First Camping trip 2012

We camped several nights at the newest state park in Wisconsin. It is the Gov. Thompson State Park which is located near Crivitz, WI. We camped at site #20 on May 22nd. We were the only campers in the whole park until Thursday night May 24th. We witnessed the blacktopping of the campground roads while there. We moved to site #24 on Wed. May 23rd. While moving we decided to take the motor home to the boat landing on the Caldron Falls flowage of the Peshtigo River. We spent most of the day there and only saw one family use the boat landing. The showers were the cleanest we had ever seen in a state park campground. At night while sitting around the campfire we were serenaded by a whip-poor-will. That same bird also woke up Beth at 4:30AM. This is a really neat park.

Who knew they have mountains in northwest Nebraska. After visiting Agate Fossil Nat. Monument we drove to South Dakota and watched the Packers beat the Bears on TV at a KOA in Kennebec, S.D. on Sept.25th. We then headed east on I-80 on Monday Sept.26th. We arrived home on Tuesday Sep.27th after traveling 6000 miles in 12 states over a 5 week period. It was a great trip with great weather. The only precipitation we had was a hail storm at Crater Lake Nat. Park in Oregon. Our motorhome averaged 8.6 miles per gallon which is the best ever.

An additonal note. The previous blog has 2 pictures of our site at Guernsey State Park in eastern Wyoming. We were amazed that there were no campers in sight. This was on a Friday night at a park with a large lake. The pitcures here are the entrance signs of 3 places we visited.

We did get to Fossil Butte National Mon. in western Wyoming. Then onto Ft. Laramie, Wyoming. We stayed at Rock Springs, WY at the base of giant sand dunes (2nd picture). We then drove to Guernsey Sate Park near Ft. Laramie, WY. No one was there on a Friday night. I was on the constant lookout for rattlesnakes. We then drove to see Scott's Bluff and Agate Fossilbed National Mon. in northwestern Nebraska. Who knew there are mountains in northwest Nebraska. The last picture shows Scott's Bluff which was a marker for the pioneers on the Oregon Trail. We camped last night at a city campground in Hays Springs, NE. There was water, electricity, etc in this small campground. Who knew? Tonight we are camping in Kennebec, Sout Dakota watchng the Packer-Bear Game on TV. We are only about 650 miles from home so we should be there, Tuesday. By then we will have travelled 6000 miles in almost 5 weeks. We have seen a lot of really neat country. We are so lucky to be Americans.

Crossing Utah: We left Wells, NV and headed for Salt Lake City and beyond. There is still snow in the mountains even though it is so hot (90's) during the day. Because it is high desert, the temperature really cools off at night (Low 40's). The 2nd picture shows the start of the Great Salt Lake desert at the Utah/Nevada border. I learned that the interstate across Utah is the straightest and flatest road I have ever driven. The desert has lots of water standing on it and where it isn't seen the water is just below the surface. Lots of vehicles have become stuck there. We saw the Bonneville Salt Flats racetrack there also. The 3rd photo shows early fall color at a pass in the mountains (7000 feet) east of Salt Lake City. We arrived in Evanston, WY for the evening. We are driving up to the Fossil Butte National monument on Thursday, Sept.22.

Hi, We are in northern Nevada (Wells, NV) tonight. The "incredible" scenery along I-80 is shown in the top photo. The other photo shows a national forest in along I 80. The question is,"where are the trees?" It is very hot and dry. Tomorrow we head across Utah and into Wyoming to see Fossil Butte Nat. Monument. The restaurants are tough to eat in as they are located in casinoes where smoking is allowed. Maybe Utah and Wyoming will be better.

We spent yesterday at Yosemite National Park. It is beautiful. The problem is that there are so many people and so much traffic. We stayed at a KOA near Mariposa, CA. We then took the shuttle bus to the park from the campground. The road to the park is narrow and twisting, not good for bus or RV. We will go to King's Canyon National Park tomorrow, which is 100 miles south of here. The trouble is the twisting, narrow highway to it. B would have loved the dropoffs or as they call it, abrupt edge of the roads. Of course no shoulder or railing.