Leaving Fort Collins, Colorado we had every intention of stopping for a few days in Rock Springs, Wyoming since we were running a little early for our reservations at Bear Lake SP in Idaho. As meandering budget travelers we rarely make advanced reservations. Trying to find lower cost motels we really like to see what we are getting and Lori is an awesome negotiator. It was a huge surprise to find EVERY room filled and overfilled with drilling crews working on the new gas wells.
We finally ended up staying at the Buckboard Crossing Campground in the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area. The facilities were not totally primitive but getting close. We had electricity to run a fan, water was available since they had to water the grass, and flush toilets. They currently claim to have showers but they had not been installed back in 2006 so it was swiming suit and hose time.
Did I mention it was hot? This was another case of spending most of the day driving around the area mostly to keep the AC going in the truck. Incidentally the dam is actually in Utah in the southern section but these panoramas were taken in Wyoming. It was also extremely dry and the whole area had been in a multi-year drought. The lake level was very low and even in July the grass was dry, brown, brittle, and primed for a wildfire. From here we headed to Bear Lake SP in Idaho for another few days of fun in the oven.
Heading back east through Jackson Hole in late September I got what will probable be my last picture of the Grand Tetons. This picture was taken from about 9500 feet and we were seriously considering if we should push ahead or go back west and try to find a lower pass. Lori was seriously hurting and even when we got back down to lower elevations she continued to be in pain for most of the next week.
Crossing central Wyoming we again got a lesson in budget traveling. It is illegal to shoot antelope within 500 feet of the highway, it was hunting season, and the antelope carefully lined both sides of the highway. Not realizing the true implications we declined the only room we could find in Caspar figuring to get one in a small town down the road. Due to hunting season there were no rooms and we ended up driving straight through to Fort Robinson, Nebraska where we got in about 4AM and just crashed in the campground. Welcome to Wyoming.