2nd annual "selfish" vacation

I took a week off in September again this year to go on a low-key camping vacation.  Selfish means we don't have to be anywhere or do anything except what we feel like doing.  Last year was really nice (hopefully I blogged about it?)  This year hasn't been as pleasant, mostly due to weather, whining, and difficulty finding campsites.  It started out nice when we went to a beautiful campsite we found when Ben was about 18 months old.  It's a mile in on a trail, so it required quite the effort to get to.  We're "car campers" with LOTS of stuff.  The boys had fun and Tim went to a lake to fish.  Next we camped in scorching heat on a state park lake (after hours of searching for a back country campsite) with not a single tree, and we were ok.  Then we headed to Steamboat Springs for our hotel night (every 3rd or 4th night), and woke up to pouring rain that lasted all that day and the next two days.  We did get to see a dead bear that was being checked in at the Forest Service office after being killed by a hunter.  Next we went to Grand Mesa, which seems to have its own weather system.  Other than that, it's gorgeous - over 300 lakes on a mesa at 10,000 feet, tons of back country camping on beautiful lakes.  It didn't quite rain, but it was freezing cold and super damp, and then it poured the next day.  The usually-tough boys were freezing and crying and complaining and Ben was hysterically afraid of bears.  We headed to Grand Junction/Fruita, knowing the weather should be better, and camped in another state park, where the lovely swim beach was closed and screeching kids woke us up at 6:00 am.  We slept without jammies or sleeping bags, which was a contrast from the night before.  Next we headed to Gunnison and were thwarted at at least two attempts to find back country camping. Then, after deciding to stay at a motel we loved last year, we got stuck in a huge traffic jam caused by a terrible wreck, which thankfully was not us.  I'm dragging the "Chieves Curse" along with me, aren't I?