June 4, 2012, Molly Brown Campground, again.

June 4, 2012, Molly Brown Campground, again.  To bed early last night, up late today - ah, the life of a camper. It is hard to beat. We are still in the Leadville area on Turquoise Lake. Today’s pictures combine some from yesterday and others taken today on walks around the lake. Yesterday, we did a 3-mile walk to the north end of the lake.

Today, we walked to the dam on the south end. The walk to the dam was along a nature trail. There were a gazillion mosquitoes along the trail. When I stopped and look skyward, I could see literally thousands of them swarming above. They put off a high-pitched hum that could be heard as we walked along the trail. Amazingly, I had not a single mosquito bite. I don’t think any even landed on me. I must emit a manly aura that frightens creatures of the woods. Yes, I think that’s it.

Annie needs some of that aura. Then she could leave her ever-present and deadly bear repellant at home. When we started our walk today, she stopped fifty yards from the camp site. “I forgot my bear spray,” she said in an alarmed tone of voice.

“You don’t need it. You’ve got me to protect you,” I responded. She turned around and walked toward Harvey. Moments later she returned with her bear repellant in her shirt pocket. You’ll see me pointing to the repellant in one of today’s pictures.

“You must not have heard me, I said you don’t need it, you’ve got me to protect you,” I said again.

“I heard you, I just don’t like the odds of you against a 400-pound bear,” she said.

“Hummpf,” I snappily retorted. That is one of my best come-back lines. It is hard to believe that I graduated high school, finished seven years of college and “hummpf” is the best I can do. I could do better if Annie would let me use cuss words.

But, back to my story; after finishing the nature trail portion of the walk, we were faced with a decision to return the way we came, or walk back along the road. Annie saw a sign that said it was two miles back to camp along the road. We had just walked two miles along the trail, so we (read, she) decided we would avoid the mosquitoes in the woods and walk along the road. The walk along the road seemed much longer than two miles. Walking with Annie is like walking with a pre-schooler. “How much longer is it? Why do they put all these hills in the road? I wish I had some water? Why didn’t you bring water? How much further is it? Stupid sign maker; if it is longer than 2 miles, why did the sign say 2 miles? Are we getting near? Stop getting behind me! Stop getting ahead of me! Talk to me!! Are we almost there? Oh, why do I ask you, you don‘t know any more than that stupid sign maker.”

So, it was a delightful walk in the woods today. Wish you could have been with us.