Wyoming Part I

Today is June 14, in two more days we will be five weeks into this twelve week adventure!  Up until this point we have stayed primitive and improved campgrounds and we have boondocked in truck stop parking lots but tonight is our first night dispersed camping on BLM land.

..but let me back up…We entered Wyoming today after a stop in Coalville, UT last night.  After gassing up and grocery shopping in Evanston, WY we drove to Kemmerer, WY and then to the Fossil Butte National Monument. 

We didn’t have much time to explore the sights yet, but we did spend time at the visitor’s center, obtained the Junior Ranger books, maps, and information about the area.  We then set off to find a place to rest our wheels for the night.  We read about dispersed camping, but we had not yet tried it – since most of the state of WY is state land we thought it might be a good time to give it a try.  Thankfully Google Maps worked well enough to show us the county roads in the area and we could see a few where it appeared we could turn the rig around.  Speaking of turning the rig around – we had to turn it around today and did so in too narrow of a space…when we did it we damaged our electrical cord.

We didn’t realize this until we found our camping spot and started to set up the rig…at that point we realized the damaged cord resulted in the trailer lights on one side not working.  Thankfully because Husband had hooked up the solar system for the Hideout he had the tools necessary to fix the cord.  We worked together to strip the wires and reconnect them.

I’m really proud how efficiently and effectively we worked together to fix the cord.  I am also proud of the kids who sat together and worked on the Junior Ranger books quietly and calmly while we were busy. 

In the end we repaired the cord and then enjoyed dinner in the wide open space of the high Wyoming desert.

We ended up parking near some railroad tracks and the kids were waiting all evening for a train to go by.  But I am not sure if these tracks are in use – we did see three trains off in the distance on another track.  Perhaps we will be awoken in the night by a train!

The sun sets late here.  We were getting good power with the panels until 8pm! Being able to position the panels for maximum gain is a huge benefit.  

We are all looking forward to a hike at Fossil Butte tomorrow and to the kids earning their next Junior Ranger badges!

Winnemucca, NV

Let's face it - the town name is fun to say.  It's a decent sized city (pop in the 7,000 range) and offers a few choices for RV parks.  We decided to stop for a couple of days here and enjoy the comfort of full hook-ups at the Winnemucca RV Park after our couple days of dry camping.

The most ironic thing about Winnemucca from my perspective is that they include in their tourist brochure that they are at the beginning of the "Winnemucca to the Sea Highway."  The route they outline is the EXACT route we took to get here in reverse!  So funny...and then they have a coastal redwood driftwood as a highway marker in town...It makes we wish we were still on the coast with the Redwoods.  I am going to be dreaming about that place for a year (until I can go back)!

The road between Lakeview and Winnemucca is barren.  It is over 200 miles of absolutely nothing (Denio is in the middle and offers the only gas station).  Here are some of the pics I took along the way when I was the passenger (please excuse the glare from the windows)...

We averaged around 10 mpg when driving through California, but between Lakeview, OR and Winnemucca, NV we got 12.5 mpg!  While there were some grades, it was less than what we experienced in California...it is a good thing we got the extra mpg's too because we did not stop for gas in Denio - the last opportunity for 100 miles.  When we finally got to Winnemucca and filled up we had only 3.5 gallons of gas left in the truck!  I was sweating bullets...always something to stress out about!  So...if you ever make that drive be sure that you can travel 210 miles or stop in Denio!

We ate at an amazing Mexican restaurant yesterday and are going to go back today for dinner.  We eat a lot of Mexican food in AZ - but this was something special.  It is called Marisgos El Rey Authentic Mexican Food.  Everything we ordered was amazing.  Also, the salsa is good and spicy.  Fantastic.  

Today is a lazy day.  We took the kids to a park and we are watching movies and playing games.  It is nice to take a day off of driving.  We'll get back on the road tomorrow and find a place to dry camp/boondock tomorrow night. 

 I'm teaching an online summer class starting in July.  Last night with cell/data I was able to get some work done prepping the course.  It's almost ready to go - I can't believe we have been on the road for four weeks already.  Though I am happy to have the extra income from the summer class, I have also enjoyed the freedom of our explorer life!  For the second half of the summer we have to have access to cell/data so that I can teach as well as explore!   

Boondocking adventures

Hello from Lakeview, OR!  Well, my kids saw hail today for the first time...did I mention we are from AZ?  We are not accustomed to this weather in the "Tallest Town in Oregon."  The low tonight is 26!  I think that might be the coldest weather we have experienced in this RV.  Thankfully we filled the propane before we left California and our heater is working well. 

Last night we stayed in the parking lot of a Pilot Travel Center in Klamath Falls, OR.  The kids are so eager for these new experiences, they enjoyed the gas station food and even our walk around the premises.  I was joking as we walked in the dreary, windy field next to the gas station filled with crab grass and sticking burrs, that it was the nicest hike we had taken during our trip...it took the kids a second to realize my sarcasm.  A truck stop is a truck stop, I would say it was free, but we spent a grip of cash on convenience foods -  which is why it is "free." The bathrooms were clean, that was good. It was really amazing how well the truckers back in their rigs!  Husband also did an amazing job backing in our rig!  The staff told us not to park all the way back in the spot so that the truckers would see that the space was taken.

Tonight, in Lakeview, OR we are staying at the fairgrounds.  They have full hook ups available for $25, but we opted to pay the only $5 to dry camp and use their restrooms which are very clean.  Only down side is that there seems to be some sort of dance party going on in one of the buildings...they are hootin' it up!  Tomorrow we will pay for full hook-ups. 

This location operates on the honor system...it's cute.

It's so cool how regardless of where we park we still get to go "home" and sleep in our own beds (or all pile into mom and dad's bed - depending on how cold the kiddos are). 

The driving has went well.  We traveled almost 200 miles yesterday and 100 miles the today.  The OR 140 is a good road, not too narrow and with some grades but they are reasonable.  We've had no problems and I've found the driving much more relaxing than in California.  Also, the scenery was very lovely.  Once we were here the kids could run around outside for as long as they could stand the 50ish degree weather.  It's been cold and rainy today...tomorrow we will travel a little over 200 miles and will end in Nevada where we may have to run the air conditioner!  What a crazy summer!

Traveling with the trailer is really fun.  Now that we are choosing our adventure as we go we are experiencing the freedom of the road for the first time.  I'm loving the lifestyle and am looking forward to the next leg of the journey eastward and looking forward to seeing my extended family.

The long road to Redwoods & the majesty of the Redwood Coast

If you do a Google Maps search from Yosemite to the Redwoods, specifically using our campgrounds it says it is 545 miles and will take 9 hours and 28 minutes.  But Google does not allow you to set your maximum speed (which is 55 for us) nor does it take into account the slow haul and up, down, and around mountain grades.  We averaged about 35 mph and it took us about 16 hours of drive time (not including stops).  I have had to come to terms with my major miscalculation - the maximum miles we can travel in a day is about 200 and, depending on the roads that could take between 4 and 6 hours.  I thought we would be able to cover more ground more quickly, but these mountains have really slowed us down.

This realization has sad consequences - we can't visit Yellowstone this summer.  Our current campground, Redwood Meadows RV Resort, is our first full hook-up site as well as the first where our cell/data works (and they also provide WiFi).  It has been my goal to visit the Redwoods for a very long time and so when I planned this trip I booked a week here.  The pros are that we have a sweet spot and there is much to see/do.  The con is that I have used up the time and we won't be able to make as many stops on our eastern journey.  Here is the view from our front door:

So...I am a bit bummed, but I think we have planned a route that will not be too bad.  We are meeting my family in South Dakota at a campground near Rapid City June 23rd, so that is our goal...we have between check-out here and that date to see what we can see and drive 1,500 miles (which is at least 7 days of driving).

On the very bright side we have LOVED the Redwood Coast.  I could stay here forever - except that they probably have very cold winters and that does not sound like fun...but I could definitely live here in the summer.  Between trips to the forest and trips to the ocean this area offers so much to do and see.  The forests are enchanted.  I feel like I am living in a fantasy world when in the presence of the beautiful fern undergrowth and the towering Redwoods.  There is just too much beauty in the natural sights here and it is so diverse!

I fully expected to see fairies flying out of the lush growth atop this nursery log!

The kids' first time in the ocean and finding shells on the beach was so awesome.

I loved the walks through the woods.  I loved the nursery logs and the octopus trees.  We learn so much from the Junior Ranger booklets!

Octopus trees (usually Hemlock) start by sprouting form a nursery log, but as they grow their roots reach the ground.

Eventually the nursery log erodes away into the soil and the resulting tree has a space beneath it!

Redwoods make HUGE nursery logs!

I love it here, but we have to move on - tomorrow we will get up early, and ready the rig for the next days of driving.  We are going to move as quickly and as safely as we can to Salt Lake City, UT where we will stop for a few days.  Between now and then we have four days of driving and four stopping points along the way.  We will not travel more than 200 miles in a day and see how that works for us.  I'll let you know how it goes!  From this point until June 23rd I have not made any reservations for campgrounds.  We will see how we do alternating between boondocking and finding campgrounds along the way...always a new adventure!  But I have a feeling we will visit here again - and next time for even longer!

Sequoia & Yosemite

(Not having access to cell and data has been difficult and I am getting behind on documenting our adventure because it seems like it will be such a tiresome task to upload these posts and pics after the fact. written 5/28/18)

After Sister’s ordeal we took it easy for a day and then visited the Trail of 100 Giants a second time.  We took the wagon and she rode through the grove.  She probably could have walked, but we wanted her to rest as much as possible.  I think the hospital visit really helped her – especially the fluids they pumped into her all night – she made a good recovery after that.  The trees are so enormous.  It is very hard to capture the scope, but here are some pics of one of the largest trees in that forest with a picture of the kids running through the tunnels at the base of the tree.

We left the Sequoia National Forest and headed north to the Sequoia National Park - Lodgepole Campground for three nights.  Lesson learned during that drive – DON’T trust Google maps for a good route with a trailer.  We took the worst possible road – it was too narrow and full of switchbacks.  I could not stay in my lane at all.  Our saving grace was we were the only ones stupid enough to take it, so there was little traffic.  When I saw another car I had to stop and let them pass.  We drove 15-20 mph or less for at least an hour – it was terrible.  That was the CA 245 if you are interested…a beautiful and scenic route for a car – never drive it with a rig.  Once we got to the CA 180 life was a lot better.  We had to enter the park from the North due to the length of our rig and road restrictions, something I didn’t know when I had originally planned the trip, so our day of driving was very long.  We arrived just before sunset and had time to fill our water and set the rig before dark.  The campground is quite large and the spaces are tight.  We took up every foot of our space with the truck parked perpendicular to the rig once set, but the forest view from the windows was amazing.

We saw many really amazing Sequoia groves and did a couple of nice hikes, but there were two very notable highlights.  First at the Big Meadow Trail, we saw a black bear grazing!  He was quite content with all the onlookers.  We all stopped along the path to take pictures with many other visitors.  It was actually a little unnerving to be taking our kids towards a bear in the wild like it was a zoo…but he was not interested in us in the slightest.  It was a bright beautiful day and the scene was picture perfect in every way.  The kids earned their Junior Ranger pins and patches for Sequoia National Park and we added them to their hats and vests.

The second amazing experience was visiting the Crystal Cave.  We booked these tickets in advance as it is a guided tour.  The weather had turned cold and foggy in the mountain.  We got a trickle of solar power, but it was not enough to charge our battery on the second full day we were there.  Driving on the winding mountain roads was difficult in the mist, but it transformed the whole place into an enchanted fantasy land in my mind.

The trail to the Crystal Cave descends 320 feet and the trail is dangerous in that there are rock slides fairly regularly and they have designated “no stop” zones when hiking down to minimize the chance of visitors being hit by falling rocks.  There is also poison oak growing along the path and they recommend not touching anything green while hiking.  The whole path is along a cliff with a stunning view of a waterfall and mountain stream.  But anytime you are walking along a drop-off with a three-year old you are going to be nervous. 

But finally we arrived at the cave and the tour was jaw-dropping.  I was only able to take a few pics, I am sure there are many more online that do it justice.

In each room of the cave there were Protectors - Here is the dragon Protector of the cave.

Then we began our slow ascent.  The facilities are located at the top – they do warn you about that prior to the hike…but inevitably Sister started complaining near the bottom and it was long walk up.  In the end she walked 90% of it and rode on our backs for 10% just to get her to the toilet more quickly.  Both she and Brother were able to complete a bonus Junior Ranger Cave Scientist activity and they earned pins and patches for the Crystal Cave as a bonus.  

We then headed North to Yosemite which is where we are now.  I could not book a campsite inside the park, instead we are staying at Indian Flat RV Park about 8 miles away from the Tunnel View entrance on the CA 140.  The trip here was also a nail biter.  The 140 has signs posted stating that there is a restriction for vehicles over 45 feet and that violators will be fined.  Given that there is literally no other way to get to our campground we proceeded though we are at a total length of 48 feet, but we were worried the whole way.  In retrospect there was nothing we couldn’t handle, but we didn’t know that as we drove.  We kept expecting some crazy hairpin turn or a clear reason for the 45 foot restriction.  The road does narrow to one lane for a time (with a light) and during that point there are two single lane bridges that must be crossed.  However, we were able to make all the turns safely and in our lane.  I think having the experience of driving the 245 taught me what we could and could not handle.  When we arrived and I was able to speak to the staff here, I learned that vehicles over 45 feet drive the road all the time with no incident – apparently the restriction is not well enforced.  Having been disconnected from the world for a couple of weeks I also didn’t realize this is Memorial Day weekend.  The crowds in Yosemite were unreal yesterday.  But we still were able to see some awesome sites from the car and we obtained the park information and Junior Ranger booklets.  We learned that we have to arrive early to get a parking spot and we were better prepared today when we took the Bridalveil Fall hike.  We have two more days to explore this wondrous place and are hoping the crowds are a bit less tomorrow and Wednesday.