Camping again this weekend.  In fact, it was ‘boondocking’ this time.  Which means no electricity no water no toilets just nature and ‘all those people around you’—cause yes, this time not only we step outside from what we usually do, but we also camped with many other families we had never met before. Our daughter invited us camping, and because we thought it was going to be just us and the family, we agreed, but when we got all the way of the tallest mountains after many hours driving and saw that many people, children and dogs, we could hardly believe it!  —how come nobody told us it was going to be this?  We were not told; in case we would say ‘no’.

 

And what a beautiful place this was up in some mountain range lost in nature with the wild river running below, wild and free.  It gets very cold up here, but our gypsy camper is very nicely insulated and we sleep well, and had our breakfast early that morning in the warm cozy gypsy kitchen and dining room.  The earth was steaming early this morning as sun kissed wet grasses and warmed the earth. 

We went down to the river to explore and then everyone followed.  We discovered a cave in the rock in that place where the river divided in two and made an island in the center. In a certain spot, I found a bunch of bird feathers—big black feathers and I brought with me a special magical feather to write my magical books with. I explained to the children that there must had been a strong fight against two birds up there, and I was wondering if perhaps they had been eagles.  They suggested it must had been an ostrich fight for sure, because the feather was so big.  And they were right.  It must had been an ostrich fight of sorts, after all children are always right.

 

  

 

  

 

  

When we came back the Fisherman and I sat down in a sunshiny spot and we read for a few hours while everyone else employed themselves in doing whatever they wanted. 

The children came back to me and I played with them, and we went down to the stony part of the trail and looked for shapes in the stones.  I found a greenish witch’s nose and later a rusty heart.  The kids took me down to where they said the tiger’s blood was, which it was no other than a little puddle of mud, but it really was tiger’s blood and then we pretended a bear was following us and we run back up the hill to the safety of our camp. 

In our campsite we found some big, bear prints, which it really was no other than larger deeps where water had hit harder, but it was such fun imagining, with little children following me everywhere. There were about 8 dogs in total among all the family, and some of the kids rode their own motorcycles and racers up and down the hills. 

For lunch Lissy asked if she could help me cook inside the gypsy trailer.  She already had the menu she wanted, and thus we made black beans, rice and quesadillas... it was a lot of dishes to wash after lunch, but the nice Fisherman did it all for me.

In the evening we sat by the fire and made up stories, scary and funny and super awesome stories, until it got really dark and everyone felt sleep...

In a world fragmented by a menace of a mean virus where, being in close proximity to others is not the wisest thing to do any more, going up to where fresh snow still covers mountain peaks, and it is just you and those mountains up there; you and Nature and the cold-water rivers which run through them, it is just the natural thing to do for the old gypsy couple.

So, we did.  We loaded our gypsy caravan and drove ourselves up to the heart of Nature.

It rained all the way up to the mountains; dirt roads became exactly just that—mud!  And thus, our truck and gypsy caravan got a new shade of murky dark brown.

We set up camp—or mainly the Fisherman did, because I felt lazy and didn’t feel like doing anything.  Later, when he was done assembling things up, we got onto our bikes and drove around the camp.  We drove down to where the hot springs pool and office is.  We checked ourselves in and got our usual ice-cream sandwich.  The pool had been emptied out, and it had just gotten a fresh new coat of cobalt paint.  So, it was emptied of people as well and the park, too, was almost emptied.  Which it made me really happy, because when you go to Nature, that’s how it should be—quiet and lovely and uncrowded, just like it should be.  I love the solitude and privacy of natural places and camping where you can’t move without bumping into a motorcycle or a four-wheeler or a racer or a dog or two, is not my thing.    

The Fisherman had worked on prepping our menu the day before, and everything was deliciously ready to be placed on the coals and be cooked... salmon with chimichurri sauce (made by the Fisherman), a whole onion with bouillon cubes and cabbage stakes.

We sleep like silent trees... waiting for morning to break.  Breakfast of scrambled eggs, a medley of berries, dried fruits and nuts and toast with chimichurri yum!  41 degrees by mid-morning.  We read, we wrote and then went for a walk, passed on by the river to check for fish to fish and came back to read and write some more.

 

For lunch we made rice, black beans and veggie meat.  In the afternoon we went to fish at another part of the river outside the camp.  It is a beautiful open space, by even there I encountered a few motorcycles and few dogs without their leach that came by to sniff me and realizing I didn’t like them run away.

The Fisherman disappeared through tall grassed along the river bank searching for the right spot to fish, while I remained behind, in an open area by the river, where I sat down and read, took pictures and sang hymns.  It was such a beautiful place, with the river serenating me with its usual hastiness and calmness at the same time.  I wondered if perhaps I was going to encounter a bear which I hope I did not.  In any case, we carried our new walky-talky’s and were all the time communicating back and forth...

After the Fisherman was done fishing nothing, we drove back to our camp.  The sun had come out and it felt warm and comfortable.  We made us an oatmeal drink and sad down to read some more.  Tonight, I will be chicken taquitos for dinner.  

I want to sit outside and look for Sirius shining down on us from its place in the firmament, but it has been cloudy and rainy for the last few days and most probably it won’t happen tonight. 

See you soon my friends!  Be safe, be happy, be blessed!