Last Saturday we decided to attend a rodeo just outside of Saratoga. It was a real fun time and only cost $5 bucks per person. I would estimate there were around 300 people in attendance. During the summer, numerous rodeos occur out west. 

 

The Bareback Riding was exciting. If you zoom in on this guy it looks like he's laying down on the horse's back.

 

 

We went to church on Sunday, the Platte Valley Christian Center. It' a small church, I estimate around 60 people or so were in the worship service. We attended here last year during our stay in Saratoga. The pastor teaches using a heavy dose of scripture throughout his sermon. Barbara got recruited to help during the upcoming Vacation Bible School for the kids.

 

Barbara and I went for a walk the other day. We left the RV park, crossed the bridge, and were in downtown Saratoga. I took a few interesting photos.

 

 

The North Platte River from the Veterans Island Bridge

 

 

 



 



1st Week in Saratoga

We've settled into our new location at Deer Haven RV park, directly on the North Platte River, just north of downtown. I've spent some time relaxing time fly fishing up and down the river. I've caught a few small rainbows and browns, still looking for the the big ones. The fish appear healthy and well fed this year. I can walk all over the river in my waders. It averages 3-4 feet deep in this area.
It's been a few days since I posted. We have AT&T internet service and 4G service is not available in this area. I've found that many locations out west don't offer the kind of service we need. We may look into another service provider soon. In the mean time, I'm using the free internet from the RV park.

 

Looking south from our parking spot

 

 

Yours truly fishing up in the the mountains at Lake Marie

 

 

Bridge Street in Saratoga. Population 1690, elevation 6700', with no red lights or fast food restaurants, Saratoga is an ideal small WY town. There is some tourism, mainly for the fishing and hunting in the area. They are also noted for their "Hobo Hot Springs", open 24/7, and the best part, free!

 

 

The Snowy Mtn. Range, just east of Saratoga on Hyw. 130 is one of the most scenic drives in America.

 

 

 



Busy day #2 in Wyoming

I got up today at 5:38am, a little earlier than my normal 7:00am. I think the reason is moving from CST to MST. My body clock is still an hour ahead of mountain time. I took the opportunity to get outside for some morning photos (after making and consuming part of a pot of coffee). Barbara never seems to have any problem sleeping in which is exactly what she did this morning. It was 64 degrees inside the RV this morning....51 degrees outside - perfect sleeping weather.
Around mid morning we decided to head into Cheyenne for a few hours. We had a great time visiting a couple of parks, shopping at the Sierra Trading Post, and doing lunch at Old Chicago. We drove to Cheyenne via a back road called "Happy Jack". There were lots of campers along the way, enjoying the great outdoors in this beautiful place. I learned that this area is one of the best for rock climbing in the USA. I love to climb but my joints just aren't as strong as they used to be so the tough climbs will be left to the young people. I did manage to scramble up a few places to get some photos however.
Tomorrow...we head to Saratoga for the next month, camping on the bank of the North Platte River. I hear some trout calling my name.

 

 

An early morning photo. We just love our campsite.

 

 

A closeup of the same photo above. The whole earth is certainly filled with God's Glory!

 

 

I couldn't resist a little shadow art.

 

 

The largest steam locomotive ever built. In Holiday Park, Cheyenne

 

 

Also toured the Botanical Gardens. Well worth it!

 

 

Not sure about the type of flower but they sure were pretty

 

 

Interesting rock formations are all around us. God's sculpture work is amazing!

 

 

One more photo for the road.

 



Arrival in Wyoming

We are camped this evening in southeastern Wyoming at the Vedauwoo Wilderness area. We'll be here a couple of days, enjoying the beautiful scenery and taking in a few hikes. We don't have hookups at this location but we're prepared with plenty of water and power from our batteries and generator. The altitude here is around 8700' so it's much cooler than down on the plains. I expect it will drop into the 40's tonight...perfect sleeping weather.
We left Kansas City yesterday and made it all the way to Sidney, NE around 6:30pm. We stayed at our first Walmart parking lot. There were lots of trucks staying as well so it was a little noisy but it beats paying for a campground stay.

 

 

 

Sidney, NE Walmart. The RV is near the center of the photo.

 

 

 

The western Nebraska prairie

 

 

Dry camping in Wyoming



Trip to RV Dealer & Tennessee Photos

We made it back to Kansas City today after a two day trip to the RV dealer in Arkansas for some work on the 5th wheel. We did a lot of little things this afternoon in preparation for our leaving in the morning for Wyoming. After setting up at the campground we filled our fresh water tank (100 gal.), washed cloths, went to the bank and hardware store, cooked supper, and ironed cloths.
We hope to make it to North Platte, Nebraska for tomorrow night. I think we'll overnight in the Walmart parking lot. We should get to the Vedauwoo region of Wyoming, between Cheyenne and Laramie on Friday. I should have some neat photos to share once we get there. We'll be dry camping for the couple of days while there. We'll have all the comforts of home while there including AC, hot showers, and satellite TV thanks to our battery bank, inverter, and generator.

Ready to leave for our short trip to Arkansas

 

 

 

Last month the boys and I, along with grandson Brody made a short trip to TN to visit with Mom & Dad. Here are 4 generations on a day hike on Roan Mtn.

 

 

With brother Mike and sister Lisa and Mom

 

 

Another photo on Roan Mtn. with my two boys, Jared and Matthew, Brody, and Dad



Getting Back in the Saddle

It's time to get back to the blogging world after nearly 3 months. We've been camped at Cottonwood Campground in Bonner Springs, Kansas the entire time. When we came, winter was still hanging on with bare trees and cold temps. We even had snow on May 3rd. It's now late June with temps forecast to be close to 100 degrees this upcoming week so it's time to head westward to higher elevations and cooler temps.

We've had a great time while here visiting with family and friends. We've spent many delightful days watching over our grandson Brody. He is so much fun to be around and we are blessed to be a part of his life. Our sons, Jared and Matthew are doing well and it was so good to spend time with them as well. Being away from them during the fall and winter months was difficult for us. The time away from them made us think about how important they are to us and how much we love them. We've had so many good times with old friends as well.

We're planning to leave on July 1st for a short trip down to Springdale, Arkansas to visit Wheels RV in order to have some warranty work performed on the 5th wheel. Work to be done is to repair the ice maker, hot water heater, and the stove top cover. I'm also having an inverter installed. That way we'll be able to do some "boondocking" while on our way out west.
After a couple of days in Arkansas, it's off to Wyoming. We have a one month reservation at Deer Haven RV Park in Saratoga, Wyoming. Our campsite is located directly on the bank of the North Platte River. While there I hope to do lots of fly fishing right out the back of the RV. Barbara plans to do lots of reading on her Nook. We also hope to have many pleasant days driving up into the Snowy Range and the Sierra Madre's, taking many hikes while enjoying magnificent scenery.

Stay tuned!

Since our last post, we've had a busy week and a half. We had a great time in Tennessee, visiting with family, traveled to Arkansas to have some warranty work done on our RV, and finally drove on to Bonner Springs, Kansas to settle in for at least a couple of months. I figure we drove around 1100 miles since leaving Tennessee. We got to Kansas yesterday late afternoon and have already seen our sons, Jared, and Matthew. We had gone 5 months without seeing them, the longest time ever. It sure was good to see them again, plus my little buddy, grandson Brody.

We bought our 5th wheel almost one year ago so one of our goals was to make it back to the dealer before the year was up to have any warranty items taken care of and to have a general checkup done before the year was up. Wheels RV in Springdale, Arkansas did an excellent job going over all the systems in the RV and taking care of 7 other minor items I had them fix. When we head out west in a few months we'll swing back down to Springdale to have them fix a couple of items they didn't have parts for (ice maker, and stove top cover).

 



 

Brother Mike & Sister Lisa

 



 

Our beautiful Mom

 

 

Lisa and son Cody. They sure take a great picture!

 

 

Campground in TN. We had snow flurries for three days while we were there...gonna be a late spring in the mountains.

 

 

After leaving upper east TN, we drove to Jackson, TN for the night and came across this 1947 Greyhound bus that a guy converted into an RV. Very plush inside.

 

 

 

Driving through Memphis

 

 

Crossing the Mississippi

 

 

Driving through the Ozarks...beautiful landscape.

 

 

 

Back in Kansas and our little Grandson Brody