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Curve balls
My apologies to readers of this blog for being absentee the last 3 months. I never envisioned having to lay this new venture of blogging aside so soon, albeit temporarily. Yet life brings the unexpected curve ball on occasion and more urgent needs do take priority. We’ve had 2 immediate family members with serious but not life-threatening injuries involving many doctor visits, PT appts, MRI’s and an upcoming surgery in August, multiple trips out of state (one to sit by the hospital bed of a beloved mother/mother-in-law for 4 days), conference calls, out of state real estate problems, and the pressing task of used truck shopping under a time crunch. As it would turn out, we bought a “new” used truck the day before our current truck’s transmission gave out. We call that a God-thing.
“Normal life” went on at the same time with 4 family birthdays, at least 4 graduation parties, 2 major home projects, car repairs, tax filing, our weekly mowing of 3 acres, and being chauffeur to the social life of a teenager. Ergo, my writing and photography came to a screeching halt. Women are typically good multi-taskers but I admit, I was max-ed out.
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Dare I also mention we bought a brand new camping trailer in another state 4 days before we left on vacation? AND that it got side-swiped by another customer in the dealer’s parking lot before we even got out of park??? It turned out OK, only the awning arm was affected and it will be replaced, but the stress level meter by this point was off the charts.
Change of Scenery
At some point, you just have to stop life as you know it and refuel.
We decided to get away for a couple weeks and get renewed. As it has been for 35+ years, there was no question our destination was going to be in the Rocky Mountains but where? Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho?
The heat index partially played a role in our destination decision. Ninety degrees in Kansas on I-70 did not sound pleasant so we headed further north through IN, IL, IA, and NE, thankfully enveloped by a large weather system dousing us in rain for almost 24 hours.
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Interstate travel is usually thought to be boring and mindless hour after hour. While that is partially true, a traveler can find places of oasis that refresh the eye and spirit on or off the beaten path. For some, the fun starts when they get there. However, as we age get wiser, my husband and I are trying to make the vacation start at the end of the driveway.
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Pit stop or arboretum?
Would you believe the above photo is part of a rest area in western IL? Blue spider wort and yellow coreopsis combine in a prairie setting to make getting out for a pit stop a pleasant surprise.
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Two inches of beautiful sunshine. God must have known we humans would bring flowers into the home so He bestowed some of nature’s best characteristics on each one.
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Also at the rest area was a nice piece of history to orient the traveler to this area ~ all that’s required is the time to read. Like Laura Ingalls Wilder, this gentleman didn’t start his professional writing career until after the age of 50! Another reminder for me to never stop challenging myself.
Sad to say, 95% of those we saw at the rest area did not even see this sign nor the flowers. One thing photography has taught me is to be more aware of my surroundings. Who would’ve thought a rest area would be so interesting and full of beauty!
State Parks, please
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State parks are our favorite place to camp overnight while traveling. Above is Lake Anita State Park in southwestern Iowa about 3 miles off of I-80. The Park centers around a 171-acre reservoir on a branch of the Nishnabotna River with the campground on one side. We thoroughly enjoyed the peaceful and scenic setting both the evening we arrived and the next morning, our souls getting that needed balm of nature.
The Roo is the Bee’s Knees
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We love our new camper! It’s a 2019 Rockwood Roo 233S made by Forest River. Coming from 16 years using a Coleman popup, we are loving the ease & quickness of set up and take down, the interior and exterior storage space, a real frig, a 3rd queen-size bed, A/C and most of all, a BATHROOM!
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One of the main reasons we chose a hybrid type of trailer is the compactness of the towing length (24′ 10″) to pull off-road into remote spots, yet once parked, the spaciousness of 3 fold-out queen beds and a dinette slide is added. Once everything is extended, it’s quite a roomy home for the 5 of us inside! There are so many features that we’ll probably never use such as heated mattresses, an oven, wifi and TV reception. But we are getting soft in our retired years, so the “kids” are loving when we occasionally camp with hookups! Microwave popcorn, anyone?
Beauty in Unexpected Places
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I found this little beauty near our camp in Iowa ~ Foxglove Beardtongue, or Talus Slope Penstemon (Penstemon digitalis). A 2-3′ perennial native to Iowa, Nebraska, and Missouri. The Latin name digitalis means finger-like ~ can you see the petals looks like the fingers of a glove? Even though this one was growing in the wild, many cultivars have been produced for the midwest gardener, such as Red Husker (name 1996 Perennial Plant of the Year), Dark Towers or Prairie Splendor. Add a few of them next spring to your flowerbeds and enjoy this delicate beauty in the spring and early summer.
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With all the apps one can get to help find campsites, we use AllStays the most. Campendium is another nice app and we are looking forward to using Harvest Hosts (requiring a yearly fee) in the future. Harvest Hosts are produce, livestock or flower farms, golf courses, or wineries that allow self-contained RVers to park free for one night (no hookups). Along interstates, a recent discovery for us is Cabela’s! Most Cabela Outfitters have a paved area for overnight RV parking, but this one in Sidney, Nebraska had an actual campground with full hookups! And Sidney had it’s own unexpected beauty to share . . .
The Nebraska sunset was priming up to be spectacular so my youngest and I headed out with our cameras to capture what might unfold. We weren’t disappointed.
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How do you ever get used to this?
Take Me Back To Ole Wyoming, I’ve Been Gone Far Too Long
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We crossed the state line into Wyoming and this scenery above was at another Rest Area! In the distance is Elk Mountain, elev. 11,156 feet. My whole outlook on Rest Areas has changed after this trip! Have you encountered some good ones you care to share?
Is That an Antelope?
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If you call this an antelope like I did, you are in good company because Lewis & Clark did too. But it is NOT a true antelope. It is an American pronghorn. Though the Spanish explorers of America first saw & described them, it wasn’t until Lewis and Clark’s 1803-4 expedition that they were formally recorded. They wrote “Of all the animals we have seen, the Antelope seems to possess the most wonderful fleetness. Shy and timorous they generally repose only on the ridges, which command a view of all the approaches of an enemy … When they first see the hunters they run with great velocity … The Indians near the Rocky Mountains hunt these animals on horseback, and shoot them with arrows.” For your next trivia game, remember the pronghorn is the fastest land mammal in the western hemisphere.
Time Won’t Matter Anymore
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The Wind River Range of west central Wyoming is stunning, especially with late spring snow. It was a new place for our family to explore, and when we saw the rugged snow-capped peaks, there was a collective awe from all 5 of us. We knew when we saw this, we were close to settling down for a while. In front of my daughters is Fremont Lake, just east of the little town of Pinedale, WY. Pinedale was where we got our bearings for that perfect mt camp, stocked up on groceries, water and fuel, bought maps & bear spray for hiking and headed out to the perfect spot on earth.
A Bridger-Teton National Forest Ranger recommended a remote primitive spot for us to camp but it came with a warning . . . “it is bear central up there, so don’t go anywhere without bear spray.” The downside to the perfect spot is that was 47 miles of the worst road possible.
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Are We Lost?
The first 25 miles were just hopelessly barren. Thankfully the narrow, potholed road was paved, but the only break in the sagebrush scenery was cowboys herding cattle up the valley. For several weeks each October the Green River Drift, one of the longest (and longest-running) cattle drives in the nation, takes place when cowboys on horseback push livestock back from their summer range in this valley back home to their working ranches, a distance of about 70 miles. If you like John Wayne movies like I do, this was Big Jake, The Cowboys and McClintok all rolled into one – cattle as far as the eye could see. We were beginning to wonder if the Ranger got the directions right – we wanted mountains, snow, rushing river, trees – not cows! Then the worst happened. The paved road turned into a bad, did I say BAD, washboard gravel road for the next 20 miles. It pained my husband to know how our brand new camper was being beaten to a pulp, not to mention the teeth-jarring ride we had in the truck. Taking it very slow, we spent a total of 2+ hours getting to the end of the road.
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Seems our rig must have been the only interesting thing this cow had seen in a while too. After the longest 2 hours ever, things started to look up. The road, miserable as it was, started following a beautiful, meandering river (check), sagebrush turned into willows (check), cows were replaced by moose (check) . . . .
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The road made a sweeping right turn, around a huge bend, turning us 180 degrees and lo and behold . . . .
Home Sweet Home
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Green River Valley. Destination Relax (aka “home base”), where we ate, slept, photographed, hiked, and nearly froze to death during the next 8 days.
Join me next time for the rest of the story at Green River Valley (or “Bear Central”). And by golly, throw me a comment, would you?
Catch y’all later,
Carolyn
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Good job, Mom! Already miss these views so much.
Thank you, Laura. I’m hoping with practice, blogging will get quicker. This one took me 5 hours (selecting & importing photos, scaling them down to fit a blog, writing, editing, adding titles/headings, trying to correct aspects important to SEO (search engine optimization), and proof reading 5 times. Somehow I still missed some imperfections and corrected them this morning ~ I need your editing skills before I publish! I too already miss the views but mostly the low humidity!!
Awesome pictures Carolyn. Glad you’re back to blogging. We have spent a lot of time in Wyoming, Colorado, and Montana as well, but never here. How did you find this spot – other than the ranger’s help?
Beth, we have favorite off-grid camping spots all over CO, WY and ID. MT is high on the list to explore now that we can travel easier. We’d never gone to the Wind River Range as a family because 1) in his youth, my husband had a bad backpacking experience with the mosquitos there as a family so he never wanted to go back and 2) it’s so close to Jackson Hole and Yellowstone we thought it would be crowded with people. But after studying topo maps, it looked so good that we decided to give it a try. We knew we could move on if it was not to our liking. Turns out we practically had the whole valley to ourselves (probably bc of the bad road) and were there just as the snow was melting away but still cold enough the mosquitos had not hatched out yet (June 19-29). Our nights got down to 25 degrees, had one day of snowfall and a high of 40 but most days were sunny and 60. As long as you have goosedown bedding and some warm clothes, it was great. We just happened to leave on the day the mosquitos came out and boy, I can see why it was a bad experience for my husband 45 years ago. HOARDS of them. So skip the Wind River Range in July and most of August.
As always you weaved another well told story with beautiful photos and interesting facts! I don’t know how you do it. I was on this trip and even I was intrigued by the story! Your pictures of the many wildflowers were breathtaking! And I learned something new about American pronghorn. I called them Antelope the whole trip. 🙂 I know I am really going to enjoy reading your next blogs about the trip so I can relive all the wonderful memories through your pictures! Great job and can’t wait for the next one!
Wow, RJ, such a touching compliment! Thank you! Making memories together are the only riches that last and I love our family travels for that reason. What’s the next one?
Hi Carolyn! Enjoyed your trip! My family are all campers. Camper looks great. I will continue to follow your adventures! cheers
Joan,
Love that your family loves to camp. Not surprising though considering the hearty stock you come from! Those men and women on your grandfather’s side were quite the travelers! Thanks for the nice comments.
So well done, Carolyn! You are very gifted in photography & ” story-telling, &
I am eager to hear & see the next part of your journey!
Thanks Jan, for all the prayer cover over us while we were gone. Must be why we had no problems and had safety in each location! You are a big encouragement to me. Love you.
I grew up in Colorado, but also love Wyoming! My very best lifelong friend’s dad, who is in his mid 90s now, grew up on a homestead near the Tetons. I learned a lot about Wyoming from that family. I also did a little camping there. It is such a beautiful, unnamed state. Thanks for your blog about your Wyoming vacation.