July 5, Green River

We left Little America heading for Green River. I was not looking forward to Green River, as I seemed to remember it being an ugly splotch. We figured we would be spending the night in Rock Springs at an RV park, but I fueled up and filled the water, just in case. There was a road between Little America and Green River, but that is as far as it went. There was no road between Green River and Rock Springs. So, after evaluating the situation, we changed course and headed south out of Green River towards Utah. There have been several roads that are mapped, but just don't exist any longer....

While we were at Little America, though, Jeff picked up some interesting candy. Including Dr. Pepper flavored Twizzler's... He liked those!

Green River was a very pleasant surprise! It is a very cute little town, and the Green River itself is awesome! There were lots of folks floating the river through town, and there is also a kayak park in town. I really thought it was a nice town. And the terrain around it is just beautiful! Very rugged and multi colored, with high cliffs and lots of sedimentary lines in the rock. Much better than I was expecting.

Loved this! 

Definitely a change of terrain. 

The area is full of color. 

Green River has several bronze statues running up one of it's main streets.

However, I did have to drive to Rock Springs to Walmart and stock up. It wasn't far, but Jeff didn't want to run on the interstate. Can't blame him for that! I actually got him some antibiotics for his dog bite. 

The route we chose takes us down just west of the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area. Not a park, and certainly no towns. I am amazed at the traffic on this road, though! Mostly people hauling boats, and it is a holiday weekend. Well, ok, maybe some Ghost Towns!

 

We found the biggest hill to climb that we have had yet. The route through Flaming Gorge was very pretty, but very, very remote, and Jeff says it was the ugliest Scenic View Route he's been on! I really do see the beauty in the stone and the desert.

 

We chose a gravel road near Blacks Fork River to overnight. There is literally nothing out here. No camping areas either, all day use only. It was quiet, but with all the gnats, we chose to eat some leftovers instead of grilling. At least there are not too many mosquitoes in this area, not like near Kemmerer!

One of the interesting things that we have seen, is a train that had the engines in the center instead of front or rear as they usually are. I missed the pic, but it was very interesting. Trains are very common out here. Many of these towns wouldn't be here without the railroad.

Our coach seems to be manufacturing moths! I am killing almost a dozen a day, well, usually at night when they come out. And we did have a couple of mosquitoes in the coach at bedtime. It was tough to find them, but you hear them....

We did get a couple of great shots of the river, Green River. It is truly a beautiful body of water!

 

There was not a single interesting mailbox in Green River. At least none that we found. So today's Mailbox of the Day is very plain. But it only has the number 0 left on it. How would you like to have the address "0"?

July 4, No Big Party for Us

Well, today is the Fourth of July, a big holiday across America! However, we are still out there, making our way across the country. We have seen a bunch of fireworks stands here in the desert, not to mention heard them at night!

A great combination!

Last night was on the side of the road again, outside of Opal. 

I may have mentioned that yesterday. It was very quiet and peaceful!
Jeff got a pretty early start this morning, as we wanted to make Little America, which we did. 

We were hoping for 4G, but we did at least get some free WI-FI. My only issue with that is that I am not comfortable paying bills or ordering supplies on the free unprotected WI-FI. Must get some of that done, so we are really hoping that Rock Springs will have AT&T in residence. They are already sending us texts and emails that we are exceeding our "data from other providers". Well, if they were in residence, we wouldn't be doing that!

I'm getting a bit concerned for Jeff's dog bite. It has been a week, today. Doesn't it look like it could be infected? I think I will drag him to a doc in the box or something in Rock Springs. I'd hate to have him get sick out there in the middle of nowhere!

 I have really bad news for those of you that look forward to our Mailbox of the Day.... there were no mailboxes in the middle of the desert! He didn't even find one passing through Opal. But, we do have a Flower of the Day, and a River of the Day! To make up for the loss of the mailbox. Hopefully, we will be able to resurrect it soon!

 


And, though it may look pretty much the same as other pics, here is a pic of the road ahead from today.

The scenery in SW Wyoming.

 We are staying tonight in the parking lot of the Little America stop. There is a hotel, but no RV park. Or spaces. But, they do have a dump station, and a large parking lot, seeing as how it is a truck stop! Another free night! I like those free nights. However, we did have dinner in their restaurant. Jeff saved one of the pork chops so that he could have dessert! We are almost out of snack supplies, so I am counting on Walmart in Rock Springs! Need to stock up before we head into rural Colorado.

And, I missed this pic for yesterday. This little bear was just sitting on the curb next to a business that was closed. We have no idea what his story is....

And this is a pic of what I did to the bedspread.... not very good at judging those commercial dryers! I had to cut the impervious liner out, as it pretty much melted!

The mosquito issue has not resolved. But, with a good dose of Off, applied numerous times, they were kept at bay. However, the gnats arrived. And Off has no effect on them! The guy in the gift shop here said they will get worse..... groan. I was too miserable to enjoy my turn on the road! Constantly swatting those gnats, the cars and trucks passing must have thought I was crazy!

Part of our route does not exist. The road is no longer there. This is a problem with not having google maps available in the coach. Although we have printed maps, they are failing us.

And we had a nice storm again this evening. It was cool watching the rain come across the desert, then the wind hit, and finally the rain. It is clear and nice out there now!

I am experimenting. Trying to put a short video in here. Hope it works!

http://youtu.be/sWabBNM6EMc

Enjoy! Hope everyone is having a safe and happy Fourth of July!

July 3, Mosquito Hell

Jeff got out on the road around 6:30, not quite light yet, and he tried to get a pic of a deer going down the road ahead of him. The camera wouldn't cooperate with the available light. But still, a deer in town. This is remote, folks. Nothing here but 3 small towns that are all named for mining companies. They mine. There is a huge open pit coal mine just outside of town. There are fossils and all kinds of really cool minerals and rocks. But it is not very pretty, just sort of brown, with some cream color, and maybe even a green cast to some areas.

I stopped at a rock and fossil shop in Kemmerer. The old guy that owns it was quite a character. He has been picking up rocks his whole life. And he smoked like a chimney. Reminded me of an old firefighter.... but he had some gorgeous geodes, and other rocks that were polished and just awesome. Not to mention the petrified wood pieces that he had polished. He said he did all his own work, and most everything came from on top of the ground, in the area.

Outside the Rock and Fossil Shop

Rock Shop Hours

Antique fire station....

Kemmerer was an interesting town. It was bordered by Diamondville. The first thing we saw driving towards town was the county prison. But it got better. We stayed the night at that crappy little RV park that didn't have any services, including internet, but was the most expensive that we have stayed at. But the town itself was really quite cute, and pretty old. I don't remember when it was founded, but the ORIGINAL J. C. Penny store is there. 

 

And there is a really beautiful old shrub rose that is everywhere in the town, that is just the most vibrant shade of yellow. I really wished I had my grandmother's knack with roses, as she could take a cutting of one and grow a beautiful bush. Jeff thought the town was really clean and pretty well kept up. We didn't have 4G, but did spend a bit of time at the library in town. They were very nice there. And had free wi-fi. We also had lunch there, which was pretty good. We also went and talked to the local Kemmerer Gazette, to try to garner a little article in the paper. And, I did a load of laundry there.

Right now we are sitting on the side of a state road, in a gravel area, near a town called Opal. There are no services in Opal. And it is storming, including some light hail. There have been showers popping up all afternoon. We will spend the night here on the side of the road, just off the highway. And I feel certain that it will get quite cool, as it always does here at altitude. This afternoon while I was taking my turn at wogging down the road, the mayor of Opal made a U-turn and came back to make sure I didn't need any help. I thought that was really nice of her. We chatted a bit, then she went on.

Some interesting mining info for the area.... with Jeff's reflection.

We are a day from a huge travel center called Little America, where we hope to find internet. And then we are 2 days from Rock Springs, which has a Walmart! Not that I routinely shop at Walmart, but most of these small towns have small grocery stores without the imagination that I am used to from Central Market in Texas! I really miss my Central Market.... I'm hoping that the Denver/Colorado Springs area will have a number of things. However, we are still 10 or more days from there.

Luckily we are not planning on too many days to get through Wyoming. I'm not sure what I can really say that is positive about Wyoming, other than it has Yellowstone Park, and Jackson, neither of which we visited on this trip. The thing that I can say has truly surprised me has been the mosquitoes! They are everywhere, and very hungry. They swarm on you, even with a good unhealthy dose of Off! It was quitting time, and I had gone down the road a few miles, as I usually do, while Jeff did the final run of the day. I found a nice place to park and sat here reading my book. Well, the phone rang and it was Jeff, wanting to know where the hell I was.... it was dusky and the mosquitoes were eating him alive! I started the RV and headed down the road to rescue him. He was only about 1/2 mile from me. When I pulled over, he ran up to the passenger door, just COVERED in mosquitoes, some dead and some not. It was quite disgusting, really. There were mosquito carcasses hanging on his Zensa's, on his legs, on his arms. The only place I think that escaped was his head! They really were biting through clothing, too. I covered myself with Off before going out to a rock outcropping to look for interesting rocks. They began to swarm my head, as I had not treated that. It was awful. They even bit the dogs. And the mosquitoes began being a problem as soon as we were a few miles into Wyoming. There were none that we noticed in Idaho. Really strange. I hope they go away soon!

 

Being in a town is a real boon for the Mailbox of the Day! Check this out!

July 2, No Internet

Apparently AT&T is not very popular around here, and we have gone from no signal to just a bare signal which is not really big enough to do anything with. There have been a couple areas where it was possible to upload pics or videos, but those times were very fleeting. I can't get enough of a hot spot going to do anything on the computer! So, I will write this out in Word again, and hope to be able to post in a day or two. 

We now have to decide which way we will be going through Wyoming and into Colorado. That could be a tough call without the ability to look at google maps and see what is paved and what is not.

Today was very uneventful. There wasn't even really much to look at. The terrain gets very bare once you cross into Wyoming, and I don't think we have hit the really ugly parts yet. There is a sort of wild beauty even to the worn down hills. I might stop at the fossil beds tomorrow. I think there is a Visitor Center there, so it might explain some of the terrain around here.

The view from our RV spot. There are trains everywhere here!

We are in Kemmerer tonight, at an RV park where we expected to get wi-fi. No dice. This is a real dump, the Riverside RV Park, and there are no services. Not even restrooms. But, we have electricity and water for the first time in days. The past 3 nights we were either on the side of the road or a truck stop. FREE! Lol... makes up for the ridiculous fee for tonight, the highest we have paid, and not getting much for our money. Oh, well.

We did get 37 miles in, and the weather was really great.

And, I'm really sorry about this but there were not any mailboxes out in the desert. This one will have to do.... nothing special about it, though. 

July 1, A New Month

Today is the 1st of July. Hard to believe that the year is half gone! And we entered a new state today, Wyoming. There was a big fanfare, too.... ok, so we took pictures of the Wyoming sign. Doesn't that count as fanfare? And we entered right at a huge fireworks place. Not even a tent. They had a real building!

By the way, one little bit of trivia. When I wrote yesterday's blog, I got the number of firefighters wrong. Jeff pointed out to me that there are 1.2 million firefighters in the country, not 2 million. Just wanted to set things straight!

So we started out the day at the Ranch Hand Truck Stop. I couldn't remember the name of it last night! Right outside of Montpelier. Jeff got his early start, and headed up to where he left off yesterday, which was in Georgetown. By the time I got up and got on the road, I caught him as he had finished that leg and was in the post office, talking to the person working there. After I found him, we went back to Montpelier and he took off running towards Wyoming, and I stopped to do laundry.

 

 

Montpelier has a very nice pioneer museum but I didn't take the time to go inside. There were too many other things to do!

We also passed through a couple of other towns, very small ones. One of them was Bennington. It was kind of cool, old, but with some nicer residential places.

The Old Cabin in Bennington...

This was my year! Woo-hoo!

There are beautiful horses everywhere here!

Georgetown is another little town we passed through.

 

So, since I have been doing laundry on the road, I have had to pump quarter after quarter into every dryer just to get things moderately dry. It takes forever! But not today.... I had the hottest dryer's on record. In fact, it is a good thing that I routinely dry our clothes on a lower setting. I would have melted half of Jeff's running gear, just like I melted the backing to the mattress pad and the bedspread! The dogs get the bedding dirty (well, too dirty for my taste) so I do wash them a lot. This is the first time I EVER melted anything! I pulled the melted backing off, and can still use the items. However, I am not happy about doing that!

I decided to use the public dump in town, as I didn't think we would be in a real town with an RV park tonight, and I was right. We drove up the road from where Jeff stopped for the day, in search of 4G. Since we had gone from no service all day in the hills, to having a bit of service, at least enough for a phone call, we figured that the closer to the little town we got, the better it would be. Well, that didn't happen. We got to the town of Cokeville, and still only had moderate coverage, not enough for internet. There is a Flying J in this town, though, so we figured we could hook up to their wi-fi. Seems there is a charge for that! Another bummer. We have some things we need to get done, not to mention posting the blog. Hopefully the next town will have it.

Here is my road ahead pic from early Wyoming.

So we are camped out at the truck stop, again. No problem, it is FREE! And relatively safe. Since we didn't want to fire up the grill at a truck stop, we went in search of a city park here. We actually did find one. It was very nice, and the children that were playing there, unsupervised, all grabbed their bikes and left when we pulled up to one of the grills with a picnic table. And then the train came, which was right next to the park. That was fun. The most interesting thing here is the fact that the place is swarming with mosquitoes! I mean, CRAZY! This is Wyoming, a very arid, dry rocky climate. Where the heck are all the HUNGRY mosquitoes coming from? So I sprayed myself down with Off, but Jeff toughed it out. We ended up eating inside the coach, and still killing mosquitoes inside. But we had a great dinner, grilled chicken breast, grilled yellow squash and grilled red pepper. We use our grill a lot!

There are so many roadside historical markers relating to the Oregon Trail. It is truly amazing. While I am out doing my little couple of miles so Jeff can rest, I still wonder at the determination of those people! Today, when it was my turn, I passed a sign that said the next 5 miles was a deer migratory path, so watch for deer. I must have seen 30 carcasses and deer bones in a mile.... It was so sad.

One really important milestone happened today, also. We broke 1,000 miles! No fanfare for that, though. Just keep plodding along. Just day after day. Jeff is holding up very, very well. We do need to order some things, and have them shipped ahead to Colorado Springs.  Guess that will have to wait until tomorrow. I feel confident that Kemmerer will have enough service for us to post and order.

So, being out in the middle of nowhere, but the Oregon Trail and the occasional ranch, we were worried there wouldn't be a good Mailbox of the Day, but we were wrong! Check this one out....