Vacation 2020

So, the countdown begins.

As followers of this blog know, E and I swap itineraries each year for our BIG vacation. Usually she chooses a long stay in Vegas (I secretly look forward to them) and my choice is usually somewhere in the great outdoors. Well, after our bucket list trip to the Florida Keys this year it is my year to pick the great outdoors (besides, who wants to play poker in a big casino right now with the COVID restrictions).

Getting everything ready for our long anticipated run in Piper. Her water tank is partially full, waste tanks are empty, fresh propane in new tanks, batteries checked, tires full, brakes checked and new stairs installed. A few years ago we tried to get to Cody, Wyoming unsuccessfully. We made it to Kalispell, Montana and the weather turned bad in September so we decided to not haul across Montana and Wyoming in a blizzard and instead turned south to Utah and then west through Nevada to the Redwoods before returning home. Yes the bird and otter will be going along…follow theirs and our escapades on twitter and insta…@bigfokkerdog and @flynnando.

This time we are leaving early enough to get to Cody and spend some time there exploring. E wants to go to the nightly rodeo (we checked and even with COVID they are holding it), we both want to visit the western museums and there is a state park nearby that we are camping at. I want to visit South Pass City state park and Medicine Wheel National Historic Site. As a kid in the 70’s we visited South Pass while living in Wyoming and there is a photo of dad that I would love to recreate, him standing in the door of one of the outhouses with his hands on his pockets and hat tilted down. I am a little older than dad was in that photo but I would like to do it and hang them side by side. Medicine Wheel was just a fabled place back then that was not accessible to the public and only rarely talked about by the native peoples. It is located at 9,600 feet just east of Lovell, Wyoming.

Then we are off to Grand Teton National Park. We have visited both Yellowstone and Grand Teton back when we were touring on our Harley’s but want to see more of both in depth this trip and we figure the Headwaters RV park at the old Flagg Ranch is just perfect for this sojourn.

Then off to Dinosaur National Monument where we get to camp on the banks of the Green River. I was a pretty serious rockhound when young and have many fossils from Wyoming and Utah. Never been to the granddaddy of fossil hunting in America before, so we are definitely looking forward to this stop.

Eventually we will wind up in a long awaited rendezvous with Mommy Max and Teacher Tom in the Redwoods. All four of us enjoyed our last stay there so much that it seems like a great escape from the daily drudge for them in the Bay area. The Redwoods are a great place to visit, so very relaxing and just a beautiful area. (Expert level hint, find the albino redwood trees for a special treat).

Eventually we will wind our way home through the Oregon Coast. This will be a low and slow trip the entire way, no rush to get anywhere with plenty of travel time in between scheduled spots. There is no way to go flying by the seat of our pants as the places we are reserved for in the parks are completely booked up for the summer.

There are a couple of new memberships for us to try out for overnight/boondocking. We joined Harvest Hosts and Hipcamp. These are alternative camping sites to KOA or Good Sam parks. Hipcamp does charge a nightly fee and is an interesting membership, go check them out at hipcamp.com. Harvest Hosts is a listing of overnight (usually boondocking) places who charge no fees for staying at their properties. They ask that you spend some money at the store or facility you are staying at. These places run the mill from golf courses to museums and farms. Our first stay will be at an Alpaca Farm in Montana and I’ll let you know how it goes…looks great from the reviews! You can check out Harvesthosts.com for more info.

Next installment will be from the road but they will be spotty as many of our overnights are going to be in places with NO connectivity.

Till next time, gentle reader…

See you outside!