Road Trip Ahead

This morning I woke up thinking about organizing the road trip materials. Making sure that I have all of the accommodations in order. We leave in about 4 weeks and if there are any adjustments that need to be made now'’s the time to do them. We'’re covering 8 states, 4 national parks, numerous scenic byways, with motels, hotels and lodges all along the way. Then I took a look at last weekend'’s photos again and thought about what a wonderfully simple excursion that was. We pulled up to the Charcoal Kilns at about 3:00. They are a wonder in symmetry and I find them very beautiful in their uniformity and beehive shapes, all 10 in a gently curving row.

We push on up the dirt road towards Mahogany Flats campground, and although 4x4 high clearance vehicles were recommended, it wasn'’t that difficult of a road. It'’s somewhat steep and a little wash boardy in a couple of spots, but doable with ease.
The campsite pickins were slim and we had to improvise a spot. Once selected we began popping open the tents and pulling out the box of wine and throwing steaks on the camp stove. At 8,133 feet once the sun slipped behind the mountain and the wind picked up it got really chilly and we continued putting on layers until we were covered sufficiently enough to keep the wind from piercing through us. Beanies pulled down over our ears we ate our steaks and beans and then found some straight sticks, poked a marshmallow on the end of it and roasted it over the camp fire. Heaven.