Last Saturday, when we pulled into our first Wyoming campground at 7:30 p.m., just before the sun set and 12 hours after we’d left our driveway in Colorado, I wept. Literally, tears of joy. Because I couldn’t believe we’d actually pulled this trip off. No turning back now!
Well, I suppose we can always turn back, but I’m hoping and assuming we’ll be able to see this adventure through until mid-October, with a full round-trip covering 22 states. Because, so far, it’s all sorts of awesome.
In 7 nights, we’ve slept in (or near):
- Pine Haven, WY
- Custer, SD
- Hill City, SD
- Wall, SD
- Bowman, ND
And tonight (Saturday, Sept 5), we’re in Bismarck, ND. Here’s the basic route we’ve driven:
Highlights
Boondocking at the Badlands
Hands down, the best place we rested our heads so far was the Nomad View Dispersed Camping near Wall, SD, on the edge of Badlands National Park. In fact, we motored our motorhome right up to the edge of a cliff (!) — the “wall” of the Badlands that the town of Wall is named for (or so I read somewhere…)
Dispersed camping means we were boondocking on public land: no electrical, water or sewer hookups to be found. Just the ability to pull over to a (relatively) flat spot on the side of a bumpy dirt road amidst vast grassland. I counted at least three dozen campers (motorhomes like ours, smaller camper vans, and tents pitched outside 4WDs), but we didn’t feel on top of one another at all, since the area set aside for camping was so big.
Romantic, peaceful, awe-inspiring… this spot was all those things. Everything you’d want in an off-the-grid campsite… that wasn’t even off the grid, really! Nearby cell towers meant we had three to four bars of cell service for our hotspot to work, so both Quent and I were able to attend daytime Zoom meetings from a motorhome perched on a mesa above mooing cows — how freaking cool is THAT?!
And the sunset and sunrise were among the most beautiful I’ve ever experienced. This was truly a jaw-dropping setting for appreciating Mother Nature and all her wonders — I’d go back there in a heartbeat, and I recommend it highly to other intrepid campers.
Hikes
I like scenic drives through our national parks, but I really like hiking in national parks — best way to get up close and personal with the landscape and wildlife, I say!
Our first hike on this trip was a 3-mile loop around Devils Tower. It was a perfect up-and-down rolling trail, where we admired a meandering river from up high, as well as red bluffs that reminded me of some of the scenery in my own Roaring Fork Valley. We were nearly always in view of the funky, towering monolith, and we spied about a half-dozen rock climbers making their way to the tippy top.
Today’s hike in Theodore Roosevelt National Park was unreal. We drove the extra 50 miles up to the North Unit of the park, in part to avoid crowds in the easier-to-access South Unit. But I’d also read of its scenic 4-mile loop trail that sounded cool (love me a loop). A highlight was walking along a high ridge section, looking down to a river bend, where we saw a lone buffalo off in the distance, just chilling in the water, taking his time crossing or enjoying the water’s coolness, it seemed.
Then, just past the marked nature trail section, where many folks turn around, we came across a buffalo napping on the side of the trail! A big guy, eyes closed, breathing heavily in the heat of the day. Poor fellow seemed to just need a rest. Not sure why he didn’t take refuge in the shade — but bonus for us to get close to him, without, I hope, bothering him.
Wildlife
That up-close big buffalo sighting was probably my favorite wildlife encounter so far, but I’ve been tickled to see along the highway and in national parks some bighorn sheep, wild donkeys, a bald eagle, and multiple pronghorn. Heck, I got excited about the cute little barn swallows in their mud nest in a shelter at a rest area. We’re keeping track of the wildlife we see:
My Aeropress
This is a gadget I bought specifically for the motorhome. I wanted a way to make good coffee when we weren’t hooked up to electricity — basically something that involved boiling water on our propane stove, which I could do without a generator, too (important when boondocking, overnighting with Harvest Hosts, or in Walmart parking lots, since they make a lot of bothersome noise).
Enter the Aeropress. It’s got features of both a pour-over set-up and a French press, and it makes excellent, rich, dark coffee. I look forward to waking up and putting on the kettle every morning!
Eating
You know how every meal just tastes better while camping? I get 7 weeks of really good meals! Even pasta and meat sauce that we’d frozen before leaving home tastes amazing after being heated up in the camper’s microwave!
Quent pan-fried a bag of frozen, Asian-style orange chicken on our Blackstone griddle, we paired it with boxed jasmine rice, and it tasted gourmet. The potatoes, onion, and squash he cooked on the griddle outside, seasoned only with olive oil, salt, and pepper, was a culinary masterpiece. We ate a delicious combo of cheese, crackers, and sliced pears for dinner one night, and it was filling and tasty and all we needed after a long, hot day of travel.
As you can see, we’re not spending a ton of time crafting multi-course, fancy meals in or outside the camper. No need when basic ingredients are all I need to make my tummy happy. Our simple meal plans are the best!
Hot showers (or cool ones, as needed)
BB’s hot water heater works incredibly well. It heats up fast, and water is piping hot coming out of the faucets. Couple that with decent pressure from our showerhead, and I’m one happy camper (pun!) when it comes to getting clean. Seriously, we had no idea how good the shower was, since we didn’t test it or take a practice trip before our 7-week road trip, so this was a huge bonus discovery.
Also, being able to rinse off after a hike, and before setting off on the road again is freaking amazing. After today’s buffalo-spotting hike in toasty temperatures under sunny skies, I was a sweaty mess. I took a quick, refreshing shower while BB was sitting in the trailhead parking lot. AMAZING! I felt like a million bucks, cooled off and in fresh clothes for our 3-hour drive to our next destination.
The meh stuff
Just so you don’t think it’s all rainbows and roses here in RV-land, there are some things we have to deal with that aren’t super fun:
Insects
Bugs are par for the course when you’re camping. They come with the territory. Quent encountered these wacky flying ants that stuck to his shirt and hat as he was getting ready to make dinner one night. And we’ve accidentally let flies in the camper, which is annoying. Thankfully, no mosquitos… yet.
ETA: We bought a fly swatter today. Already, I’m happier about the insect situation.
Our toad
If I’d known what rough shape our 1981 Jeep was in, I likely would have said we should leave it behind. Our toad (RV lingo for a pull-behind towed vehicle) is annoying AF. It’s loud, so I don’t let Quent start it before campground quiet hours end at 8 a.m. each morning, lest we annoy neighbors. The doors don’t shut well at all, so we have to slam them with brute force, and the loud “bam!” jars my brain in my skull each time (read: headache). It’s dirty; pretty sure there’s dust in there from 1981.
Yes, it’s been helpful to have an extra car that one of us can run to the store or do other errands, while the motorhome stays put at a campsite. And it was nice to tour national/state parks in a nimbler vehicle. But…. I’d be way happier with some other more efficient little roadster. Alas, I think we’re stuck with the Jeep, unless we dump it in NH and buy something else. (Or just dump it.)
Other people
We are doing our very best to avoid people on this trek (COVID-19 and all). For the most part, everyone gives wide berth; we have yet to have any strangers at another campground even approach us to say hello. We interact with grocery-store cashiers and the friendly folks who run the offices at some of the campgrounds we stay at. So be it; we wear masks, and sometimes (!) they do, too. Interactions are minimal; we have copious amounts of hand sanitizer and Clorox wipes to disinfect afterward, as needed!
But sometimes you just come across people who are clueless.
Take, for example, an overlook at Badlands National Park, where visitors have to walk out on a narrow, fenced walkway to reach a platform with a sign with information on the landscape. There was a couple at the sign, so I stopped several feet away, so they could finish, and then they’d step to the side, and I could walk to the sign. Well, a group of people came up behind me, and just busted past me to the platform and sign. No regard for what I thought was my obvious social distancing. So, I just turned around and left.
Then there are folks who are inconsiderate even in non-COVID-19 situations. Like the three people we encountered at a large gas station: We pulled behind an empty truck parked at a pump, guessing someone had just run inside to pay — but that someone didn’t return within 5 minutes, so we moved over to the next pump (not easy backing up in a 32-foot motorhome with a towed car). A man there had finished fueling — great! But when he didn’t move after a bit, I went up to his car window, where he said, “I’ll be a while, I need to record this transaction” (Um, okay.) So, while he was writing down the amount he’d spent on gas in a notebook, ANOTHER car approached the pump island from the other direction and boxed him in! So, we had to wait another several minutes for that car to finish fueling.
The whole scene was just bizarre, and I wondered why so many people hadn’t learned simple gas-station etiquette.
Silver lining: While I was huffing and puffing outside, trying to figure out if I should direct Quent over to yet another pump, a nice woman came over to me from her own camper (her husband also had to maneuver around to another pump). We both gave each other a look of exasperation and started chatting. She told me they were on their way to Nebraska to visit a new grandbaby. That made me grin. And we eventually got our gas — with 5 cents off per gallon, thanks to our Good Sam membership!
In sum
All the awesome things we’re doing and seeing (and eating!) FAR outweigh any negatives of this trip. In fact, I just said to Quent, “I love every day on the road because every single day is different!” We’re not lingering anywhere, so we have new scenery to enjoy every day. Pulling into a new campsite comes with great anticipation: “What’s this one going to be like?!”
I start each morning with a fabulous cup of coffee, and every late afternoon/early evening brings a very happy happy hour — either a cold beer after a hike or a tumbler of wine outside on our “patio” (aka a big easy-wash carpet and canvas camp chairs) after a day of work.
Can’t wait to see what the next 6 weeks bring!
Follow me on Instagram! I’m sharing daily photo-driven Stories of what we’re up to — you can click on “RV Trip 2020” on my profile to see all the updates I’ve made so far.
Anything specific you want to know about our trip? Drop questions in the comments below! I plan to blog at least weekly… that’s the plan, anyway!
Looks great so far, despite some snafus! Love reading along. 🙂