Happy Anniversary!

Our first anniversary was a very fun day spent at the Black Canyon. We drove around the canyon (about a 2 hour drive) and made it to the South Rim entrance. We didn't receive the memo on the bicycle tour taking place, so we were a bit surprised to see hundreds of cyclists when we started up the canyon. One of the women said they started in Durango (160 miles south) and were heading back to Telluride (130 miles away) after their day at the canyon. I think they were crazy. Especially the ones who rode INTO the canyon and back out. That thing has 16% grade in some parts!

Next on the itinerary was Grand Junction, so we headed north. We weren't totally sure where we were going to camp for the night, but we ended up in Colorado National Monument. The 19 mile drive from the entrance to the campground took quite a while due to the curvy roads and Steve having me stop every hundred yards for another picture! :-) We switched drivers about halfway through because I couldn't see any of the scenery and didn't like the steep, curvy roads!

When we finally got to the campsite, we found there were no campfires allowed, just charcoal fires in the grill. The closest store was 9 miles down the twisty, turny road, so we pulled out the propane stove and boiled ourselves some hot dogs. That's when we entered a battle. Steve pulled out our electric fly racket and started swinging, but we were no match for the gnats. Our neighbors were sitting under mosquito netting at their table, but we hadn't packed any malaria protection. Ok, so maybe gnats don't carry malaria, but I just knew that every bite I took of my hotdog also included several gnats. Thankfully the tent was already set up, so we carried everything to the door of the tent, unzipped the door, and threw everything in as fast as we could! God apparently has a wonderful sense of humor because as I was cursing the gnats, praying for them to go away, the wind started picking up. It was a nice, gentle breeze but enough to keep the bugs away! Well, by the time we got back from a little walk, the tent was all but folded in half. Here's a nice shot of the tent before and after.