Vacation Day 7

We had a great day hanging out at our camp site, relaxing in the hammock and riding the bike trails. Bobby and Braden saw an osprey (related to the hawk) and nest and learned some things about them.

Around 5:00 we headed to Durango for dinner. On the way, we were all scanning the mountains for that elusive bear sighting. I (Angie) shared with the family that i’d been tempted several times to pray that we would see a bear and have a great story to tell (foreshadowing!) We had a great dinner, then walked Main Street. Found some t-shirts and a Starbuck’s! On our drive home we were especially observant of any “wildlife sightings” but didn’t see any.

We went to bed around 11. I’m not sure what specific sound stirred me at 3:30 am but I nudged Bobby, and he had heard it too. Soon after that, we knew what it was. A bear had found the only thing we had left out, our cooler, in the bed of our truck! Bobby SLOWLY unzipped the window at our feet and we watched with a mixture of excitement and horror as the big guy rummaged through the cooler and found our bacon, lunch meat and grapes. By the way, the truck was parked about two feet from our camper.

He left and we breathed a sigh of relief-and then he came back! This time he hopped up into the bed to explore a little deeper. After he left, I woke Braden up and said, “Do you wanna see a bear?” “Yes”, he said. “Well he’s in our cooler!” I opted not to wake Kyndal, on account of the fact that she might not close her eyes for the rest of the trip! During his third visit, Braden asked his dad, “Where’s our pepper spray?” to which Bobby replied, “It’s in the truck!” By 4:00, the bear had completely had his way with our cooler ( it’s got the teeth marks to prove it) and went on his way, leaving us with a great story to tell! Thank You, God, for keeping us safe and giving us “The Bear Story!”