Copyright 2019, CABS for Reflections From the Fence
September 3, 2019
Pull out at 9:10. Expect to fuel up at the pumps here at the Travel Stop 216, alas, out of regular. Whoooeee. We still have 3/4 of a tank, we were just going to top off, so Man cleans the windshield, we will fuel up later. Change of plans. LOL. They have “super” and since we only need a little Man is topping off with that.
Dorian has blasted the Bahamas, forecasts are now showing Florida east coast will get skimmed, but no landfall. Thinking of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia. Be safe, make wise choices.
Day starts out cloudy. About 50 miles out we hit a summit of about 5500 feet we drop in a valley, the skies break out the blue.
More picture postcard ready - -
Rest stop.
The black-eyed susans still line the roads. More scrub brush. Then more shrub sized plants. Appear to be juniper. When the farmers plow or cut their hay, they put out huge dust clouds.
For much of the rest of the day it will be a story of geology, shapes, colors, all stunning, all take my breath away.
Ok, this one is included, cause I just loved the name.
The road stretches, FOREVER, it seems.
And then we break out into acres and acres, huge hillsides of the black-eyed susans. They do make me smile. All that yellow tinted stuff - - yup - - black-eyed susans. Acres of them.
A homestead - -
Cause I love barns - - especially old rusty, unpainted, falling down ones. If you look hard enough, yep, I think you will see black-eyed susans too.
Walmart stop at Bingham City.
Fire. Does not show on weather bug.
The red grand mountains and geological formations make me happy.
Cause it was cute - -
Later they will turn tan. And toss in some light green/gray. We climb to at least 7500 feet. And down a little and back up to 7000. Up down, we are in Wyoming on I-80. There are snow fences and speed limit signs they can digitally change, and gates when the road is closed in the winter. I swear we are in some “badlands”. That’s what I am calling this. The “badlands of Wyoming”.
We passed signs for Kemmerer. Some day, I really want to go there. Why?? Well, because of J.C. Penney and his first wife, Berta Hess Penney, she being a distant cousin, they lived there. I did a hunk of research on them years ago for cousin Alva T. Wood (now deceased). It was a lot of fun to research J.C. There is this bit of his history, which is why I someday hope to visit.
"J.C. described his life in Wyoming: "When we moved from Evanston, Wyoming, to Kemmerer, Wyoming, to open up our first store, a baby boy, christened as Roswell Kemper Penney, came to bless our home which was in the attic over the tiny store.
The only access to our living quarters was an outside stairway and the only light was that from the door at the head of the stairway. There were no carpets on the floor, and the rafters showed. The only place we could stand up straight was in the center of the room. A dry goods box was our table and shoe boxes our chairs. We cooked, ate, and slept in the one room. These were no modern facilities, not even running water--this I had to carry from a Chinese Laundry two doors away.
Roswell's mother assisted me in the store when I had more customers than I could wait on, and the baby was tucked underneath a counter on an improvised bed of overalls. She would tend store while I ate my lunch, which was of a very meagre nature. However, there were hopes then of a number of stores, not the number we have today--approximately 1700 stores in January, 1963--but perhaps twenty-five. When we got twenty-five, I thought we might some day have fifty, and then I quit prophesying, realizing that it was a matter of organization."
I’m driving, Man is navigating. The Estate GPS says one thing, Google Maps gives another set of directions. Man calls the campground. Let’s just start this part of the story with, this poor thing is thicker than rocks. She tells us a third way in, and it’s quickly obvious she does not know east bound from west bound. We get off the expressway at the next exit and pull over. We pull up AllStays and GoogleMaps and at the same time Man and I decide all we have to do is jump on the 374, which is right there, 1/3rd mile away from where we are sitting on the exit ramp.
We find the campground. He checks in. She sends us down the hill. WRONG! We finally get ourselves turned around and find our campsite.
Cable. Wrong end. We have one. No one else in campground seems to be hooked up. We have the correct end. Oh. Man asked for a guide, there is none. We may have 143 channels. She told us just scroll till you find what you want. Sigh. Somewhat surprising, we found this at the next Wyoming campground as well. It must be a Wyoming thing?? LOL
Train. This train was hauling a heavy load, up hill. It was not moving quickly, just chugging along. I could hear the sound of labored movement. You know, like "chugga, chugga". Since Man and I do not mind trains near campgrounds, unless they run 25 feet from our rig, this was pleasant. We heard several trains overnight, sweet music to our ears.
Bench. OKKKK, when I first see this, I think it's a nice touch for the campground to have. Looks inviting enough. In fact, inviting enough that I go over and have a sit - -
And, this is what I see when I sit.
OOOPS!
A bit of a miscalculation.
Their internet, however kicks - - - fast!
They charge $1..00 per dog. We will discover that we are the only ones that connected to cable and that 4 sites down they could not connect to the WiFi.
Off road about 4:30. About 300 miles today, not a good day to have a bumpy arrival.
That all said, just watch some video from the Bahamas. Blessings to them.
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