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Chilling out at the campground

After 2 long days of driving and a day of overstimulation, we just relaxed at the campsite for the day. All the weekend people left so there were no campers on either side of us by mid-day. Carson and I went to the Nature center and then I hiked around a bit. I brought out my real camera and got some nature pictures of the native flowers and the prairie dogs. Prairie dogs are the perfect models. They just sit there and bark at you while you take their photos.

Jeff set up his solar panels and charged the camper and all our electronics and then he took a walk over to the dam that keeps the reservoir full of water. He took some pictures above and below the dam as he stood in the spillway. They have gotten more rain here than last year but have no worries about flooding or anything.

Late afternoon, some storms suddenly went through around us, but all we got was some big wind gusts and a few sprinkles. The rangers put up the red flag to signal that all the paddle boarders need to get to shore. Most of them had already done so and the ranger boat picked up a few stragglers that were struggling to paddle against the wind.

It cleared up so we had steak for dinner and enjoyed one last sunset.

When I woke up the last morning at this campsite and came back from the restroom building, a coyote walked right across the empty campsites in front of me hunting for rabbits (which were everywhere). Cool!

Enjoy the photos!

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Fan Expo (Comic Con) in Denver

Last year the boys complained that we saw too many “military forts, rocks, and sunken ships” so we asked them what they wanted to do on vacation this year. Their answer was a Comic Con. So here we are!

The people watching was incredible. So many people dressed up in their cosplay outfits. Hundreds of vendors of anything you could think of related to Star Wars, TV shows, Anime, or Pokémon (and any other fandom you can think of). Celebrities of TV shows and movies were there and were signing autographs and photos.

The boys loved it. Carson got a photo and autograph of Ella Purnell, who is the main character in Fallout TV show. Spencer got a photo with Charles Martinet, the voice of Mario in the video game, and then James Arnold Taylor, who is voice of Obi Wan Kenobi the Clone Wars animated TV show. Spencer also splurged on a sword that is a replica of Strider/Aragon’s sword in Lord of the Rings. Jeff and I went to a panel about teaching Role Playing Games in the classroom and then Jeff saw a Q&A with Brie Larsen, who plays Captain Marvel in the movie.

We spent about 5 hours there and then we were all ready to go back to the campsite. We had taken the commuter train to the convention center, and it was a lot hotter walking back as it hit 92 degrees today!

We were able to see another gorgeous sunset tonight and even the clouds in the opposite side of the sky were amazing. Once the sun went down, it cooled down and was another perfect sleeping weather night.

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Drive from Lincoln, Nebraska to Standley Lake, Colorado

This was the second day of driving, but only 6.5 hours. We slept in at the hotel a little bit and go on the road about 10. The roads were a bit busier today since the holiday was over. We spent 4 more hours on I-80. The Dorsch Ford guy called us back and helped troubleshoot the weight restriction warning, but his team couldn’t figure out the solution either. We did discover a workaround by changing the towing option (going from camper to the generic or back), it helped for a little while each time. Once we turned on to I-76, the warning just stopped happening. So bizarre!

We weren’t sure what to expect for our campsite, since there was no water or electrical at the whole campground. It is in Westminster, and is a nature preserve and reservoir called Standley Lake and is in the middle of neighborhoods and malls and big box stores. The campsite is great! Jeff did a great job using Google Maps and the campground map and got us a site that has an amazing view of the reservoir and also of the mountains.

We set up quickly and then I went off to explore. The lake doesn’t allow motor boats or swimming, but does encourage paddle sports. I saw bunnies hopping around and also discovered a prairie dog town. I also found some cactus, and some other wildflowers.

Spencer fell asleep early and Carson is listening to his latest audiobook. Jeff and I watched an incredible sunset over the mountains.