Kim,

Well, I am probably going to be the "wet blanket" around here because in all the years of our camping, I do not recall ever telling ghost stories.  We generally had the tendency to be talking of what we did, planning for future days, and in my case, answering questions for our two sons.

I remember our first week vacation of camping in the mountains with our two young sons.  All week long, it seemed that all I heard was, "Dad, I'm bored."  That, of course, led to hiking around the national forest campground that became our favorite destination.  It was 3 1/2 miles back off of the nearest highway, had lots of trees, and the Purgatoire River ran right through the campgrounds.  One could listen to the water running, watch the hummingbirds (and get them to land on one's fingers) and just enjoy the cool and quiet of nature.  We were not disappointed in the opportunities to see deer as well, although I was NEVER able to get a picture of many of them, or of the occasional bear that came through.

After the next year went by and we were looking forward to vacation again, I feared that the boys would not like the idea of returning to the mountains because they had "been so bored."  One evening, they came to me and asked, "Dad, are we going on vacation this year?"  When I replied in the affirmative, they then asked, "Where are we going?"  With some trepidation, I answered, "Back to Purgatoire River Campground."

To my great pleasure and joy, they were excited to return there themselves.  We continued to return there up until the year of 2006, even though the youngest son was up into his mid-30's.  He still likes to join his mom and dad on vacation.  We are planning on Colorado Springs for 2 weeks this year, and he plans to fly up to Denver and spend the last week with us at a relative's home.

Terry