Staycation Saturday: Camping!

Today couldn't have come soon enough. I typically work Friday and Saturday nights, which doesn't leave much of a weekend to spend with my family. We have to take advantage of the time we can get between me catching up on sleep on Sundays and taking care of all the laundry and dishes that need to be cleaned. This weekend, however, I took Saturday night off from work!

This morning we will be heading up to Guanella Pass near Georgetown, Colorado to camp with two other couples. It'll be Anna's first time camping and she is excited beyond description. I'm sure she is imagining it to be far more glamorous than it actually is, but I know she'll have fun. We will be spending two days just hanging out, hiking, laughing, exploring, cooking, playing, and teaching Anna how to hold on to a tree for stability while going to the bathroom!

I haven't been camping in a couple of years, not out of dislike for the activity, but because we haven't had the opportunity. I had requested this weekend off from work months ago with the intentions in competing in the Warrior Dash, a 3.2 mile obstacle course on Copper Mountain. By the time the Dash was only a few weeks away, I hadn't had a single chance to train for it and decided that instead of spending $75 for myself to run around on a mountain I'd rather spend the time with my family at a free campground.

Colorado has hundreds of campgrounds for all levels of camping tolerance. We were going to ease Anna into camping slowly by reserving a spot at a cushy site with running water, toilets, and showers...and then I figured, what the heck? We might as well teach her now what camping really is. Plus, the free spots around the state are typically a little more out of the way, spacious, and give a little more freedom as far as hiking and improvising activities go. Some people call it primitive, I call it fun.

I can't wait to get two full days with my family and some of the best company I could ask for.