John Martin Reservoir State Park (Aug 3)

Today I dropped John off in Fowler, CO so that he could ride to Hasty, CO...where we stayed at the John Martin Reservoir State Park.  For the first time on this trip we didn't have a reservation.  I think Kansas is going to be like that most of the way.  I am finding it difficult to book state parks in advance, so we are just winging it.  I saw a campground about a mile before the state park, but it looked a little unsavory for us.  I proceed to the state park another mile unsure if there was room or if we would fit or even if they were still in existance.  Luckily all was great.  The sites were electric only, but hey I'll take it!  They had water and a dump station and for one night we can deal with our 30 gallons of water and probably won't fill up our gray tank also 30 gallons.  It was $20...and we didn't have to pay the usual entrance fee because it was a free day!  Lucky us!

John was about 15-20 miles behind us based on when I passed him last.  I had opted to leave the truck attached to the camper since we weren't likely to go anywhere.  Just after I got set up the wind picked up.  I rushed the kids into the camper and got them settled before checking the weather.  Sure enough...a big storm was headed right for us.  It didn't appear to be headed towards John, yet, so I hunkered down and texted John with our status.  

The wind died down for a moment and then...the hail began.  Now I was in a pickle.  I couldn't go out to the truck to unhook the camper because of the hail and I feared that John was going to need to be picked up because he was headed into this mess.  Yep...sure enough John texted asking to be picked up.  He headed back to the last town which he had just gone through.  By now the hail had turned to heavy rain...very heavy rain and scary thunder.  I instructed Charlotte on how best to get to the truck with minimal wetness.  We all ran for the truck and I feverishly unhooked the truck from the camper while getting drenched.  I saw hail a couple more times while driving back 15 miles to pick up John ant CarQuest.  There is hail in this photo, but hard to see.

After this all passed around 3 pm...we enjoyed the rest of the evening.  Including watermelon.

I also helped the kids make a fort out of their bedding and bunk area.

Lastly I inadvertently found out that CO grocery stores only sale beer that is 3.2%.  I've been in CO for over a week and I find this out on our last night in the state.