Backwoods camping

Norm and I left Vernal, UT on Monday Morning. We "broke camp" and started the trip to Alpine WY to camp on the Grey's River. Our travels took us through Flaming Gorge. this was my first time seeing this spectacular sight. The more we travel the West, the more we want to travel the West. There is so much to see out here, not enough time to do it all. So here's a grateful for all of you - be grateful for this amazing country we live in. There is beautiful scenery in our own backyard and we are free to see it in any fashion we choose. Life is good.

Every highway we have driven in this country has offered us different and beautiful views. The scenery changes and it is fun to notice and watch. As we moved from Northern Colorado the mountains take on a hardness, through Utah it is Arid and drier, moving into Wyoming there is more moisture but the hardness shines through. There is more vegetation, but the rock is different here.

We have not been dissapointed in any area we've been to. It is amazing how scenic this part of the country is and how much of it there is to see.

Alpine was no exception. The Grey's River is clear, wide and fast flowing. It's water is cool and alluring, begging you to wade into it or throw a cast. We set our camp in a back woods camping sight that offered solitude and beauty all around. The Bridger Forest are free range, so cattle and sheep were a normal sight. We often saw cowboys herding the cattle, pretty cool.

The nights here are cool, Ok - down right cold at over 8000 feet. The mornings fill your lungs with clean, fresh air and even though you are a little cold it is exhilarating and you know this is how a morning should be.

Norm gave me a fishing lesson which I probably didn't pass, but the experience was what we were after, both of us in the river enjoying the moment. At night you can hear the sounds of the woods, not scary, but beautiful. In the morning the cows and sheep start talking and the tree squirrels start fussing and it's time to get up break camp and head out.

It was two nights of deep, satisfying sleep for me - cozied up in a tent in the middle of the forest. Wow.

This morning we headed out with intention to make it to Cody, WY. We took a lunch stop in Jackson Hole Wy, where I found an internet cafe to catch a conference call and catch up on some work as well as recharge batteries. Then we made our way through the Teton National Forest, part of Yelowstone all the way to Cody.

Tonight we are at a KOA campground where we can get a hot shower and Norm even bought me a bottle of wine while I was working, so I have a nice glass of Pinot Grigio to sip while I am blogging! We are so fortunate to be able to do this together. It is hard sometimes to try to work on the road, and sometimes things fall through cracks, but it's OK. We are making it work.

So it has been an awesome trip so far. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Tomorrow we go back to Yellowstone, I hear O'bama is there.

till then...

LoVe and Peace,

Tammy and Norm

Going into the back woods

This morning I woke to a cool 45 degrees! Norm and I (mostly Norm) took down our tent, packed up the Toyota and ate breakfast in under two hours! Amazingly, we still have room.

We said goodbye to Vernal and the KOA and took off for Flaming Gorge to stop in and take some pictures. Norm has fished this river with Phil Frasier before, but I have never seen this part of the country at all. The drive up highway 191 was amazing. Beautiful country -very scenic.
We turned a curve and there was the Flaming Gorge Reservoir in front of us. We drove over the dam and walked down to the Green river.

Norm tells me there are a lot of fish in the river and it is a flyfisher's paradise! The water was green and the river is pretty here. But the most incredible sight was after leaving the dam on highway 44. Suddenly, after a few switchbacks below you is the other side of the reservoir! Amazing. Huge red walls surround a pristine blue lake. I sat and drank in the view for a while.
No pictures today though as my time in the Flying J Wi Fi hot spot is limited!

After we left Flaming Gorge we continued on and the land got flatter for a bit and no cars or people for about 40 miles or so. Then we found a small town, Kemmerer where we had lunch.
We finally found a place where we could connect to the internet in Cokesville, where I am now.

Whew! Fun day. We are on our way to Grays River where we are backwoods camping. No electricity or internet. Out of touch till Wednesday.

Till then.

Vernal Utah, our first stop

Yesterday evening we arrived in Vernal, Utah. When we drove into town looking for a campground we were greeted by a big Pink Dinosaur. You can't see this, but her eyes even moved! The people of Vernal sit at the threshold of Dinosaur National Park, and the town is full of dinosaurs! It has proven to be a nice little town full of friendly people and a great place to be for a few days!

An outstanding thing about Vernal is the flowers throughout town. It is a small downtown with one fairly long main street. Along the main street huge pots of pink, white and purple petunias are planted. They are everywhere in abundance.

Although we got here with a fully loaded vehicle, we found we needed a few more things and did in fact pack more in. Now we have stuff on top of as well as in the back of the car.

Today was an awesome day. We woke up to 40 degrees and dew on the ground. We cooked a nutricious and delicious breakfast, brushed our teeth and headed up the road to the Bob Hatch river rafting company. We got suited up with life vests, boarded a bus and headed to the Green River for a day of rafting. Along the way we stopped to view the Fremont indian petroglyphs and learned a little about that.

Then we took to the river and spent the rest of the day floating and fighting rapids. Ok, the rapids were not to hard to fight, but it was great fun! We got wet, so you know that is the sign of a great day rafting.

The scenery was amazing. A canyon wall of 1500 feet on one side thousands of years old. It was a day of great beauty. We made some new friends too!

Tomorrow is a new day. Norm says he is going to teach me to dry fly fish. I hope he is a patient man!

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only a wake-up left

Today was about getting ready. You know the little things, do we have enough of this or that? We needed a new sleeping bag and some small stuff so it was off to Arvada for some shopping.

We also found out we had too much of some things (clothes) so we shipped them back to SC. Met Nutmeg the pup at the UPS store, what a cutie.

Norm spent most of the day packing while I spent most of it on the computer typing, mostly catching up on emails.

So today was pretty normal, not so exciting.

Stay tuned, it can only get better!

The start of an adventure

Norm and I are on the cusp of an adventure. In 2 days we will leave the comforts of our Sister-in-laws home in the Colorado Mountains and camp our way into Montana. Our journey will last 2 weeks then we will meet up with our friends Tony and Sheri and spend the last week in a cabin in Montana. For a city girl like me this is a big deal. I've been weekend camping and I've even been primitive camping and I climbed the Grand Teton in 2001. This trips were fun, but short. The comforts of home were right around the corner!

I decided to create a blog to document our trip. Blogging is another first for me. Perhaps I will like it. Time will tell.

Stay tuned...