146 
the side of the road, get out and sit on the 
grass, wander about, explore a bit, take pic- 
tures and enjoy the place to our fill before 
we moved on. Carrie had arranged her 
provisions so that no cooking should be 
done at noon: a special basket was packed 
after the morning meal, containing a cold 
lunch that could be eaten as we drove along 
in the wagon or as we lay on the grass under 
the trees, or be carried to some particularly 
attractive spot along the way. 
‘““When we got tired of riding in the wagon 
we left one of the party to drive, while the 
rest of us walked; many a day I fished for 
miles along the stream while my wife drove. 
Ned and Phil fished and sometimes Ethel 
tramped along with them or lay on the 
beds in the wagon and read or slept. 
‘Sometimes we remained for three or 
four days at a time at the one camp, fishing, 
hunting, exploring the surrounding country, 
climbing among the mountains or merely 
loafing about the camp and enjoying the 
quiet and the sigh and scent of the pines. 
“If we felt like driving on we did, if we 
felt like stopping we stopped. We had no 
set destination, no set time or plans. Life 
was to us one long, idle dream, in which we 
did just as we liked, went just where we 
pleased and when we pleased. 
‘“‘Our portable hotel proved to be the 
most comfortable kind of a shelter _in 
inclement weather; with everything packed 
away snug and shipshape in its own com- 
partment we could jog along without fear of 
anything getting wet. Some of the jolliest 
times were spent in the camp-wagon, sing- 
ing songs and telling stories while the rain 
beat a merry tattoo on our cozy shelter. 
‘As we got farther up into the mountains 
the country about us grew grander and 
wilder and more picturesque with every 
mile. But though the grades were pretty 
steep it was a singular and noticeable fact 
that the roads were always hard, smooth 
and in the most excellent condition. Still, 
RECREATION 
in some place it was pretty stiff pulling for 
one team and to save the horses we made 
our journeys shorter and our stops longer. 
That was no sacrifice to us, however, for the 
fishing grew better and better, and the boys 
and I kept the camp supplied with trout. 
In this way we traveled through the whole 
Front Range, loafing along, resting and 
traveling when we pleased. 
““We were out four weeks, and I just tell 
you, Tom, I never had as much fun in any 
four weeks of my life. We all came back as 
well and happy and husky and brown as a 
bunch of Gypsies. We had had the time of 
our lives, seen some of the grandest scenery 
that lies out of doors, traveled something 
over three hundred miles in a wagon, and 
what do you think it had cost us ?” 
‘Five hundred dollars ?” 
“Not on your life. Less than two hun- 
dred and fifty, and most of that for the rail- 
road ride that was the least enjoyable part 
of the trip. We had secured the use of the 
team and wagon from a ranchman for $2 a 
day, and he was glad enough to get a check 
for $50 on the spot. Our provisions cost us 
about $30, grain and hay for the horses 
about $20, and, aside from our fare to and 
from Denver, our only other expenses were 
for little luxuries that we bought at the few 
towns we passed through on our way. We 
had no servants’ wages to pay that month, 
no gas bills, laundry bills, water tax, car- 
fare or incidentals, and had spent no money 
for clothes. The five of us had lived for four 
weeks on a little over a hundred dollars, we 
had had an outing that none of us will ever 
forget, and that had put us all in fighting 
trim for another year. ; 
‘“‘Next year we mean to repeat the experi 
ment nearer home, which will make the trip 
cost- much less,and already we are laying our 
plans and looking for an outfit to make 
the driving trip through the Adirondacks. 
Better join us next year, Tom; you can’t 
beat it for a summer vacation.” 
s 

