We left GJ on the 5th of August, celebrating 33 years of marriage by driving off into the sunset! – or sunrise, as the case may have been.
We were headed out on the first real journey since purchasing our motorhome in late May 2016.
We had family traveling out from Virginia to Jackson Hole Wyoming, and decided to meet up with them for a week and do some sightseeing while still working. We had never been to Yellowstone National Park, Jackson, or any other parts of the Northern Rocky Mountains. Living in Colorado for 33 years exposed us to just about every part of those Rocky Mountains, but we wanted to see if/how they changed as we traveled north.
We have a Toad* but decided since the first leg of our route was going to be a steep and winding 2-lane road, we would drive separately for that stretch of the trip. Headed for Rock Springs Wyoming, we travel up Hwy 139 to Dinosaur (yes, there is a town in Colorado named Dinosaur, which also has a great National Monument with a building built around a dinosaur dig, so you can visit it year-round).
From there we wandered over to Vernal Utah, and took Hwy 191 up to and through Ashley National Forest and Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area. After stopping at the Visitor Center for a quick history lesson on the Colorado River Dam System and late lunch, we rolled on up to the KOA at Rock Springs, Wyoming. The KOA was not much to look at, all gravel spots, but it has a large, grassy Dog Park.
Out early the next morning, we continued up Hwy 191 through Pinedale and Hogback Wyoming, to arrive at Jackson Hole mid-afternoon.
In typical fashion, we made our first real adventure in full-time living as a planned 10-day Boondocking* stay in the driveway of relatives of some friends of ours in Colorado. We did have electricity, albeit just 30 amp (or less), but wanted to try living with our 100 gallon fresh water tank, to see how long we could go before having to pull out and go to a dump station and refill.
Friday until the next Sunday – 10 days. That’s how long we made it! Wow! We wouldn’t have believed it ourselves, if we hadn’t done it. Super conservation of water (‘Navy’ showers, paper plates, etc), kept us from having to refill until we moved on into Idaho and our next stop.
A week of fun (and work) in Jackson Hole, visits to National Parks, some bike rides, delicious food and fun – all about that in a another post.
Terminology from this post:
Toad – a vehicle ‘towed’ behind the motorhome, either flat or on a dolly. In our case, it is a 2005 Honda Pilot.
Boondocking – when a motorhome/RV is not parked at a facility providing water, electric and sewer hookups. Most motorhomes have at least a 80-100 gallon fresh water tank, and large ‘stinky’ tanks. This is also known as Dry Camping.
Photo Gallery: click to view slideshow
