Roughing It Gently - Our Travel Adventures in our 2015 Discovery 40E

Diary of our RV travels and life as full-timers in retirement. Check out where we've been to see where you would like to go. We write about the area, campgrounds with commentary as to pros and cons, and show lots of photo of the interesting places to visit. If you want information as to any given place, type its name in the SEARCH field near the top right of the opening page. IF we have been there and posted about it, the 'Search' feature will take you to the post that talks about that area.

Friday, July 29, 2016

July 29, 2016 - Future Posts of this Blog

As promised this next post is from here in the Thousand Trails' Snowflower CG in Emigrant Gap, California. What promised to be a very nice and relaxing two-weeks here has turned into a nightmare. NOTHING that was advertised and promised when we checked on this CG was as stated. Actually, when we first inquired into it the CG was CLOSED, but while checking again for CGs while in Wyoming, we saw that it was again reopened, so we made reservations. SURPRISE!!! NO sewer, No satellite access (due to so many trees around), NO individual campsites with an area for sitting and BBQing (actually one is only permitted to BBQ with GAS, and all we have is charcoal). And worst of all... NO Wi-Fi ACCESS. They say that they have Wi-Fi access IF you take your computer to the Lodge, but even at the Lodge, using their Wi-Fi, the service is so slow that we would rather have Dial-up (if you remember what that was.) Then again, perhaps the other worst of all is the fact that the only campsites that can accommodate a 41 foot diesel pusher is located on an all-asphalt parking lot. Another PARKING LOT!! After having spent all that time in the parking lot at Lone Star RV in Harker Heights in Texas, we have been looking forward to no more parking lots, so what do we get here? ANOTHER parking lot, which with NO sewer, ONLY 30 Amp electric service, and NO TV, NO Satellite and NO Wi-Fi or phone service for either of us, our reservation of 14 days is being cut back to leave as soon as we decide where else to go to, where we can have phone service, Wi-Fi, and a decent campsite as a minimum.

The reason they were closed for awhile is that they had water issues. Since then however, the Manager and most of the employees have quit and currently there are only a handful of employees left. So bad is it that they do not even assign a campsite to members, but let you pick your own and thus many large motorhome spaces are taken up by little trailers, making it even more difficult for big rigs. Some people even park their cars in the campsite next to them to give themselves more room between themselves and the next RV, and since the management does not know where anyone is, nothing is done about it. On a scale of 1 - 10, this campground would rate about a 0.5, which is a real shame because it has the potential to be a very nice CG, if it were designed appropriately and well managed.

We have completed the previous posts from Wyoming during all the time that we were without phone and Wi-Fi/My-Fi service and published them from our exodus from Texas on July 12 through the present. However, due to all this time without Wi-Fi or My-Fi (i.e. without Internet available at the campsite) it is very time consuming and difficult to try to catch up posts for the blog (especially with photos to be resized and uploaded). Therefore if this rash of Wi-Fi unavailability continues to plague us, we will be forfeiting publishing posts for those dates when we do not have Internet connection. So, if you notice that days or even weeks go by with no posts to the blog, we are probably incommunicado again. As soon as we do get Wi-Fi access at our campsite, we will again start to post as of that time only. We apologize for this inconvenience, as we shall be as frustrated by it as you.

July 26 - 27, 2016 - Getting ready to Break Camp and relocate to California, dry camping for 3 days

July 26 – As we are leaving tomorrow and will be gone for three days of dry-camping before reaching our Snowflower CG in Emigrant Gap Ca., and because we have had several active and productive days (not to mention that it has been dreary, cloudy and a little rainy) we stayed at home relaxing and watching the fabulous water views we have from our coach’s front and side windows. Mary sat outside under the awning, drinking her coffee and taking photos of chipmunks and the elusive ground squirrels (same color as our Floridian ones but these live in holes in the ground instead of in the trees.) She also baited them with some peanuts, but soon found out how ingenious ants can be, as these guys took the nuts away before the squirrels could find them. At about 1:00pm a sudden wind storm blew through so violently that we had to close all the slides and lower the coach from the hydraulic jacks, as we were getting knocked from side to side with each wind gust. The wind was so strong (34mph steady with gusts of up to 55mph) that it was hard to open and then close the door and the chairs were getting blown under the coach. All in all though, we shall miss this campground, even though we were unable to connect to water and sewer at the campsite, as the views have been fabulous. Tomorrow we shall disconnect from the electric hook-up, empty our holding tanks and fill up the water tank at the campground central facility and head out toward Emigrant Gap in California, a 3 night trip taking it easy, as our reservation there is not until July 30th.

A sweet chipmunk... NOT Alvin.

Mary put out nuts to try to lure the elusive ground squirrels for a photo,

but the ants carted them off before the squirrels could see them.

Peek-a boo! CAUGHT! as it peeks out of its ground hole home.

See the flying windsock to see how hard the wind was blowing. Several people camping in tents lost their tents or suffered extensive damage to them.

Our next blog post shall be from Emigrant Gap in California, next week, as that CG has free wifi.

July 24 - 27, 2016 - Moved to Lucerne CG just in the northern border of Utah in the Flaming Gorge, about 30 miles South..

July 24 - On Sunday we departed the Buckboard Crossing CG in Wyoming and transferred to The Lucerne CG in the Ashley National Forest, just over the Utah State line. Lucerne CG is a national forest managed campground within the Ashley National Forest, along the banks of the Flaming Gorge Reservoir (about 30 miles south of our previous campground at Buckboard Crossing). As such the campground has 50 Amp electric service only at the campsite, but has water, sewer dump, and bathrooms with showers available within walking distance, and it is a very pleasant, clean and spacious campground with excellent vistas of the reservoir. The campground also has a resident herd of antelopes, ground squirrels, chipmunks and others which roam comfortably within the campground. The Ashley National Forest is located in northeastern Utah and Southern Wyoming and encompasses 1,384,132 National Forest acres (1,287,909 in Utah and 96,223 in Wyoming). Of the total acres, 276,175 are High Uintah Wilderness (180,530 additional acres of High Uintahs Wilderness is located on the Wasatch and Cache National Forests). Elevations on the Ashley National Forest range from 6,000 feet to over 13,500 feet, as will be evident in our photos of the Red Canyon and Flaming Gorge. Ashley National Forest received its name from another early explorer, General A. H. Ashley. The imprint of Ashley's party is still evident in the names of Bridger Valley named for Jim Bridger; David Jackson for which Jackson Hole is named; Etienne Provost, for which Provo River and the City of Provo is named; and William Sublette for which Sublette County, Wyoming was named. This is a land rich in the history that made this country what it is today and we feel privileged to explore it ourselves.

On our first night at Lucerne we had a sky lit up with stars like Christmas lights at the Griswolds (in the movie ‘Christmas Vacation’) but unfortunately we were also surrounded by families with children camped around us and with their campfires burning as well as the children playing with flashlights (aimed at us) our night vision was impaired to see much of it. Luckily, apparently they were there for the weekend only and left on Monday, leaving the campground quiet and orderly for the remaining nights.

July 25 - The next morning, Monday, we opted to return to the Red Canyon and go to the Dam and explore the rest of the canyon that we still had not seen. The Flaming Gorge Dam was impressive, and though not as large as some of the others in the area, it was larger than others. We just viewed the exterior scenery from both sides and visited the Visitor Center to view a video of the Dam and of the Ashley National Forest, and all it entails. We got more great photos and also drove with Edith (our 2015 Ford Explorer tow-vehicle) to Spirit Lake, an untouched jewel in the middle of the forest’s unbeaten path, named a Scenic Backways route (down a dirt road, unmaintained in winter). Next to the lake there is also a campground and a lodge. The area is flooded with motorized four-wheeler ATVs and what seemed like very rustic camping (mostly trailers and tents, though some older motor homes as well) due to the nature of the road to get there. On the way back we managed to add a wolf sighting to our wildlife portfolio. The photo is not as clear as we would have hoped but as we saw it about 500 yards away by the time we were able to pull off the road, unbuckle ourselves from seat belts and take the photo he or she was over 1000 yards away, and that was the best shot we managed.

Scenes from our vsit to Flaming Gorge Dam

Scenes from our Second Visit to Red Canyon (& Lodge)

There are a multitude of different birds in the Red Canyon and they are aware

that they are well fed at the Lodge, so they come and amuse the

patrons during their meal at the restaurant.

There are many beautiful wildflowers too.

The low hanging vapor are not clouds. They are rain droplets that are falling from the clouds, but the air is so dry that often they evaporate before they can be felt by anyone standing beneath them. At other times just a fine mist of rain is felt. When it rains it usually does not last long. However, in the Gorge more often than not rain storms are preceded, accompanied and followed by very strong winds. This afternoon it blew 34mph with gusts up to 55mph for about 3 hours, of and on, so we had to close our slides and lower the coach off the hydraulic jack levelers.

Some crevasses are about 4 feet deep. Others are often 300 - 500 feet to the bottom.

Not being bothered by altitudes or fear of falling, I thought I

would make Mary nervous standing on the edge of a 550 foot drop.

Vastly contrasting natural beauty of the landscape

Scenes from the road to Spirit Lake.

Open Range Wooly Bully at Sheep Creek on the way to Spirit Lake.

A wolf we caught in a field, but it was 500 yds when we first saw him/her,

but about 1000 yds by the time we stopped, got our cameras and took a shot.

Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Good night everyone.

July 22 - 23 - Green River, Rock Springs and Lost Dog

July 22 – We went into Green River and Rock Springs to get some wine and shopping at Walmart. On the way out we found some coupons on Edith for Pizza ($5.00 for a large pepperoni), and since they were located right there we opted to just take two pizzas with us for dinner and perhaps lunch the next day. On the drive back to the RV we noticed a sign which said Lost Dog with an arrow pointing at a dirt road. Not knowing what discovery we might make, and taking advantage of the fact that Edith was already dirty from previous excursions, we took the road for about 20 miles, finding nothing. The road continued but we did not know for how long, so we chose not to continue any longer. We were able to spot three antelope on a hillside which offered a great silhouette shot on the ridge of the hillside. Later we found out that “Lost Dog” (unknown name origin) is a road that leads to the edge of yet another lake. There are hundreds of lakes in the area, in addition to the reservoir.

July 23 – We stayed in camp preparing to leave the next day and washing clothes as the next 3 nights would be with electric only at a National Forest campground and the following 3 days would be dry camping as we travel from our Lucerne campground, through Salt Lake City (dry camping on the Salt Lake Flats), and Nevada to Snowflower, our first Thousand Trails campground in Emigrant Gap, California. We also spent some time playing with our resident bunnies and observing an Osprey nest with a Daddy, Mommy and two young ones still in the nest being fed.

July 21 - Exploring Seedskadee Wildlife Refuge, 37 miles NW of Green River

July 21 – Today we decided to explore the Seedskadee Wildlife Refuge nearby in search of additional wildlife we may have missed elsewhere. There we had a beautiful day exploring the area and catching White Pelicans, Trumpeter Swans, our own Sand Hill Cranes, Ospreys, a Bald Eagle, Red Tailed Hawks (adults and young ones), a Blue Heron, deer and many other birds, some of which can be seen in our photos. One thing that seemed very out of place in Seedskadee is that it is a Wetland Wildlife Refuge, in the midst of the high desert of Wyoming. It runs along the Green River, but within 100 Yards or so of the river, it looks as if it has not rained in months and yet there is the green of the wetlands and abundant numbers of water fowl and shore birds. The only real negative about all this breathtaking beauty is that the bugs (mostly flies the size of bumble bees) just don’t leave you alone, always buzzing around us and wanting to land on us. Some even bite.