A Day Off from "Work"

We have determined that our bodies can't keep up with long hikes every day, so our plan is to take a day off from all this "work" to allow some recovery time.  So we spent the entire day close to our camping spot, and didn't even move the car.  

But Denisa seems to think that we need some exercise, even on our days off.  So we opted for a bike ride around the pasture this morning.  The only problem with this plan is that we are parked in the valley, and all the roads seem to be headed uphill. By the time this picture was taken we were seeing the Sangre de Cristo Mountains at eye level.  We had puffed and pedaled our way up to 9,300 feet in elevation.

We made it all the way into the National Wilderness area, but the entire trip was uphill.  The scenery was great, but we determined that we are not mountain bikers.  To top it off, Denisa hit a big hole hidden in the grass and had a bike wreck. She has a couple bruises and a scrape, but the only thing broken was Mark's bike mirror when he threw his bike down to come check on her. After almost 5 miles we were finished with this ride, and ready to get back to our day off.

We later took a walk down to the creek to check the head gate that feeds water into the lake.  Along the way is an old barn, that looks as pretty as a picture with the mountains behind it.

There were chores to do like feeding the fish.  We are also a little worried about some of the other woodland creatures around our camping spot.  This chipmunk might be cute, but we are just wondering about his intentions of moving in with us in the motorhome. This picture was taken from the driver's window, and they are frolicking around our vehicles all day.

We have also discovered that his rodent cousin, the field mouse, has decided to move in with us.  So we were busy setting traps on our day off.  Besides feeding fish and rodents, we also had to feed ourselves.  It was a great time to test Mark's camp fire cooking skills.  He did great on the grilled pork chops and potatoes, but we determined grilled broccoli will never be a family favorite.

The coals were still hot enough after dinner to cook up some smores.  Proving that Mark is the master of both meat and dessert, these are some beautiful toasty marshmallows that he cooked up for us.

We slipped them between graham crackers and chocolate for one of our favorite summer time desserts.  Sitting on the porch eating smores is a great way to top off a great meal on a day off.

We know that we are so blessed to enjoy 52 weeks of vacation a year.  We are having a great time enjoying God's wonders like this beautiful sunset at the end of the day.  But now it's time to get some sleep, so we'll be ready for another day of "work" tomorrow.