All roads lead somewhere. . .: What a difference a week makes.

Having fun feeding the ducks

A week ago we left South Dakota and headed South to Colorado. Our anticipation was to only spend a couple of days and then be on our way further South to New Mexico beating any chance of getting caught in the snowy cold wintry days of a Colorado Fall. As my oldest sister has said many times, "If you want to hear God laugh, just say you've made plans!" We arrived in Aurora, Colorado and set up at Cherry Creek State Park which is only a 20 minute drive to my son's home. Perfect for visiting with the grandchildren.

We arrived late and paid our camping fee through the self-service kiosk. The next day while paying at the office for another 2 days, I asked if there was any work available in the campground. Hey, no harm in asking, right? I left my phone number at the desk and was told that something might be available for the next couple of weeks as they were a bit short staffed and the next work campers were not due to arrive until November 1st. Lo and behold, we get a call and they are looking for someone to Camp Host. Camp Hosting is when someone with an RV/Trailer offers labor in exchange for a free camping site, sometimes a small wage may be included. Camp Host's responsibilities include: greeting guests, collecting camp fees, office work, cleaning camp sites, picking up litter and just about anything else that has to do with camping or a campground. We were offered a Camp Host position for two weeks with a request to stay all Winter! Don't think we want to Winter here, besides we have places to be and people to see! We moved our "home" into the Camp Host site and are loving it! It gives us time to meet other campers, learn about the area and spend more time with the grandchildren! The biggest plus of all, we don't have to pay a thing for being here!

We have had the grandchildren overnight and they had a blast building a camp fire, roasting marshmallows, feeding the ducks, playing near the small reservoir lake and exploring trails! On the beach they spotted some wayward pelicans, fish bones, a tree that had damage from a lightning strike and a flock of seagulls. We've made home-made pizza, carved pumpkins; a jack-o-lantern and a wolf, and cooked dinner; hot dogs, chicken, hamburgers, corn-on-the-cob, for their mom and dad over the camp fire. They've played "King of the Hill" on top of a huge sand-pile, jumped roped, mastered finding the right sticks to serve as kindling, finding "Art work" in nature and took delight in spotting the deer that come within a hundred feet of our site. Since we knew that Sunday and Monday would be busy days for us, we sent them home with a promise that they could come back and spend another night or maybe two! We are looking forward to having more time with them and experiencing the world through their eyes.

The weather has been mild and pleasant considering it's the end of October in Colorado. The sunsets have been great and we have been enjoying all the wildlife! The squirrels manage to find any food left out and a garbage bag left by the steps waiting to go to the trash can be gnawed within minutes. We have been warned by fellow Camp Hosts that field mice are notorious for finding their way into an RV, so Paul was advised to buy and set a few traps near any place that can serve as an opening for them to enter.