We decided to visit Wyoming and Utah for 3 weeks to explore places we might want to retire in 15 years. But different than most travelers, we decided to visit places that most tourists don’t go to. We started our journey on June 19 at 4 am heading up the interstate 15 northeast into Utah. On our way, we stopped at my favorite street sign ever, Zzyzx Road which is 12 miles west of Baker, CA. Then we saw the largest thermometer in the world in Baker, CA.

After 12 hours of driving, we stopped the first night at Rowley’s Red Barn in Santaquin, Utah which was at 4984′ in elevation. Rowley’s is a family owned store that serves farm-fresh food and homemade ice cream. Rowley’s is also a member of Harvest Hosts. Harvest Hosts is a membership program that provides access to “wineries, farms, breweries, museums and other unique locations” that invites self-contained RVers to stay for the night for free. The membership is $60 a year. Most of the time there are no hookups except for the occasional electrical plug in. It’s just a different way to crash for the night compared to a rest stop. At Rowley’s, we parked with 15 other campers just next to the barn in a dirt lot. The nice part about this host is that you have access to a clean bathroom in the store from 8 am to 8 pm. Once we parked the RV, we pulled out our gravity chairs, small dogs on the laps, big glasses of wine in our hands and watched a magnificent sunset over the small western hills.

We drove to our next Harvest Host stopover in Casper, Wyoming, at a place called Johnson Tree Farm at 5118′ in elevation. Ironically, there wasn’t really a tree farm there. It was a farm of sorts and it had trees but I certainly wouldn’t call it a “tree farm”. Ever since I had a kid some 20 years ago, I always seem to rise early. Certainly much, much earlier than my wife who could sleep in to ten am every day if it wasn’t for that pesky thing called work. Therefore, Kiki and I are the early risers and get to see some great sunrises.

As the sun rose, we explored the property.

Next, we were on to a real campground, Deer Park Campground in Buffalo, Wyoming, at 4646′ in elevation. We stayed here for 4 days and relaxed. The campground is a good one. Mostly spacious sites and we happened to get the best one, # 42. As you can see from the photos below, plenty of room, plenty of grass and also plenty of fallen cottonwood from the trees there. If you have allergies, come prepared. It looked like it was a light snowfall with all the cottonwood debris blowing around. There is a pool there, pretty basic but does the job. At most campgrounds with pools, it seems to be a great place to meet fellow campers and swap stories and learn about places to visit.

One day, we took the truck and drove out to Crazy Woman Canyon which is a must do if you’re out this way. This is a drive that you do in your car. Not really a canyon, you’re basically driving through a crevice through the eastern edge of the Bighorn National Forest mountain range. The actual Crazy Woman road is about 6 and a half miles through this slot canyon where you’ll come across various “roughing it” campgrounds that are where you would boondock or dry camp. As you’re driving through this canyon, you are driving along the Crazy Woman Creek that flows through the canyon. You can tackle this drive starting on the western edge and head east through the canyon or vice versa. I highly recommend driving east because you’ll be going slightly downhill which is easier on the car and when you exit the mountains you’ll have a pretty view of the farmlands below. Any car can make this journey but there are points where you’ll have to crawl to about 5 miles an hour to avoid some rough road but certainly doable. The road starts about 20 miles due south of the campground in Buffalo, so head west out of the town of Buffalo and take highway 16 west for about 27.6 miles and you will make a left turn onto the dirt road. Don’t worry there’s a huge sign directing you to the turn off. Here are some shots of the drive.

The next day we ended up driving due north into Montana to visit Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. Driving through the high plains, it was about 50 miles to cross the state line into Montana and then another 56 miles to the monument. At the monument, they have a ranger station that has information to check out and a gift shop, but the real reason you go there is to drive through this graveyard of sorts that show you where the battle of Custer’s Last Stand happened. The small, rolling hills have random tombstones placed all over. After the battle, they simply buried the soldiers right where they were killed. We thought it was worth visiting if you’re into American history.

The next day in Buffalo, we decided to do a hike in the Bighorn National Forest. We drove to Circle Park campground which was out in the middle of nowhere, however, there were a lot of boondock campers out there. We went to the Circle Park trailhead and did the 3.2 mile hike up the mountain to Long Lake. This was a brutal hike, not for distance, but for the type of trail. It was loaded with rocks half-submerged in the ground. Really rough on the feet, for sure. It made the 3.2 miles feel like 7 miles. A lot of walking around, over and on top of random shaped rocks. The end result wasn’t quite worth the trouble in our minds, but still it was pretty to see the lake. One note: about .6 miles into the trail there is a barb wire fence that blocks the trail. Simply open it up (on the left side) and go through and then close it again. Not sure why it’s there, but you are supposed to go beyond that barb wire fence.

Once we reached Long Lake, we relaxed and had our lunch.

After 4 days in Buffalo, Wyoming, we headed southwest towards Dubois, Wyoming, and our next campground: Longhorn Ranch Lodge and RV Resort. On the way, we stopped in Thermopolis where they have the world’s largest mineral hot springs. We just stopped for 90 minutes and walked around and then took a dip in the hot springs pool.

After our pitstop at Thermopolis, we then continued on to Dubois, Wyoming, and the next campground. I booked all of our campsites back in January. This particular campground, Longhorn Ranch Lodge and RV Resort about 6 miles east of Dubois is at 6946′ elevation. Anyways, when I called to reserve 3 nights in late June, they told me that for $10 more a night we could stay right on the Bighorn River. Well, they only had 2 of the 3 nights available. I decided it would be worth it to move the trailer after the first night for the river sites. 6 months later, I’m pulling in to the campsite office and they have no mention of river sites for us. Apparently, it never was adjusted. I did this all over the phone, so I had no proof and looking at my credit card statement, they did not charge me the extra money either. So we stayed at site 3 and it was fantastic. Upon exploring the campground which, by the way, is a great campground, we checked out the river sites and it is a ripoff. There is a 200 yard shrub-bush that separates the sites from the Bighorn River. On top of that, the shrubs are 10 feet high, yes, no exaggeration. So glad it didn’t work out for us. We got lucky because I would have been pissed. Back to the campground, this one is a beauty. It’s away from any immediate downtown, so you feel like you’re out in the middle of nowhere even though there are a few houses nearby. The sites were mostly spacious, clean and with grass. They also had a pond with a flock of geese hanging around. One very unusual thing about the campsite was that the water was not only an old school hand pump, it was way up at the front of the campsite while the electric was towards the back like most campsites (see photo below). I grabbed one of the on-site campground workers and he was nice enough to give us a hose extension, so it all worked out.

We spent our first day checking out the small town of Dubois, Wyoming. We grabbed breakfast at the Cowboy Cafe which has excellent food. We checked out the few shops there and decided to hit the supposed happening spot, Rustic Pine Tavern, but the service there was awful. When you’re bartending, rule number 1 is to acknowledge the customer that you’ll get to him when you get a chance. After 15 minutes of him walking back and forth ignoring us, I politely asked “excuse me” and he lost his mind, telling me “don’t you see I’m busy here?” sarcastically. And he wonders why he’s in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere, going nowhere. I wanted to leave but my wife told me she’ll “work it” and grabbed a young 25 year old woman who was helping serve tables and she got us some drinks. This bartender wouldn’t last 2 minutes in L.A. but whatever, I told myself. I’m on vacation. My wife got us drinks in another 5 or 6 minutes. We left soon after very unimpressed. We then walked over to a great photo opportunity on the western edge of town. It was a small arch of antlers much like the famous one you see at Jackson square in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

The next day, after chilling all day, we went back to Dubois and grabbed an afternoon pizza and some local brews at Noon Pizza. Both the food and beer was quite tasty for a small town in the middle of nowhere.

Our last day at Longhorn Ranch Lodge & RV Resort, we took the dogs and drove the truck up this dirt road that ran along a creek that connected to a bunch of lakes: Julia, Torrey, Ring and Trail lakes. This dirt road is about a mile and a half southeast from our campground entrance on highway 26. The turnoff is road 411 possibly labeled as Fish Hatchery Road but as soon as you turn south onto 411 it immediately splits off and you will take a left onto Trail Road or 411. Go back about ten miles til the road ends. There is a trailhead there but we just did the drive in and it was beautiful. Aside from the beautiful landscape, not much along this road but places to boondock and at the very end of the road was a kind of boys camp. The road was bumpy and dusty, but the drive was well worth it. The views were spectacular.

We left Dubois and headed west on highway 26 towards Jackson Hole where we would stop for lunch and continue on through southeast to Boulder, Wyoming. As we approached Jackson, we were coming down some huge mountains and saw the Grand Tetons getting bigger and bigger.

After we drove through the Tetons, we had lunch in Jackson at Sidewinders Tavern on the outside deck. They had great microbrews and very good food as well as a fantastic view of the mountains across the street.

After lunch in Jackson, we headed to our next campground, Highline Trail RV Park, in Boulder, Wyoming, at 7018′ elevation. Thought this campground was going to be a bit prettier than it actually was. Boulder is not really a town but rather a bunch of small houses on desolate looking properties. Pinedale, the closest town, is 12 and a half miles away. The campground itself was flat, wide open grassy area with a few trees but not enough to give most of the sites shade. So, it’s hot and breezy but the view of the mountains is pretty. The sites were beyond spacious as you’ll see in the photos. This campground is one where it’s a place to sleep. That’s it. There is no vibe here at all. It feels as if you’re in a vast wasteland but with pretty mountains to look at. Maybe I’m wrong but you would never plan to be here as we unfortunately did. Bathrooms and laundry room were clean but far away from most of the spots. Our luck, however, the first night was one of the most spectacular sunsets I have ever seen.

We had 3 nights booked at Highline Trail but after seeing it, we decided to only stay for 2 nights. Our one full day there, we went on a 4 plus mile hike at Green River Lakes. Everything I found on the internet said it is a must do, so we must did. The hike is spectacular and worth the crazy drive to get there. The hike goes along two lakes with Squaretop Mountain in the background. The last 18 miles to the trailhead is on a rough dirt road, but not so rough that a regular car can’t drive it. However, it’s a slow and tedious path that will take you 35 minutes to go those last 18 miles. But the drive is beautiful and the trail is totally worth it. I wouldn’t recommend doing it again but you must do it once. The scenery is spectacular I promise. We did 2 miles in and 2 miles back but the full trail is 7.1 miles there and back. Take the trail heading along the left side of the lake called “Highline” trail. Definitely bring food and drinks to munch on.

After the hike and the crazy drive there and back, we stopped in Pinedale and hit the Wind River Brewing Company and grabbed dinner and some microbeers. This place even had a dog menu which was pretty cool.

We left Boulder, Wyoming, and drove 147 miles to Manila, Utah, where we camped at Flaming Gorge / Manila KOA at 6348′ elevation. So we chopped a day off before at Highline Trail and were lucky enough to add a day to this stay. This campground is in a 3 street town, Manila, that is a few miles from Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area. This lake is right on the Wyoming / Utah state line.

You could see Flaming Gorge lake from the campground.

Our first day, we relaxed at the campground and then went to swim beach at the lake. We filled our floats that we brought with us from home and just laid around in the water.

The next day in Manila, we rented a 20 foot pontoon boat for the day and explored Green River which is the southern outlet from the Flaming Gorge lake.

The following day, we drove above the gorge of Green River and took some photos of where we went the day before with the pontoon rental.

We left Manila, Utah, and began our 6 hour drive to Fishlake National Forest 302 miles away. About halfway through the trip, we were about as isolated as we could be driving south on highway 10 when the trailer felt like it ran over something and I looked in my side mirror and saw smoke. We immediately pulled over and were able to make it to the only shade for 50 miles. As I parked the car under the shade of these lonely two trees, we saw that the back tire on the passenger side had blown. However, after a closer look, we saw that because it was so hot (116 degrees at the time) and traveling at a high speed for miles, the rubber from the tire had partially melted creating little liquid rubber drops that went up into the undercarriage of the trailer and melted the cover separating the RV’s insulation from the open area around the tires. Needless to say, this posed as a major fire hazard. First thing’s first though, we began to pull out the jack and lift the trailer up so we could change the tire. A few minutes after we got going with the jack, a 65 year old man named Ken, pulled up behind us to see if we needed any help. I said we were ok and thank you, but he mentioned that he had a power tool to pull off the lugs quickly. We had no problem accepting his help and changing the tire went a lot quicker with his tools. In today’s times, 2021, you only hear about the worst that America has to offer: rascism, everybody looking out for number one, people attacking other people for no reason, even a vaccine becoming a political hot point, but here was Ken, a retired energy plant worker for 40 years, taking the time to give us a hand. It made my wife and I realize that there are still good people in this world that help others just for the sake of helping others. Unfortunately, you only hear about the bad shit in America and for very good reasons, but still, it was good to see and experience. Once the tire was changed, we took some duct tape and patched the covering under the trailer so as to keep the insulation from being exposed and more of a fire hazard.

We drove another 200 miles without further incident. We climbed up into the mountains where Fish Lake is.

We got to our next campground, Bowery Haven Resort at Fish Lake, Utah, at 8848 ‘ in elevation at around 7:58 pm. They close the kitchen at 8 pm there at the campground store/cafe. We were fortunate enough to squeeze in an order of two cheeseburgers and fries which hit the spot. We then set up our camper for the next 3 nights at site 41. This site was up on the highest bluff on the campground with a great view of Fish Lake.

We spent one day hiking around Fish Lake.

We then decided the next day, Fourth of July, to take our beach chairs and sit and have some cocktails by the lake.

It was quite cool and it started to rain about 40 minutes after we set up by the beach. The odd thing about this was that another family began to set up next to us as we hurriedly packed up before the rain got harder. Lisa and I ended up having cocktails in the trailer watching “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” for the 40th time. Sounds boring but we enjoyed it actually. Fish Lake is a cool place to visit. Again, we went out of our way to visit lesser known places on this particular trip and thought this would be cool. However, once we got here, we found out that Fish Lake is a huge destination for Utah people. It was a secret if you didn’t live in Utah. We left Fish Lake July 5 and took a short drive to Panguitch, Utah, for our last camping stay on this trip. We stayed at Panguitch KOA at 6627 ‘ elevation. The thing I learned from this trip is that even though the elevation seemed high enough to keep us from the intense summer heat, it was false hope. Panguitch was like 95 degrees and felt even hotter. Once we arrived at the KOA, we noticed that this KOA was pretty basic and other than the pool, not much to speak about. However, we were a half hour from Bryce Canyon which is a place that has gorgeous, bright red canyons. It’s mostly a drive through park with a ton of pull outs to view these beautiful canyons. There are hikes but they’re not dog friendly so we did not hike this go around.

As we drove and hit various pull outs and took pictures, we came across these two crowes. They were not afraid of people by any stretch, and so we got some great photos of them.

Bryce Canyon is just so beautiful. I highly recommend a visit.

Heading back home.

After almost 3 weeks, we returned back to Redondo Beach, CA, on July 7. That damn thing called work came-a-calling. Back to reality. Can’t wait to retire and do this full time with my wife and dogs. I wish I won the lotto.