November Update

 

A New Day

It's been awhile.  To be honest, I was on the fence for whether to continue blogging.  The original purpose of this blog was to write about travel, coffee, and beer.  Each of those subjects have taken a back seat in my life for the past six months.  Travel was to be a driving force for our early retirement, but it just hasn't worked out that way yet.

Turning 60 early this year also forced me to take a closer look at how my body was handling alcohol and coffee. An occasional problem with heartburn/acid reflux became more frequent.  I hadn't weighed myself for a long time and was disappointed when I weighed in at 191.

This fall, Julia went on a diet in hopes of losing a few pounds and lowering her cholesterol.  I decided to go on my own individualized diet and exercise program.  I knew that if I quit drinking on weekdays and exercised more, the pounds would come off.  Within a couple of weeks, I dropped to 180, and the heartburn went away.   I'm trying to stabilize at 175-180. 

To make sure that we stay on a healthy track, we are eating less red meat and more chicken, fish and vegetables.  I've found that one cup of coffee per day is just fine for me.  I'm still hiking at least five miles per day.  Julia does boot camp three days per week (getting up  at 4:50 a.m.) and swims the other two days per week.  Twice per week, we play pickleball together in local social leagues.  It's more fun than I thought it would be.

Devil's Lake State Park

 

The second piece of individual exercise for me has been wood harvesting and hand splitting rounds each day. 

Are you done yet?

So, I think the personal funk is over, and I'm ready to start blogging again.  My plan is to first document the rest of our trip out west from early last summer, and then a trip I took  to the Michigan's Upper Peninsula in August. We will see how it goes from there.   There are no trips currently scheduled, due to local commitments with Justin.  

Justin is finishing this semester at UW-Whitewater and then will move to Madison.  I'm proud of Justin for the four years that he spent in Whitewater trying to make college work there, but we've come to the end of the line in trying to make the available resources meet his increasing personal care needs.  

Before Justin started college at Whitewater, there was one personal care agency that met almost all of the disabled students' needs.  They stopped taking new patients just before Justin's first year and then moved completely out of that small market.  None of the remaining agencies filled that gap, focusing on private care for the elderly.  This year, every agency that we contacted  refused Justin due to "staff shortages."  At present, he has only two part time workers who moonlight after full time jobs.  That isn't sustainable, safe or fun for Justin.  He has raised the white flag. 

Julia is doing well.  Travel next year is one of our priorities.  I would like to hike in Scotland or Ireland. Julia has Machu Picchu on her bucket list.  If neither of those work out, there are Scamping opportunities nearby.  We've really enjoyed our short getaways to the banks of the Mississippi River this year.  Julia calls it her "happy place."  We've especially enjoyed the small towns on the Iowa side.  Iowa for natural beauty?  Yep.

July Update

We interrupt your previously scheduled programming to provide a current update.

We've been at home for awhile now since our trip West in the Scamp. About a week after arriving home, there was a  celebration of life for Gene, Julia's Dad, who died in hospice earlier this year.  In many ways, it was lovely; I'm not a big fan of funerals.  

About twenty people gathered for an outdoor fish fry on a Friday afternoon at one of Gene's favorite restaurants on Lake Wisconsin.  Lots of people told stories about their experiences with Gene, and there was a poster board of photos from throughout his life.  

Later, some of his ashes were spread on the water, where Gene loved to fish.  This week, Julia was kayaking on Lake Wisconsin, and a big perch jumped into her kayak.  Coincidence?  She thinks not.  

Allie was home for a week.  I did some hiking with Allie and my niece Anna around Devil's Lake.

Justin is home off and on for the remainder of the summer.  This is always an uncertain time of year for planning, as we try to find caregivers for the fall semester.  There are some complicating factors due to caregivers who have decided to move on from caring for Justin.  On top of that, we've learned that he hadn't done quite as well as he led us to believe in college or his finances/spending.  We're in the process of sorting all of that out, but my planned fall trip west may end up a casualty.  

My small trailer, the Scamp, is back at home after some unexpected repairs.  During the trip west, I noticed slight bulging in a tire’s sidewall, but didn't give it too much thought other than monitoring that it wasn't getting worse (a mistake, but I got lucky).

The tires are a 2 1/2 years old, so I decided that I was going to replace the bulged tire when I got home.   I took it to my favorite and reliable tire shop, Larry's Tires.  After jacking up the tire in question, the technician discovered a wobbly wheel and then a bad bearing.  That did not make me happy as the bearings were repacked by a local rv shop just prior to the trip west.  Apparently, during servicing, there is a nut that gets tightened and then slightly backed off.  The technician believed that the nut either never got tightened or got backed off way too much.  There was a flat spot on the bearing.

A new bearing was installed on the bad tire side and the other side was inspected and repacked just to make sure. The tire bulged due to heat from the bearing going bad. He said that I was very lucky that the wheel hadn't fallen off during the trip.  The diagnosis and repair was reasonable, and I know where I'll be taking the bearings for service next time (Larry's Tires).  I will not be back to the RV shop.  I thought about complaining, but life is too short, and I wouldn't trust them again anyway. 

Vedauwoo and Beyond: Trails and Camp Food

We stayed at Vedauwoo in Wyoming longer than anywhere else on this trip west. Most days, we never even started up the truck.  There were plenty of hiking trails nearby, and we were well stocked with food and drink to prepare at the campsite.  

One of our favorite hikes was about a half mile walk down the road from Site #13 and left from the parking lot where the vault toilet was conveniently located.  It was set up as a horse trail with hitching rails nearby, but we didn't see any horses that week in early June. 

It was a wide, easy to follow in and out trail.

Most of the time.

 

Hiking early in the day, we rarely saw other people or dogs, which is my favorite kind of hiking.

Not far from Vedauwoo is the Pole Mountain section of the Medicine Bow National Forest.  We checked this area out for future dispersed camping opportunities.  There were campgrounds here, but they were not yet open for the season in early June.   Why you might ask?  The elevation was higher. And there was snow.

We did some hiking here, and the terrain was much more wooded than Vedauwoo.

We treated ourselves that night to a delicious dinner and a bottle of wine from our friends in Blue Earth.  They made us promise to drink it in a fabulous place, and our Scamp campsite at Vedauwoo definitely qualified. 

Vedauwoo Recreation Area, Wyoming

 

When I started researching Vedauwoo during the planning of this trip, I was pretty sure that I was going to like it.  The area checked lots of my boxes.  High elevation, free camping, thirty minutes from a college town (Laramie), trails, and interesting rocks.  

This area is closed to campers (with gates across the road) until about June 1st each year.  We drove in from Nebraska on June 2nd. Vedauwoo is literally right off of Interstate 80 between Cheyenne and Laramie.  The closest "town" is Buford (population 1).  Verizon cell phone service was iffy but could be improved to two bars by climbing a nearby rock formation. 

Pronounced Vee-da-voo, the area is popular among rock climbers and off road vehicle enthusiasts.  Rock climbing is a silent sport and doesn't bother me a bit, although I have no urge to do technical climbing.  Off-road vehicles don't bother me a bit until someone turns the key.  Then the noise and dust can be quite annoying.  Thankfully, most of the time that we were here, the dust and noise were minimal.  As the weekend approached, the noise and dust increased but only near the road. There was one younger boy that drove up and down the road from sunrise to sunset, back and forth, back and forth.  We tried to stay far away from the road when things got dusty and noisy.

Dispersed camping is different here from other places that I've been.  You must camp in assigned spots, which are numbered.  That might seem  like a negative, but it didn't turn out that way.  The numbered campsites are extremely well-spaced, and there's got to be at least a hundred of them.  The system actually worked well to keep people from bunching up too close together.  The spot we finally settled in (lucky 13) was a couple of hundred yards from the next nearest camper.  

Back yard

Side yard

 

Front yard

There is a pay campground here also, but the sites are much tighter together, and there is no good reason to stay there.  All water must be brought in, although there is a spigot at a rest area on the way to Laramie.  There was also a vault toilet about a ten minute walk from our campsite.  It was kept clean and well-stocked by U.S. Department of Agriculture employees.

What's to love about this place?  For me it was the rock formations. As mentioned before, I'm not a technical climber, but there are so many rock formations to play around in.  It really made me feel like a little kid to run around in and on top of the rocks.  Pure joy!

The elevation was over 8000 feet at our camp, so we enjoyed warm days (70's) and cool nights (40's).  After each day of exploring, we had plenty of time for food and drink.  We stayed six days.

We made a few side trips to visit Laramie and Cheyenne and also did some hiking in the Pole Mountain area.  Those will be the subject of a separate post.  

 

Fort Robinson State Park, Nebraska

 After almost a week in the Badlands of South Dakota, we were both ready for a shower, laundry, and dump station.  We hitched up early on the morning of May 31st and drove to Fort Robinson, which is in the Nebraska panhandle.  

Julia and I have talked about how each campground has its pros and cons. Fort Robinson was no different.  There were showers and laundry, electric hookups, and a number of trails available for hiking.  On the con side, it was kind of expensive:  approximately $60 for a two night stay plus another $16 in state park entry fees.  For that amount, I expected more.  The garbage dumpsters were overflowing onto the ground.  The sites were tight, and there were a lot of people camping mid-week.  

On the first day, we cleaned up and got our chores done.  Then we took some time to hike the nearby trails.  Unfortunately, we got into some tall grass near a lake which resulted in numerous ticks attaching themselves to us.  More showers ensued.  

Fort Robinson has numerous "historical" signs around the premises.  I know from taking college history courses many years ago at the liberal University of Wisconsin that the contents of historical accounts are filled with the biases of the historians.  And what isn't in historical accounts or how the information is related is also dependent upon biases. 

Let's see.  This is where Crazy Horse surrendered and then was killed while "resisting imprisonment."  

I've heard that history doesn't necessarily repeat itself, but it definitely rhymes.  The accounts that I have read describe how Crazy Horse surrendered voluntarily but didn't understand that he was going to be imprisoned.  When he realized that he was being taken to the guardhouse, he resisted and was run through with a bayonet by an army private.  Maybe they needed a bigger sign for a more complete account.

A second historical sign commemorates the Buffalo Soldiers at Fort Robinson.

I almost missed the sign because it was located next to the tennis courts and was apart from the other signs.

On our second day at the Fort, Julia and I hiked the Lover's Leap Butte via the Wagon Wheel Trail. We encountered no ticks, and it was a great hike.

 

The trail starts off with a gradual rise through the grass. We were headed for that rock formation off to the right.

The weather was hot and dry, but there were wildflowers along the way.

The views were worth the climb.

On the way down, a small herd of pronghorns ran across the trail below us.  Callie got a little excited.

Standing Tall on Her Rear Legs

With the weather getting warmer, we were headed for Wyoming's higher elevations.

Sage Creek Campground

As we drove west from Blue Earth, it started to rain steadily. And the forecast was for more rain on the next day. When it rains in the Badlands, the ground turns into a soft, sticky gumbo, known for trapping vehicles, trailers and shoes.

Plan A was to camp along Nomad’s View near Wall, South Dakota. I camped there several years ago. It’s free, and the view of the Badlands is beautiful. But the wet gumbo there is treacherous after periods of rain. So we went with Plan B. Sage Creek campground is also free and within the Badlands National Park.  It’s accessible to tents, truck campers and very small trailers after about a ten mile drive on winding, gravel roads. There was gumbo here also, but it was flat and more gravel.  To get to Nomad’s View, there is a steep, deeply rutted dirt road to climb.

Sage Creek Campground

Tenters camp on the inside of the circle. Outside the circle is a bit of a free-for-all for tents and small trailers. The photo above was taken from one of the high bluffs behind the campground, where I found, paradoxically, solitude and four bars of internet. 

We stayed here four nights. As the weekend approached, it became more and more crowded, until we eventually had to leave. Unlike most dispersed camping, people packed in tight, vehicles sometimes passing less than a foot from my doorstep in order to squeeze past our tenting neighbor, an older, disabled Asian gentleman from Chicago.

What is the draw for camping here?  I’m sure some people come simply because it’s free and on the way to Yellowstone. But for us and most others, it was the chance to camp with the wild bison found here.

These guys were just a few feet from the front of our camper. Now let’s get things straight.  Nearly all of our close viewing was done from inside the Scamp. At least a dozen of the animals came through every day.  

On the other hand, we saw quite a few people who seemed to think that these wild bison were in the same class as dairy cows.

And I didn’t get photos of the most amazing interactions. One of the tenters was loading his car trunk when a bison leaned into the open rear passenger door. Another time, a dog on a long rope broke its tether and began running after the closest bison. The bison’s tail went straight up ( a sign of agitation), and it squared off against the dog.  I honestly thought the dog was going to get killed.  But the bison did not charge, and the dog’s owner got it back to the vehicle.

There were parts of Sage Creek that I absolutely loved. The trails in the surrounding bluffs were amazing. The chance to see bison close-up on their turf was a privilege. In the end, I was defeated by the encroachment of crowds of people and associated human behavior. We eventually headed over to Nomad’s View, which had finally dried out. If I ever return to Sage Creek, it will be off-season and mid-week.

There are no bison at Nomad’s View, but there is more free space and quite a view.