(Written Tuesday night from Firehole Canyon Campground, WY)
Howdy Campers!
What a day, what a day, what a day!
We started out at Stagecoach State Park
just south of Steamboat Springs. It was cold at dawn... at least for
us Floridians. We didn't have a thermometer handy, but I'd say 10
below (that's around 50 for you people who live in Northern climes).
So I surprised Mrs. C' by making scratch scones (almond/dried
cherry... our house specialty) using the convection feature of the
oven in the Airstream. This is a Sharp combo microwave/convection
(i.e.: regular heat) oven. It is the perfect cooking appliance for
this rig except for one thing. It's user interface was designed by
dyslexic cryptographers. Native Korean speakers at that. Even with
the manual open to page 137 on my iPad it took me four tries from
start to tell it “heat to 375 degrees and get ready to cook some
scones!”. At one point Mrs. C' said “how many buttons do you have
to press to start that thing? I said “shut up... can't you see I'm
making you scones???”. That sort of spoiled the moment I guess, but
to her credit she shook it off. We ate fresh scones with our coffee
while watching the sun rise over Stagecoach Lake.
After a bit we went into Steamboat for
a bit of shopping and top off the gas tank while we had no trailer
and no dogs. Mrs. C' found a shop so nice that we barely got back to
the campground in time. The next happy camper with our site reserved
was checking in at the gate as we drove in. I hitched up while Mrs.
C' made some fresh sandwiches and grabbed cold drinks from the fridge
and we were off for Wyoming.
Remember that thought I shared that we
were headed for cooler temps as we neared Yellowstone? Apparently we
are not heading there fast enough. It was over 90 most of the day
including when we arrived here at Firehole. Yes, I said Firehole.
Yes, I should have thought about how a campground I picked for late
June may have acquired the name “Firehole”. I have an excuse. The
US Government (who owns and operates this place) fooled me. The
picture they showed of this campsite on their reservations web site
had snow on the ground. I figured we'd need gloves. So much for my
application for a MacArthur “genius grant”.
Anyway... Firehole Canyon Campground.
Let me say that I have had the privilege (thanks largely to my
employer of 34 years) to see much of the world. In my travels I have
see beautiful and spectacular places (and the other end of the
spectrum too... I think that's nature's way of making sure we know
the beautiful and amazing when we see it). Firehole Canyon is without
a doubt in the top 5 most beautiful places I have ever laid eyes on.
It takes a bit of work to get here - it's in the Southwest corner of
Wyoming – but its worth it. About 40 minutes up the road we got off
I-80 to head south to Firehole. Just before exiting we saw a KOA
(remember KOA? We almost stayed in one in Limon, CO. Fortunately my
gag reflex kicked when we saw the campground just before we had to
exit. It saved us. Anyhow, KOA's are trailer parks where the
residents rent by the night. That gives them all the charm of trailer
parks you may have seen except that they lack the unmistakable
trailer park pride of ownership.) So the KOA north of here was
full... packed in like sardines. Here at Firehole? Maybe 15 groups.
Unbelievable! I think I understand how America operates. And these
same people who are side-by-each in the KOA on I-80 when they could
be in one of the most beautiful places on earth with the exertion of
40 minutes of energy and initiative blame Congress for the way
America works! Oh well... we're here.
Speaking of America, in one stretch
today we went over an hour without passing a gas station, In fact we
probably went longer and didn't see a town and rarely a house (the
occasional ranch, yes. House, no.) Northwest Colorado and Southwest
Wyoming are empty of everything except bluffs, oil wells, pronghorn
antelope and sagebrush (or some other tumbleweed-looking thing... I
don't know and without any internet I can't find out. Maybe I'll
research that later.) At one point in that hour, Mrs. C' commented
“My heavens. We are in the middle of a vast and amazing nowhere”
(those of you who know her can substitute any adjectives you choose
into that sentence to place it in her own voice). I readily agreed
with her observation. However, 10, 15, 20 minutes later as we crossed
ridge, hill and bluff each crossing revealed at least as much nowhere
ahead of us as we had passed at the time of the observation. Do you
know what? Sometimes when you think you are in the middle of nowhere
you are actually still penetrating the outer fringes of nowhere.
There may be 10x the nowhere in front of you that is behind you and
you have no way of knowing. With perseverance and (fortunately) a
pretty full tank of gas to begin with, we managed to cross the
nowhere that is the Colorado/Wyoming frontier and reach Firehole.
As I write this it is Tuesday evening.
About 9:30 local. The sun has set. There will be absolutely amazing
pictures when we reach civilization (hopefully tomorrow evening from
Jackson Lake directly across from the Grand Tetons). When you see the
pics remember this (I didn't know it when I saw the Government-pics
from here). The stone tower formations in the pics are about 2 mile
away and probably 2,000 feet higher than the campsite. This place
photographs well, but the reality is far better.
OK... its a wrap for tonight.
Later, campers!
SC
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