1. Kerosene Lamps: My family loved to camp on the beach during the summer. At night we would take a kerosene lamp down by the shore and chase crabs. We would jump and scream as the crabs went scattering away from our feet, and when we felt brave we would try to get them to crawl over our feet. I can still hear the hissssssssssssssssssssss of the lamp when feeling nostalgic.

2. Other memories of camping: sand dunes, using baby powder to remove the sand before getting in the tent to sleep, knowing that in the end sand was going to get in the tent, tent=big, green, and canvas… no matter how much we beat it when we got home there was no getting the sand out of that thing, the stars at night, the lapping of the waves on the shore, reading at the beach, camp stove, camp food, cold cokes, using the sunfish sail as a shade, doodoo sand castles, being forced to wear a huge t-shirt all day so I wouldn’t get burned, zinc oxide for the nose.

3. Black Tarps: We, of course, did not have conventional slip and slides. My dad would get a huge black tarp and a garden hose out and that would suffice. Actually, it was more than sufficient… it spanned pretty much our entire back yard and was fast… and awesome.

4. Stars: I mean, come on, my sister is named after a comet…how could star gazing not be part of my childhood.

5. My favorite story about Colorado is from the first year we spent at the cabin. We were meant to only go on a short  hike to the meadow and back. On the return trip to the cabin we decided to take a new way, a detour if you will…what a detour. I must have been 7 at the time, Halley 5 and Jacob 9. A 7 hour hike with limited food and water is not the smartest idea when you have small children. I remember the prickly bush we had to hike though…pure torture.

6. Other memories of Colorado: Gorp, jumping in the freezing cold creek (really only Halley ever did this), fishing at the lake right after it was stocked- I think we caught about 10 fish each, peaking the West, peaking the East, the views, panoramic photos, the meadow, the bed by the window overlooking the creek, no TV, reading in the hammock, fitting everyone around the small table in the kitchen, ramen noodles, heating creek water to drink, chipmunks.