Cat Camp

It was Friday before Memorial Day weekend. I shut my laptop at 1pm, got the last few bits and pieces into Berta and we said goodbye to McDonald Drive. We’d planned to be there only for the month of February but Cleo’s torn CCL meant we’d stayed a while longer. The Phoenix Summer heat was starting to kick in and Berta was primed for another long trip. We were ready.

I said goodbye to Deb and we were on our way. Of course I’d forgotten to latch one drawer but that’s typical for me. I called Dan as soon as I was on the road. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. Me and my dog and my van on the open road!

In typical Edwards fashion, I stopped after 70 miles when I saw a sign for Oak Flat Campground off the east-bound highway. It was only 4pm but we’d been driving for nearly an hour and I didn’t want to push Cleo too hard too fast. It’s a long road to full recovery.

There were a few campers dotted about the place, but there was a perfect spot for Berta in the shade of some trees. I was still dealing with my marathon cold so I was stoked to kick off my shoes, whip out my chair and table and put on the F1 while Cleo sat watch.

We were both relaxed until we saw a cat across the next campsite and while Cleo was perked up, she didn’t move. It was a big one and not the last one we’d see, with a smaller tabby cat crossing right behind the van later in the evening.

When it was time for dinner, I faffed around for a good hour getting the oven gas regulator working, put Cleo in the van for an early bed and sat by the nearby fire ring. I burned the wood we’d found on our camp jaunt earlier and it was a pleasure to watch the sun go down.

Being a holiday weekend, I’d expected more people to show up but only one guy came in to be my neighbor and he asked me where the sun would be coming up in the morning! Ha ha, he was asking the wrong person, but I actually got it right.

As I was packing things up for bed, my neighbor came over and offered me a store-bought salad that was due to expire tomorrow which I accepted gratefully then he wished me goodnight.

It was a little warm inside but with the fans going, we settled into bed comfortably. Cleo remembered the way into the bed after a couple tries.

Private Lake

We’d kept cool through the night with both fans going and Cleo was already up front by the time I woke up. We took our morning walk along a nearby forest road where the blasting sounds of a nearby copper mine kept us company in the morning sun. The only other people we saw was a group of dirt bikers getting their day of adventure started. Their bikes looked very shiny and got me excited for life in my forties and fifties.

I was stoked with Cleo’s walking. It was her first time off-leash in months and she remembered her training well, listening to my commands to heel and sit when I needed her to. Better than that, she was walking, trotting and even running without a limp. It was a relief to know that the driving hadn’t done her any damage.

After brekkie, we packed up and continue on our path north-east. After an hour or so, I was looking for a rest spot and with no co-pilot to help find anything, I used my eyeballs, saw a body of water and turned off the highway.

There were no signs apart from a “pack it in, pack it out” notice and a few dilapidated buildings. We drove along a dirt road in the general direction of the water and saw a few empty campsites and what used to be recreation areas. When we came upon the lake, there were some newer looking shade structures, picnic tables and grills, but the place was deserted. What the?

The lake was stunning, with beautiful blue water and flat campsites all around the water’s edge. I pulled into one of them and hopped out in disbelief. How, on one of the busiest weekends of the year, could a place like this be empty? I thought of all the national parks, state parks, national forests and recreation areas that would be absolutely slammed with people and here I was, barely two hours outside of Phoenix, lakeside with my dog and not another person in site?

The wind meant it was too cold for a swim but Cleo happily drank from the water’s edge and explored the lakeside with me. Wanting to give her a rest, we posted up on a flat rock right by the water and just took it all in.

When a white Subaru pulled into our “camp”, a guy got out to chat. He thought we’d been fishing and said that he used to come here as a kid to fish all the time. Someone had planned to turn the place into a resort but that obviously never came to fruition. He then asked if I’d seen the waterfall. Waterfall? He explained where it was and that he was going to check it out and I said we would too.

Cleo and I walked in the direction he said and the road looked like too far of a walk for Cleo so I figured I’d wave my new friend down his way out to ask how far of a drive it was. We settled back in at our camp then my friend came to me. His wife had wanted to stop and warn us about a rattle snake they’d seen at the lookout so I was grateful for that. He then told me that the view was totally worth the two mile drive and they wished me a nice day.

After a bit more resting for Cleo, we got into Berta and set off waterfall hunting. The road was ok and thankfully only half a mile long and my friend was right, the view was spectacular. Heeding the warning about snakes, Cleo stayed in the car while I ventured carefully to the lookout points.

I was looking at a steep canyon that I could barely see the bottom of. I gasped out loud many times in wonder at what I was seeing and so grateful that luck had brought me here! When I saw bolts at the top of the rocks I screamed in joy. A climbing spot!

And what a climbing spot! With a small lake at the base of the first tier of the canyon and a repel-only access, this was a dream! I was laying down to look over the edge and hunting for bolts all over. This was a total playground.

Over at the next lookout, I was grateful I still hadn’t come across any snakes and I enjoyed the view down into the valley but really I was just looking at the climbing potential. This was definitely be a place to return to for a couple-week stay.

Smiling ear-to-ear, we left Seneca Lake behind and got back on the highway. The north-east corner of Arizona is beautiful with nice temperatures and so much greenery compared to the desert valley of Phoenix. We even found some stubborn patches of snow in the mountains as we got up higher.

We stopped in Show Low for another Cleo rest, parking up at a Starbucks to use their Wifi and watch the Monaco racing. I wasn’t using Starlink because I didn’t want to pay for the whole month of May with only a few days left of it so I was going old-school. Cleo did me proud getting some serious sleep when the van wasn’t rocking side to side from the wind.

It was camp time when we crossed the border into New Mexico and I thought we’d have an easy time of it but for the first hour of driving, all we saw was ranches and farmland. There was one ranch that must have gone on for at least 50 miles with every pasture having it’s own name but the same owner’s logo.

A sign for BLM land was my savior and we pulled off to a flat plain where the first little flat spot was ours for the night. The wind was still up so after a short camp jaunt, we huddled up inside for the night, seeing one other camper pass us by having to venture further into the plain to find his spot for the night.

Scenic Route

Cleo had already settled back into van life, she was up before me and snoozing on the front seats when I woke. It was an early start, so we packed up and drove out to have breakfast somewhere on the road.

We found our spot at the Ventura Arch and I parked up in the sun to eat brekkie. You could see the Ventura Arch from the road but we took a walk to see it up close. Cleo’s leg was still doing good.

The arch was impressive and we tried to do a bit of scrambling to get up close to it. Cleo was going great, but she sat down to rest when we were halfway there so I took the hint and we turned around. Poor girl has been house-ridden for nearly three months so she’s got a lot of muscle to build back up.

We saw one person as we walked back to Berta but other than that, we had the place to ourselves.

Keeping to our drive an hour, rest an hour schedule, we were in Albuquerque when it was time for our next stop. Ever since hitting Grants we’d been on a major highway and I had not enjoyed it one bit. There were so many trucks and the holiday traffic just made things worse.

We found a nice neighborhood park and Cleo settled into a spot on the grass while I whipped the laptop out for some Monaco Grand Prix watching.

We stayed a little over an hour which meant I was halfway through the race. After turning the key in Berta, I wasn’t looking forward to more big highway driving so I pulled out the Atlas and my scenic route guide and found another route. So what if it added two hours? I was still sick, Cleo was injured, a scenic drive was our only possible activity.

I was happy with my decision. Having only driven through New Mexico in winter in the past, it was nice to see some color instead of the washed out yellows of dead grass.

When it was time for our next break we stopped at a cross roads. I had a late lunch and watched the traffic go by while Cleo snoozed. I was taking note of the roads people were taking because I had a decision to make. Turn right and I would take the round-about way on tarmac. Turn left and it would be more direct but there was fifteen miles of dirt road at the end.

We turned left. Adventure is out there! We drove along a beautiful country road with nobody else on it, properties dotted all over and green stretching on for miles.

When we hit the dirt, it wasn’t too bad and what a great test of Berta’s latching systems. Only the cutlery drawer came open which didn’t do any damage but made a lot of noise.

The road had a very cool ending with a repeat of the warning sign that had been at the start about no vehicles allowed wide than 10 feet, a turn around spot and a chicane of concrete barriers that you had to get through. They obviously wanted you to fail there instead of on the dam that you had to cross!

It’s not often you get to drive over dams any more and this was fun! It was very narrow, dirty and bumpy so we took is slow and took in the view out over the water. I’m always a bit sad seeing dams because most of them seem to have bugger-all water in them and this one was no different.

It was getting into late afternoon so we were on for a camp. There were plenty of options at the north end of New Mexico but for whatever reason, I wanted to camp in Colorado that night so we pressed on.

It turned into a bit of a mission with our first attempt at Trujillo Meadows being a bust because the campground was closed. It meant another few miles of dirt road which was extra work for Cleo and I was over it. It was also at over 10,500 feet which was a bit much. You could definitely feel the alpine chill and I wanted to have some time outside tonight.

Right then, first spot under 9,000 feet was our new mission. We drove through some beautiful country communities amongst pine forests tucked into rolling hills and it made me glad to be in Colorado.

Seeing a sign for a national forest campground, I pulled in willing to pay the $29 but then I saw a family at the first site with their brand new camping gear spread all over putting out a vibe of “we don’t do this often”, so I carried on.

The next NF campground was also seeking $29 for my company but this was a much better setting with a free spot down by the river with Berta’s name on it.

We parked up and wandered back to the fee station where I notice they charged $31 on Fridays, Saturdays and Holidays. I knew it was a “holiday weekend” but it was a Sunday so they only got $29 from me! And I didn’t bother unfolding my bills when the envelope specifically said not to fold them. Ha, I’m so naughty. Why were they charging such stupid numbers anyway?

I put Cleo straight to bed with the back door open so she could see me as I had a fire, made dinner and read my book. We’d had a big day of driving so I was in bed very early, electing to move into the daylight savings time zone so I didn’t feel lame for going to bed at 8pm.

Mobile Mechanic

We had a bad start to the day. Cleo had been up front when I went to bed, then she’d come back into bed around midnight and I woke up as she made her way back up front in the wee hours of the morning. I watched her as she fell off the kitchen bench and onto the floor. She’d put her foot on the edge of the towel where there was no bench under it and so she slipped off. I was devastated. She wasn’t crying and didn’t seem too phased but I was mad at myself for not placing her runner towel more carefully. Especially when she’d been doing so well.

I lifted her onto the front seats and she seemed happy so I went to crawl back into bed then stacked it on the ladder hurting both my feet. That was my punishment I guess. I couldn’t go back to sleep thinking about Cleo so I got up and we went out for a walk so I could see how bad it was. She was hardly putting any weight on her bad leg. I could barely watch.

She loosened up a little as we walked along the river a ways then back again, then we packed up and drove out. I’m sure everyone thought I was crazy for arriving so late and leaving so early on this long weekend.

We were only 2.5 hours away from Dan so I was glad Cleo wouldn’t be doing too much work but utterly disappointed that Dan wouldn’t see how well she’d been doing.

We stopped at Blanca Vista park for breakfast where Cleo was resting in the grass after having her usual sniff around. A family pulled in to do a bike ride just as I was washing up my dishes and I swapped stories with Kelly from England who’d been in Colorado for nearly a decade. It was nice to share our experiences while the kids said hello to Cleo after asking very nicely if they could pet her.

An hour’s drive later, looking for our last spot to rest, I was bummed to have missed a nice riverside spot so settled for a welcome center at Poncha Springs. I parked up a space away from a smaller van and I saw its bonnet up and guy probably in his 70s fumbling with some tools. “Here we go,” I thought.

I was desperate for the bathroom so I didn’t make eye contact as I walked past. When I came back, I didn’t get the chance to ask if he was alright because he asked me, “you don’t happen to know anything about cars do you?” I looked at him and laughed.

He’d disconnected the battery and had a new alternator perched in the engine bay, ready for install. His tool selection was worthless and he didn’t understand that the belt had to come off before the alternator so I knew he was in strife. Five minutes later, I’d changed my shirt and I was under the car. His jack didn’t work and my jack was too big to fit under his Dodge Grand Caravan so getting to the tensioner was a challenge.

When I went to Berta to retrieve tools from the garage, he followed to check out the build and when he saw my plethora of tools, he was shocked, realizing just how lucky he’d been to find me. Jeff was a lovely fella but the poor guy was useless and down to his last dollars. He’d called a mobile mechanic that was due to come in the afternoon and said he’d be spending the last of his money on him so at least I was helping him out there.

He never stopped expressing his thanks and told me that I could walk away at any time and we swapped stories the whole time I worked. I got him to hold bolts for me so at least he’d feel a little bit useful.

It took me two hours and of course things got fiddly with bolts I couldn’t get a socket on, annoying connector clips and having to remove the EGR valve but wow was I grateful for my garage. All the while, Cleo was having the rest she needed on the floor of the van in the sun.

Jeff had bought a new belt as well as the alternator but when I said his belt was fine and that it would be a pain in the arse to put the new one on, he opted to take it back to the shop for a $40 refund which was a good result for both of us. We got the thing installed, the belt back on (a huge challenge), then I put my jump pack on his battery and he started up. Idled like a charm. I gave him a hug and started cleaning and packing away my tools.

He was desperate to give me something for helping him but I told him I didn’t want his money, his CDs or his books. I told him the story about Kev’s first aid training where he was told, if you have a set of skills that can help people, you are obligated to use those skills. I felt the same way. How could I have left him there? I was happy to help.

In the end, I walked away with a can of beans, a bottle of soap and very dirty hands.

After Cleo had a pee, Jeff had driven off and we were off again too. I called Dan and let him know I’d be late but the why I saved for when I saw him. I assured him Berta and Cleo were fine.

From Buena Vista, I followed Dan’s directions east towards Hartsel. Traffic was crazy now with everyone heading home in every style of camper you can imagine. I couldn’t get off the road fast enough.

At Hartsel, I turned south onto a dirt road (getting used to it now) and left the traffic behind. There were some beautiful properties out here with modest homes and roaming wild caribou. Such a beautiful part of the state with the Rockies on my right and Aspens on my left. The area looked nothing like Wandering but it reminded me of it with the dispersed farms and lack of typical American infrastructure.

As I turned off the “main” road and onto a less-maintained dirt track, I started looking up the hillsides for a white van. A moment later, I saw the Club Wagon romping down the hill towards me. There was my husband, shirtless and tan in his white van.

He parked it, came over and met a very happy Cleo at the window. The first thing Dan notices was my grease monkey hands and his concern went to Berta. “Berta’s fine,” I said. “Where’s camp?”

Dan jumped in and guided me up the hill to a level spot by some pine trees overlooking the valley. We mucked around a little getting me level then he gave me a tour of the place.

What an amazing spot he’d found with view of the Rockies and a place to sit and watch a car throw up dirt on the road below every so often. It was mid-afternoon and we were both starving so I made us lunch and we set up the chairs and just sat and talked the rest of the day, enjoying the stellar view.

I was drained so after we cooked dinner together and watched the sun dip behind the mountains, I was in bed. With Cleo upfront, we made sure the towel was properly placed to prevent further mishap.

Link to the Stars

I had a meeting at 9am and not wanting to pay $250 for two days of Starlink, our hunt for cell service began early in the morning. We left at 7:30am and made it to Fairplay’s disc golf course parking lot in plenty of time. Dan went off to get some groceries while I got to work, having to remember how to use my VPN box.

With Dan back and armed with food, he made us a big breakfast which we enjoyed sitting in the bleachers watching Cleo push her snout deep into the holes of an abandoned baseball field, After that, Dan split off to run some errands while I carried on worked and Cleo carried on hole-digging.

At 11:30am, I took a break, packed up and drove off to meet Dan. I had another meeting at 2pm so our goal was to find a camp where we could stay the night and into tomorrow with cell service so I could work uninterrupted.

I scouted out a few spots on the way down towards Buena Vista but nothing that really jumped out at me. When Dan showed up in my rear view mirror, we decided to carry on towards BV to look for the magic spot.

We drove around for a solid hour trying to find a spot in service. We found a few lovely campsites, but none that gave us those magic bars on our phones. With time running down, Dan lead us to BV’s rec center that had free Wifi. Parked up there, the signal wasn’t strong enough for a Zoom meeting but it was strong enough for me to login to the Starlink app. With twenty minutes before my meeting, I re-activated my Starlink. Five minutes later, we had full service. Thanks Elon. I only got charged $15 so I’ll feel really stupid if it’s pro-rated when I thought it wasn’t. It even let me go onto the cheaper Regional plan at $150 a month so we’ll see if that works out! I didn’t have time to look into the details.

My afternoon meetings were shit and I was ready to camp. On the way there, I called Kevin using Starlink and was surprise to find that it worked while in motion! I may have found a Starlink hack but I doubt it. However it worked out, it was $15 or $150 or $250 well spent.

The beautiful camp we’d found earlier was still there for us. It had a stunning view of the Rockies and when I took Cleo for a walk later, I realized just how lucky we’d been that this spot was still open having seen a car drive past ten minutes after we parked and seeing that all the other sites along this forest road were full.

We parked our vans for a comfortable stay then I worked until 7pm, feeling much better about everything by the end of the day. While I worked, Dan channeled his inner-Anthony Bourdain and cooked up a beautiful dinner in Berta’s kitchen.

Dan was doing the final touches on dinner so I took Cleo for a walk which I needed more than her. It was hard to watch her limping but encouraging to see her using the leg more by the time we returned. She needed to get her confidence back.

I collected some decent firewood for us on the way back and at home, the kitchen was clean and Dan was ready for us. Dan got a fire going without using a light thanks to the heat still in the fire pit then we sat back to watch the view and have a drink. The weather over the mountain range was ever-changing and the fire warmed us nicely on the cool Spring night. I was in heaven.

With the coals glowing gently and us about to head inside, the sky above was clear so I looked up. There was the ISS flying fast straight overhead, as bright as I’d ever seen it. Dan doubted me, but I was smiling huge, I knew what I saw. We watched the shining star move quickly across the sky until the sun’s reflection on its solar panels faded and it disappeared into the night.

Static

It was such a pleasure to wake up and know that I didn’t have to go anywhere. I was up early with Cleo and after a bathroom break, I put Cleo back in bed to snooze with Dan with the back door open so she could scout. The only sounds were of my mouse clicks and Dan’s gentle snoring.

I barely moved from my office while Dan was out and about at camp. We took a morning walk together along the Bacon Strip mountain bike trail then pretty much had separate days. Dan dipped into town to get some timber, then using Berta’s tools he made a Cleo-perch for the Club Wagon.

While Dan was gone, we had a few drops of rain which got Cleo in the van straightaway, then it started snowing! Snow or hail, I’m not sure which, but wow did it make some serious noise and there were still patches of blue sky to be seen! Cleo was shivering in her skin so thankfully it was brief. Mountain weather!

I quit work and had lunch reading my book and looking out at the mountains. Dan joined me and Cleo too but she could tell there was more weather brewing so kept looking back to the van. We all went on another walk then settled inside Berta to finish watching the Monaco Grand Prix. I sat on the floor with Cleo in my lap, her getting a good snooze in and me getting covered in dog hair.

The end of the race brought with it my time to depart. We went through all of Cleo’s gear and put it into the Club Wagon, Dan took the contents of my fridge and we made sure Dan hadn’t leave anything in Berta.

I gave Cleo a quick cuddle before she hopped into the Club Wagon then husband and wife said “see you later”. We drove away from camp together and I could see Cleo’s big happy face front and center in my rear view mirror. She looked at home.

At the main road, I turned left towards Denver and Dan right towards Buena Vista. See you later!

24 – 29 May, 2024