So the final portion of our trip was spent in Colorado, near Estes Park.  We found a great cabin, a B&B sans the breakfast (so really, just a B) on a five acre ranch owned by, seriously,  a couple named Barbie and Ken. 

We decided (okay, I decided and Chris obliged) to go on a hike in Rocky Mountain National Park.  The trail was five miles long after we added the distance from the parking lot to the trail head.  In a Colorado heat wave and at a high altitude.   All this to say:  call us wussies, but we were wiped out by the end and grimy from the dirt that had clung to the sheen of bug spray on our legs.  We went to get a burger in Estes Park where we had to wait forever and then, exhausted, drove the winding 20 miles back to our cabin.  Ken had told us that there was a hammock by the river at the end of their property, so we headed out there and were resting peacefully in the hammock together.  “Perfection,” we kept saying to each other. “This is what vacation should be about.”

We made plans to come back that evening, and again in the morning.  We had found vacation nirvana.  We closed our eyes. 

Then we heard a noise. 

I looked past the hammock into the bramble, about 20 feet away.  Is that the neighbor’s dog?   What is that?

IT WAS A BEAR!  And what did we do?  The opposite of what the park info told us:  we swung out of the hammock and ran like hell all 300 feet to our cabin.  Chris looked back when we were safely away.   Yes, it was a bear–a little black bear.  A cub?  Was the mom not far behind?

This could have been us!  (It’s worth the watch–trust me–small ad comes first, but push through.)

The next morning, we bravely went out and filmed on our little digital camera a brief re-enactment, the part of the bear played by Chris.  For true authenticity’s sake, I should clarify that the bear was actually in the bramble, but for better visibility, our actor posed in front.   (I don’t know why I narrated it in a Muppet voice, by the way). [Technical difficulties with YouTube (it's not me), so if it doesn't work, please click here.]