DAY 6

THE ROCKIES

Day six was actually day one of sorts; no more home-cooked meals, soft beds, or warm showers. We packed up our car, said goodbye to my fam, and took to the mountains-the Rockies.

Rocky Mountain National Park is located in Estes Park, which is bustling with visitors from all around the world. Think Lake George of the West. Even so, Nic and I don't mess around; we didn't have the extra cash to splurge on the cute little mountain restaurants or gift shops, so we drove on through the town and entered the park. We found a campsite that was a modest $20 a night, and pitched our tent.

Up until that specific point of setting up camp, we did not encounter a drop of rain. So of course, once we lugged allllll the tent equipment out of our car and out to our little plot of land, ominous clouds loomed overhead and decided to spit out dime-sized pellets of hail at us. Thanks, clouds. We stared at each other for a second or two before figuring that grabbing all our shit and sprinting back to the car was our best option. We waited for the storm to pass, and then finally got settled. Here is home #1:

(not a bad view)

The sun was setting, along with our energy, so we decided to relax around camp for the rest of the evening. We got out our lil' nifty stove, cut up some veggies, and grilled two delicious cheese quesadillas. We started them on our pan, but being the gourmet chefs that we are, finished them up over an open fire. Now, don't let the picture below fool you. Nic took this right after I finally started our fire, but it died about 20 seconds later. So, being the stubborn, independent people that we are...we immediately ran to the next campsite and asked for help.

This is how we met our friend Apple. Apple is a man, and he was camping with his wife and young daughter. Apple graciously came over to our site and helped our dying fire come back to life (apparently fire needs oxygen, who knew?....) So Apple, wherever you are, thanks. Our quesadillas couldn't have done it without you.