The Only Slightly Competitive Sisters

This is a continuation of the vacation typecasts.  The series will end eventually, but not before I share about the many the near disasters we encountered on the road.  An already scheduled celebration of campfires, "An Ode to Fire", has been postponed indefinitely.  It just seemed a bit insensitive given the horrible fire that swept through the edge of Colorado Springs this week.  As mentioned in the first post, we were pretty much unplugged during vacation.  I took advantage of several days of digital downtime to do some typecasts.  I'm glad I brought the typewriter along.  Typing in the woods is an extraordinarily pleasant experience.

Ah, sweet, clean Rocky Mountain stream water!  We were 3-5 miles downstream from the snow melt fed alpine lake at the head of this stream.  The water temperature was at least 40 degrees Fahrenheit, give or take.

I can't overstate just how refreshingly cold this water was!  It worked pretty well on swelling bug bites, but not as well as soaking in one of the 108 degree hot spring pools located elsewhere in the San Luis valley.

Common sense is pretty much overrated when it comes to competitive siblings.

Both of our girls shipped out to separate regional Girl Scout camps last Sunday, just in time for the hottest week of the year here in Kansas.  Yesterday, it was 106 in the shade.  Fortunately, we had freakishly low humidity so it felt more like the desert.  I usually expect 60-70% daytime humidity this time of year and it was just under 20%.  As I write this, they are loading gear and getting ready for the trip home.  We'll get to find out how sunburned and bug bitten they are.

We are looking forward to hearing their camp stories.  Last year they were at the same camp and at least saw each other in passing.  MEK had the unpleasant experience of watching them leave for different camps without troop buddies while I was at the Art of the Car Concours .  Hannah wanted to spend time with horses and Claire wanted to get in a prerequisite for a ten day canoe trek next year.  We are blessed with children who actually like each other and are willing to take some risks doing new things on their own.  Soon the house will again be full of the sound of the violin, the electric guitar and the Wii.  We missed them, but we also enjoyed dining out for two in their absence (how delightfully cheap!).

Photos do not do this campsite justice.  Except for the skeeters, it was pretty much perfect.

I am now a week and a half into vacation withdrawal.  The blog is a comforting memory of a good time.  I hope your summer vacations are (were) equally satisfying.