~~~
With such a late start, Dan was hurrying a bit more than he felt he should. At this point he knew he would not get to the KOA before they closed shop, so he called ahead. After some mildly friendly chatter they agreed to put the reservation slip in a BBQ that now served as a decoration sitting just outside the main office. He could just pull in and setup since he had already paid online with a credit card.
The freeway certainly had some dull sections, and the rain, ranging from light sprinkles from higher clouds to downright torrents where it seemed it must already be after sunset made it tedious as well as dangerous. But along the way a few of the sites and attractions caught his attention. The rocks began turning red, and with all the rain the Pinion trees and Oak Scrub shown rich, dark greens in contrast, cheering him even more.
By the time he’d hit Moab and stopped for gas, the clouds had occasionally broken and shone on the red rock fins and canyons he was passing through. There was one point along the route where a natural arch was shaded by cloud but the sun illuminated the landscape beyond. Dan took several pictures he thought might be good enough to blow up and frame for his study back home. Perhaps, he had thought, this will turn out to be a really good trip for me.
Darkness had fallen as the sun set so early in the desert as the Winter Solstice neared. During this season the campground closed its office at 5:00PM but he didn’t make it until well after seven so it was well that he’d made arrangements. As he entered the grounds just outside of a sleepy Colorado town the fresh and well-manicured gravel crunched under his truck wheels. He was wearing his lighter jacket but had the windows down, guessing that the outside temperature was likely still in the upper 50s. Although the valley below Mesa Verde, his intended trip for the following day, was quite a ways further south from his home he was still surprised and mused pleasantly at the idea that it was in the 60s in December down here as he pulled in front of the log-cabin office and got out to retrieve his paperwork.
As he bent over the paper-clipped bundle of papers and brochures for local attractions and parks in the shadow of the fluorescent light in the lot he heard a gentle and smiling voice behind him, and it took him by surprise because he hadn’t heard anyone walking on the gravel.
“98?”
Dan turned trying to stifle his shudder at the scare. “98?”
A young looking woman, considerably shorter than him in a forest green slicker and an odd looking wide-brimmed hat smiling brighter than the Cheshire, had spoken. Her smile was intoxicating and there was an energy Dan hadn’t experienced for a few months since the rains started up north.
“Ya!” she replied, playfully pointing at the stack of papers Dan held in his two hands. “Are you lot 98?”
“Uh…” followed by a cleared throat and a nervous look at the reservation sheet. “Ya, I guess I am.”
“Well, I knew it anyway. There’s really only one lot in that row left anyway so I figured that’d be you.” The young lady stuck out her hand and continued the introductions. “I’m 97. My name is Rachel.”
Dan took her hand gladly and was moderately disappointed to find her hand was gloved. Her shake was quite hearty, and even though it seemed to involve her whole frame somewhat comically, it was genuine and welcoming.
“I’m Dan.”
For a moment, Dan stood somewhat stupefied and decided shuffling his papers was a good distraction until Rachel responded, her smile fading somewhat as she worked on her next statement. It was then that Daniel learned how deliberate Rachel was and that seemed to him all the more appealing.
“Well,” she started, “I’ll let you set up your camp first because it’s late, but if you want to come sit by my fire I’ve got some hot cocoa…even some S’mores supplies…um…I think. I might have eaten them all, but I’ll look.”
“Oh! Well…” Dan thought about this. A KOA is not a singles bar. Considering he was in a town smaller than his own in the Southwest Desert it may actually be considered impolite to turn down an invitation to a camp fire. And Rachel’s smile seemed to locked in place awaiting his next words. So he smiled and agreed he’d come over for a bit, but that the S’mores weren’t necessary.
Rachel’s glee was immediate.
“Sounds great! I’ve got the Smiths from 99 coming too. In fact, I think they’re there already. I was actually just getting some cocoa packets from the vending machine here because…well…I think I’ve used all those up too.”
“Ok,” Dan sniggered. “I guess you have a sweet tooth?”
It was hard to imagine considering she was a good 6 inches shorter than he but probably still couldn’t weigh much more than one-hundred pounds. In fact, after a few minutes more conversation as she paced quickly away to the row of small camp stalls Dan would begin regretting the extra twenty-five or more he was carrying on him. But it wasn’t important anyway considering he had to be ten or fifteen years her elder.
“Ya, I guess I do,” she’d replied. Her smile kept warming Dan, as though he hadn’t just missed out on warm conversation for the last couple months in rainy Woodland Hills, but had never experienced it before. It was like a brand new sensation. But he shuffled a bit before asking his next slightly less friendly question.
“What’s with the hat, anyway?”
“Oh!” Rachel replied. “I’m actually a forest ranger, and this is my Ranger’s hat.”
A puzzled look squirmed into Dan’s countenance. “What are you doing at a KOA camp then?”
“Well…I worked this past season at the Mesa Verde Park just up the road and now I’m off. Sort of between jobs you could say.”
Dan didn’t think ranger’s had “between jobs” times. His confusion must have played on his face just as easily as puzzlement because Rachel took it on assumption to keep explaining.
“I am probably going to transfer to the Canyonlands for a year, and…well…I’m one of the ranger educators…I’m one of the ones that gives tours. I don’t patrol or carry a gun or anything.”
“Oh, I see.” But not really.
“Ya. I’m kinda a pacifist, really. Normally all but a couple educators leave the park for the winter. And those that stay don’t get too many requests for tours. See, we have to take people down to the dwellings during the winter because it can get too snowy and slippery.”
“I’d heard that. In fact, I have a tour scheduled in a couple days from now, but they say it’s probably going to be in the 60s still.”
“Really?!” Rachel responded happily. “I think I’m the one scheduled to give you the tour. It’s my last one and we only had a couple people call and ask for the sixth.”
“Oh great! I’m sure it will be a lot of fun then!” And Daniel meant it. Rachel had an energy that was lifting his spirits considerably.
“Ya, great! Have you ever been to Mesa Verde?”
“No, I don’t think I’ve been this far south ever, really. Well…except when I went to Las Vegas once for a convention.”
“Well!” Rachel leaned in conspiratorially and continued, “it’s better when there isn’t a huge group. It’s almost like you can feel the spirits there of the people that built it.”
“Ya?”
“Oh ya! ...And it can be pretty spooky too!”
“I’m not too sure I’m in to being spooked right now.”
“Ah, don’t worry. A ranger wouldn’t let anything bad happen to you.” A genuine smile of pride shown on Rachel’s face. It wasn’t often that Dan met someone that truly loved their work, but Rachel clearly did.
“Anyway, because I’m not too sure where I’m going next or what time of year the parks I put in for are going to need me, I decided to take the holidays off. Since I’m not working, they can’t house me there, and voila! Here I am camping at a KOA camp!”
“Gotcha. But you’re working tomorrow?”
“Ya. I got kinda roped into it because another ranger left on Monday too. But now that I know who’s on
the tour I’m excited. Between you and the Smiths, it should be fun!”
“Oh! So the Smiths are here for that too?”
“No…But I’m working on them. They need a break.”
At this Rachel nodded her head and welcomed him to come over to the fire one more time. Her gait was quite intense, clearly on a mission to entertain her guests. Dan thought he could just make out the shadow of a pair huddled around a smallish fire near some other tents setup.
Cute kid, he thought. Still he was smiling as he hopped in his truck and pulled it around into the first row of lots the camp hosts were using for the brave December campers and parked in number 98. After about 15 minutes of getting gear into his rented cabin, which was actually a fairly comfortable and permanent large canvas tent with two lights inside, Dan gave up trying to seem occupied and committed to sitting with Rachel and the Smiths around the camp fire glowing just thirty feet away. It was too dark and he was actually a little too interested in the camp fire and cocoa, and company, to spend any more time getting comfortable alone.