing seeing the birds fly into these tiny holes in the side of the mountain.  Garden of the Gods is fairly flat – even though it is still at probably about 9,000 feet – then you have these amazing red rocks jetting up into the sky.  Some are slender & rise straight up.  Others round & smoother.  I truly enjoyed hanging out with Liz & catching up.  I just wish it could have been longer!  Her girls are amazing.  Hope I can see them again sometime soon.

On the way back to the campground, we stopped in Woodland Park at a privately owned dinosaur museum.  When we first walked in & I paid, there was doubt that it was worth it.  But the more we heard & saw, the more we all enjoyed this stop.  Large boxes with rubber shavings covered up bones that the kids took paint brushes and had to “uncover” the fossils.  They loved it!  I think we all enjoyed the ocean mammals part.  There were huge shark's teeth & large replicas of ancient sea creatures.  One thing Gabe seemed to be impressed by was actually getting to see the working lab.  There were openings in the shop where you could see all the equipment & stations where they work on uncovering the fossils.  

As the sun was setting on our drive back into the campground, mom earned many beads towards her official invitation into the Sheets' Sighting Club.  There was a coyote in the turn.  He saw us and went into the woods, but not before we were able to get a couple of good shots. He was long, lean & slinky looking.  We stopped by the visitors center just to cehck it out since it was nearing their closing time.  Large elk, mountain lions & big horn sheep towered over us as the boys explored the hands on exhibits.  We knew we would need to return the next morning to make a few purchases.  

The evening took a turn for the boring.  Mom and I carried the laundry up to the coin washers. The boys had been playing “survivor man” with the branches they found in the forest.  Each of them created a fort.  Needless to say, they were in desperate need of some soap & warm water!  After I got them clean & ready for bed, I went to see how the clothes were progressing.  One hour later, the dryers finally went off.  That is crazy!!  Anyway, now we have clean clothes.  

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