fivebyevif

“I don’t see any turkeys.”

“No, honey,” I said, gazing down the ridge into the gully. Everything was green. Missouri is such a…green state. Growing up in what was more or less terraformed high desert, I’m always amazed at the greenness.

“But the trail is named ‘Turkey Hollow’.”

“We saw turkeys at St. Joe’s.”

“But only while we were in a car. I want to see one on a trail.”

I cocked my head. “Y’know, I can’t recall ever seeing a turkey outside a car. Maybe they only exist when we’re in cars?”

“Hmmm.” He thought about that. “Maybe.”

“Besides, you just want to eat the turkeys. They can sense that.”

“Mmmm.” Mike rolled his eyes. “Turrrrrkey.”

We went to Cuivre (”Quiver”) River for our 4th. We hiked approximately seven miles over Friday and Saturday, a total of four trails. I stopped counting the number of ticks I found clinging to my sneakers after the tenth or so.

The scenery was lovely, and we saw deer and frogs and one very brave songbird that flew up and hovered near us. There was also a raccoon and his buddies who tried (and failed) to get at our trash bag. When Mike shined his light on it, I reflexively yelled, “Atticus! Get down!” soooo that gives you some idea of what my homelife is with the cats and all.

We scraped up the last spot at the campground. Missouri designates certain spots as “handicap accessible”, and if they aren’t claimed by 6 PM they’re up for grabs. So — we hiked four miles, then came back at 5 PM to get in line and grab the last one.

This was awesome because it meant we got to camp. And this sucked because it was the 4th, and there were a lot of noisy groups on that end of the campground.

Not that I blame ‘em. Much. It’s the 4th. Families are gonna get together, and someone’s kid is gonna be a chatterbox, which makes the other kids chatterbox, and before you know it, like a string of M-80s all firing at once, you’ve got a gaggle of toddlers shrieking, hooting, and running around. I understand, I do. But we go camping for the quiet, and that was not quiet.

Lesson learned: if we ever go camping over the holiday again, we need to choose a campground with very few amenities (Cuivre River has shower houses and electricity) and a lot of distance between sites.

When we got home, we took a two hour nap. I don’t think we meant to, it’s just that I somehow had a migraine and he got very little sleep due to the aforementioned noisy groups. Nothing gets rid of the demons in my skull like a little shut-eye, and Mike couldn’t resist a snoring Steph on his bed. So we snuggled, and slept, and it was good.

For the most part, a fun weekend. Some really beautiful terrain for hiking. It was tranquil and peaceful when we were on the trails, which is what we — well, I — look for in an outdoor outing.

But I think next time, we’ll go when there are fewer people.