Rainy Day Camping at South Meadows

We headed south this weekend to camp with the Zwyers (Jena, James, David and Andrew) and the Jensens (Annie, Brian, Turner and Trace) at South Meadows, just a few miles north of Woodland Park (which is a few miles northeast of Colorado Springs). As we were loading up the car the skies darkened and rain started to fall, which we should have taken as a sign - but knowing how quickly Colorado summer weather changes, we continued on.

We arrived at the campsite in time to have tacos provided by the Jensens, and then I broke out the non-electric ice cream maker that I had picked up at the thrift store for $2. A pint of cream, splash of vanilla and a scoop of sugar, then 30 minutes or so of rolling it around, and voila - a reasonable facsimile of  ice cream (though a little soupy).

Soccer fanatics Turner and Brian were excited to pass it back and forth; the Fleming boys got bored quickly.

In addition to rigging a fort up under our playset, our old fence found a second life as firewood. Our campsite was quite fragrant as those cedar posts burned...

All the boys brought various bike/trike/scooter conveyances, and had a great time racing and riding on the paved road in front of the campsite. While there wasn't a lot of traffic, what vehicles went through there were all giant diesel pick ups pulling heavy RVs, so we had an adult keeping an eye on the kids.

Once dusk fell we gave each kid a headlamp so the cars could see them - they got really good at yelling "Car!" and moving to the side of the road without us nagging them.

The kids tucked in to their sleeping bags easily (well, Jack screamed bloody murder that he was not tired, providing evidence to the fact that he was, indeed, exhausted) and the adults settled around the fire for a while before turning in.

The morning dawned sunny and cool and the kids were off and running (or riding). Annie had brought along a soccer ball for the boys to decorate and they all crowded around with (permanent) markers. I love the expression on Jack's face here.

Photographic proof that I was here (since I took all the other photos). We had an inkling that it might rain later in the day and strung up a tarp over the cooking area.

After breakfast we loaded into our cars and drove a few miles up the road to Manitou Lake, a popular fishing spot. The boys were so excited to drop their lines in the water, but unfortunately we weren't in a good spot.

There were lots of other things to see in the water, though, including tiny fish, a dead crawdad, and a water snake.

Jack's Huckleberry Finn impersonation... 

We gave up on fishing and ate lunch at one of the picnic tables. The boys found many ways to entertain themselves around the lake.

After lunch we loaded Ryan and Jack into the car to take a "mobile nap." They fell asleep shortly after leaving Woodland Park and Sam headed toward Cripple Creek. Unfortunately the rain was moving that direction too, and by the time we reached Cripple Creek the hailstorm had also arrived. We waited for the skies to clear a bit and then made a dash for fudge at a local candy store.  It was still drizzling and the boys were now wide awake, so we drove back to the campsite. 

I was in dire need of a nap so I laid down in the tent while the boys played around the campsite. The skies were very dark and the inevitable monsoonal downpour arrived with accompanying thunder and lightning. After the other families returned we realized it was too rainy to cook (or do much of anything) at the site, so we drove into Woodland Park for pizza.

We learned later that the storm was incredibly slow moving, inching along at 10 mph so what should have only been a 45 minute cloudburst lasted more than 3 hours. We considered packing it in and heading home but it's such a puzzle to get neatly packed camping supplies into the car that the thought of cramming in sopping wet tents, etc while the rain poured down on us wasn't appealing.

At the pizzeria the boys got little pieces of raw pizza dough to play with, which kept them happily occupied until the food arrived. 

The storm finally passed through and we returned to camp. Everything left out was sopping wet but our tent kept our clothes and bedding dry. We had bought dry firewood and Sam was able to get a fire going (after Ryan, Jack, Turner and I bailed water out of the fire ring!). 

We roasted marshmallows and then everyone turned in for the night as the rain began to fall again. 

As expected, the morning dawned bright and sunny again, so we set about attempting to dry things out.

 Jena made amazing breakfast burritos that really hit the spot!

Once we had everything folded, shoved, stuffed, and packed up in the car we headed back to Manitou Lake to try a different fishing spot. It also did not yield any fish, so after another picnic lunch we piled into the car and drove home.

Our tent and sleeping bags are now spread across the back patio to dry, while the rest of the gear and mountains of laundry are being washed and put away for the next trip. We have at least two more camping adventures planned for August and September and the boys are really excited to go again.