July 12, 2021 and then July 16, 2021 and then July 19, 2021
Hello Everyone! (as you can see from the dates, I have been trying to get this done for a little while now….I started writing this in Lander, WY, and now am finishing while in Pinedale, WY. Both are in the Wind River Mountain range, Lander on the east side, Pinedale on the west side of the mountains).
We are currently in Lander, Wyoming, in the Wind River Mountain Range….well, we’re right at the edge of the mountains – what the marketing type folks like to call the “gateway” to the Wind River Mountains! We can see the mountains out our window at the RV park – at least we could when we first arrived. The days have been getting very hazy lately – not sure why. It hasn’t been all that hot – in the 80s, but the last few days have been very hazy. But here’s a picture of the view out our window from a couple of evenings ago:
I have a story to share with you! This might take a minute, so you may want to go get a cup of tea and come back!
I always make reservations ahead of time. We plan out our general route for the season, then I get to work figuring out exact routes, RV parks available, etc. We’re just too big to risk not having a reservation at an RV park that can fit us. I know that takes some of the spontaneity of RV travel, but, it’s a trade off we make for having a larger size 5th wheel with all the comforts of home. Yes, there’s a lot of no reservation, free, very nice national forest service campsites, BLM spots, etc. But typically, if you’re longer than 30 feet, 35 feet max (we’re 43 feet) you can’t fit into any of them. And, many are no hook ups meaning no electric, no water, no sewer. We have a generator, and big holding tanks for fresh water and sewer, so we are equipped to “dry camp”. But our size makes it unpredictable and hard to find appropriate sites. And the idea of not knowing where we’ll end up for the night is stressful to us and takes away from the relaxing enjoyment of our RV life. So, for the most part, other than a few Walmart parking lot nights, we like to have reservations laid out. That’s where this story begins…
We were scheduled into “Green Oasis” campground, in Greybull Wyoming, near the Big Horn mountain range in northern Wyoming. We had not been to that part of the state, and I had read about the Big Horn mountains and it looked beautiful and lots of hiking – our kind of place. I had made reservations in early spring, for a week long stay, and carefully asked about size of campsite and made sure our rig size was known – I always do this, I learned my lesson about that a long time ago on the road to Alaska. A couple of days before we were to leave Spearfish, South Dakota (our first destination after the wedding in Minnesota), Steve asked about where we were staying next. I pulled it up online and we noticed it was a very small campground, and the website was very ….. let’s say ….. undeveloped. Hmm, better call ahead and double check everything. I did, and had a long, very nice, chatty conversation with the lady and she confirmed our size was no problem. Good news! So off we go to Green Oasis in Greybull Wyoming. Beautiful drive through the Big Horn mountains on the way, we went over the “pass” and were excited to have a week of hiking in the area. Until – we start to pull into the campground, which was right on the main street in the very small town of Greybull, and stopped on the street, we couldn’t even pull into the campground without getting stuck. We have learned a few things these 4 years of RVing, and one of them is don’t turn into a place you can’t see a way out of.
Steve goes inside and they tell him, “yup – that one open spot you see back there is for you – it’s a pull through, no problem”. Well. We walked to the spot. It was a very short walk since their 8 campsites were actually in the backyard of their house. There was absolutely NO WAY we could fit in there. I would say the absolute, very biggest, still squeezing in, size rig that would fit there would be about 30 feet. Not our 43 feet. So we cancelled our reservation. They were not happy. We were not happy. It was Friday, July 2. A holiday weekend, 5:00 in the afternoon. And we were parked on the side of the street with no where to go. And trust me, there is not much around Greybull, Wyoming. No Walmart, no rest area, no highway. Just mountains and 2 lane roads. Oh dear.
I start calling every RV park I can find anywhere near. All full. I expand my radius to an hour out. Then 2 hours out. Finally, I found an RV park in Columbus, Montana, just over 2 hours away, with an open site for the night. Hooray! By now it was almost 6:00, I had been calling forever trying to find a place. We can get there before dark if we hurry. The catch – it’s an electric only site, with only 30 amp electric (we are 50 amp). No water or sewer hook up. No problem, they have a water station to fill your fresh water tank upon arrival. So off we go, glad to not be sleeping on the side of the road somewhere.
While I’m making all these phone calls I’m also kicking myself. We have a 100 gallon fresh water tank. We can carry a lot of water. And ours had exactly 0 gallons in it. None. I know better – we should always carry at least a quarter tank of water for emergencies. “What if we don’t find a place and have to stay on the side of the road somewhere and we have no water and can’t make coffee or flush the toilet???? I was sweating. Did I mention it was about 90 degrees still even at 6:00 pm? So the 30 amp electric only site that we can use their dirty hose at the water filling station to get some water was most welcome. I guess it’s all a matter of context, right?
So, just to top things off, after we get there, luckily right before the office closed, and we got our tank filled with the water-from-the-dirty-hose-used-to-also-spray-down-the-sewer-dumping-station (yikes!, but we have double water filters and we were desparate) – we asked the guy if he could help us back into our site (of course it was a very tight back in site – that was the kinda day we were having). Sure no problem he says. So he starts giving Steve directions like “turn your wheel to the right – no wait, I meant to the left – no wait – maybe it should be to the right”. I think his holiday weekend had started a little early and he was struggling – just what we needed! Then, thank goodness, a kind neighbor saw what was happening and took over giving directions and we managed to get into our spot. But wait, then fun is not over yet! Steve goes to hook up the electric, and our 50 to 30 amp converter is missing! Can’t find it, even though we know we have one and have used it on this trip! So off Steve goes to try to find one before everything in the very small town of Columbus, Montana closes. The 3rd place he went to had one and the day was saved. We can run one air conditioner (we have 2) on 30 amps, and we can also turn on lights and use the coffee maker. Much more than that we will blow the circuit. Air conditioning and coffee, who needs more than that???
So where does the “happy” in this mess come in, I hear you asking? Lucky for us, our friends Don and Patty live about 45 minutes away, on a beautiful ranch that we love to visit. You will remember them from previous blog posts. They have welcomed us and our kids numerous times to their lovely home and it is those experiences years ago that inspired us to venture out to the great outdoors in an RV in the first place. We let them know we were unexpectedly in the area and they welcomed us (and Gerry!) to come for a visit. And, the campground was able to give us our spot for 5 nights, and I was able to get us into our next spot a couple days early, so the week was saved.
We found an absolutely perfect hike near Red Lodge, Montana that we loved. We spent a couple of days with our friends and Gerry had a blast on the ranch, hanging with their dogs and the horses and cows. We walked their property which is beautiful and we also hiked an all time favorite – the Sioux Charley. We like this area and had fun exploring it more. So it all worked out! And it is great being able to “go with the flow” and just enjoy where we are. After ensuring we have coffee and water to flush the toilets, of course!!!
Here’s pictures from our hike near Red Lodge – it was in the 90s when we started. Then a couple hours into the hike, we got rain, then hail! It created the most magical, surreal beauty! https://photos.app.goo.gl/SPP1RgrZ1efo84x4A
Here’s some pictures of our time with Don and Patty: https://photos.app.goo.gl/hWMrbWeByR85xt5W9
And here’s a round up of pictures from our time in Lander, Wyoming and Pinedale, Wyoming, in the Wind River Mountains. While here we celebrated our 34th (!) wedding anniversary, and my birthday. We really enjoyed both places and will put them on our list of “visit again” spots. We did a lot of hiking, and some touristy things too which was fun. We even got to do a few miles on the Continental Divide Trail (CDT), which is always a highlight for me – the Green River Lakes trail (pictures are in link below) connected to a small portion of the CDT.
Long Lake Hike (Pinedale, WY): https://photos.app.goo.gl/pV57ZaekwunXpEoZ8
West Fork of Stough Creek (Lander, WY): https://photos.app.goo.gl/NXjVb6qbMeVfTUVL7
Pitchfork Fondue – my birthday dinner! (Pinedale, WY): https://photos.app.goo.gl/i5oNe7EAe9Vkmo256
Lander and Pinedale, WY: https://photos.app.goo.gl/JFBsV5LRWq3sZfvJ9
Green River Lakes Hike, Pinedale Wyoming: https://photos.app.goo.gl/8KwFV1PfuhMTvTo36
Tomorrow we’re off to the Idaho side of the Grand Tetons. We’ll be just about 40 miles from Jackson Hole, but hopefully out of the crowds by being on the Idaho side of the Tetons. A couple of years ago we visited the Grand Tetons from the Wyoming side. The National Park was busy then, and I’m sure it’s even more so now. We probably won’t go into the park again this time, rather we’ll explore the area all around the park. And, Steve has a big birthday coming up later this week (70!). We’re looking forward to spending it exploring a new place and being together in the mountains! Life Is Good!!