Lake Vallecito – A Slice of Paradise
View as we left the campground
I have been MIA for ten glorious days, along with my husband and friends from Las Vegas. Unplugged at the 5 Branches Camper Park, best kept secret on the shores of Lake Vallecito in Bayfield, Colorado. It’s near Durango in the San Juan mountains. A great camping destination I highly recommend. They serve a great breakfast on Saturday mornings. There are RV sites as well as wonderful tent sites, if you prefer roughing it. Which I don’t. Video taken from beside our campsite.
During the day, we hiked, kayaked, mountain biked and sat around along with our chow, Mystic, and parrot, Taco watching the humming birds devour our homemade
nectar at the feeder (raw sugar is the secret) Evenings we spent around a crackling campfire staring at the stars (we saw several shooting stars, yep made wishes) and eating s’mors or a slice of dump cake. No internet or very little connection, so the outside world was held at bay, for the most part.
Trail through the campground
I had to resort to writing my work in progress with a pen and notebook. How archaic. But it resulted in several pages I’m very pleased with. Yea! Now back at my computer, I type in the new sections and the creativity continues to flow. That’s a good thing!
Returning to civilization was a shock to the system, I wouldn’t have predicted. On our way back home, in heavy traffic, I might add, we stopped at The Malt Shop in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. The crowd inside seemed stifling, but it could have been the heat. I have to say, the food was delicious and the chocolate shake was out of this world. We got our meal to go and ate lunch in the cool, quiet of our truck.
After temps in the 80’s and a cool breeze off the lake, ninety-five degrees was stupid hot, to coin a phrase a good friend from Las Vegas, Nevada uses when the temperatures rise above 100. Heat rose from the pavement in waves, vehicles and voices seemed louder, all adding to my discomfort. Isn’t it funny how ten days of peace and quiet can make your return to civilization and the hectic life we lead seem almost unbearable. Okay, I am exaggerating, I’m a fiction writer what do you expect, but not embellishing by much.
Taco in her carrier, enjoying breakfast outside
Back home sitting at my computer, I sift through the e-mails numbering in the hundreds (I did address them a couple times while we were in Durango, picking up supplies.); my twitter account blew up, the tweets overwhelming, edits due on my holiday book, and the deadline on my work in progress looms large. Was the ten days off worth it? You betcha! Our dog and parrot loved the vacation too.
Now back to the dump cake. Have you ever had one? They are fantastic and so easy. I’ll have a recipe for a chocolate cherry dump cake in next week’s blog part of The Wild Rose Summer Treats and Reads Blog Hop. Did I mention there will be prizes? Don’t miss it. Until then, you can find me chained to my computer in an attempt to catch up. Have a great week!
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Posted in Camping, My Say What Blog, Uncategorized and tagged boating, campimg, kayaking, Lake Vallecito, relax, vacation by Tena Stetler with 3 comments.
Sounds fun. I love to camp myself but still with the “roughing it” tent, blow-up mattress and cooking on the fire pit.
It was a great time. Roughing it was fun, when the tent wore out, the 5th wheel trailer replaced it. We still cook on the fire pit. Unless it’s raining. Thanks for stopping by! Have a great week.
Oh, you are so lucky to live near mountains, particularly. I used to camp when we went to horse shows or trail rides. We had a gooseneck horse trailer–not quite as nice as a real camper. Your recipe sounds divine. Thanks for sharing your camping adventure and the cake recipe!