Year in review - 2021

 Hello all,

   

Since we last talked, we got back to Benson without issue.  While there, we goofed around the area, did some hikes, checked out Tombstone and Bisbee and oh, rested.  Well, winter has come and gone (in most places of the country) so it was time to wander again.  This year, we decided to try our hand at camp hosting.  We weren’t planning on camp hosting this year, but when I published my resume on WorkAmpers.com, we almost immediately received a phone call from a campground manager in West Yellowstone Mt.  She would like us to come work for her in a national forest campground.  What we heard was “blah blah blah Yellowstone blah blah blah”.  So, we looked at each other and said “YES!  We will do it!”.  Well, there will be more to come on that little adventure!

For now, though, we had a rally to get to in California!  It worked out great since we needed a California sticker anyway.  This was the replacement location to the Vegas Rally last year.  Of course, we had to stop at Quartzsite for the night since it was about half way to the rally.  After we arrived at the Bonelli Bluffs RV Resort, we settled in and then watched our new neighbors park.  This can be very entertaining sometimes.  We met our neighbors Lester and Robin and became good friends with them ever since.  Remember their names because I will be talking about them again, I’m sure.  Since we were in the L. A. area, Terry had to get some fish at Fish Camp on the other side of L.A.  by the ocean.  That was a fun drive.  Also, while we were camped, our TV died.  I guess it was time for a smart TV.  So off to the store we go.  We found one that would fit in the place of our old TV, now all I have to do it put it in.   Our TV is on an elevator system, where you push a toggle switch (located under the upper cabinet, just above the TV) and the TV goes up, or down into its little hiding place.  With a little modification to the mounting bracket, I was able to install the TV just right.  Now all I had to do is adjust it so it will go all the way down and up to just the right height.  Well, when I was raising the TV to see where it needed to be adjusted, Lester knocked on the door which made me turn my attention  to the door.  At that time, the TV squeezed my finger into the switch and pinned it to the cabinet.  I had to yank my finger out to save it.  It was tore up pretty good, not to mention bleeding.  But even with the injury, I managed to get the TV adjusted.  The rest of the Rally went uneventful.  Here are some pictures of the rally, mostly of one event.

We started our trek back to Benson with a stop at Leaf Verde RV Resort in Buckeye Az.  The campground was just a convenient place to stay.  Nothing special to me, but they did have a pool.  We spent a couple of days there so we could get our rings cleaned and go to Cabela’s.

We had a about a month or so before our Camp Hosting gig started so we hung out in Benson until it was time to head north.  If you didn’t know, we have a spot at the SKP Saguaro CO-OP RV Park in Benson Arizona. We have a yearly lease and the lot has a Shed on it.  We put our name on the waiting list (Hot List) to get a Lifetime Leased lot.  It will come eventually.  But for now, this will work for a home base.

On 13 may, we started heading north to Beaver Creek Campground outside of West Yellowstone.  To get there, we stopped at Munds Park (a Boondocking spot), Kanab boondocking spot, Rowley's Red Barn (A Harvest Host spot), and finally ended up at Snake River RV Park in Idaho falls, Idaho.  We stopped here to stock up on food before going to the campground.  While here, a local squirrel came to visit.

Let’s talk about Beaver Creek Campground.  The campground has 64 sites within three loops.  Two camp host couples manage the entire park.  It’s all primitive camping with just some water faucets and pit toilets, nice pit toilets, but pit toilets all the same.  This was the first year the camp hosts had full hookups.  YAY!   We worked 3 days on and 3 days off.  But when you were on, you were on 24 hours a day for those 3 days.  Our camping spot was included, and we received $800 a month for the both of us.  The park was really nice, quiet and right next to Quake Lake (this lake was created by an earthquake in 1959).  We had abundant wildlife to include moose, deer, birds, eagles, and an occasional bear (we never saw one but we saw signs).  It was cool to look outside and see a moose looking at you.  Our first weekend open was just nice and quiet.  I guess 15 inches of snow the night before didn't help.

The job itself wasn’t hard.  Clean sites and bathrooms, sell firewood, and occasionally correct campers that were not following the rules or were in the wrong spot.  Our boss was good to work for too.  Too bad they ended their management at the end of that season.  The only really bad part was you had no Cell service and no TV reception.  So, every day or two, we would drive about 5 miles to connect with the internet.   It worked out for us.  We were thinking of finding somewhere else for next year and a job came available just down the road at the Yellowstone Holiday RV Park.  We called the manager and left a message stating we were camp hosting at beaver creek and was wondering if the position was still available.  As soon as the manager heard the message, she called our boss to see if we were any good or not.  Of course we received a great recommendation and was able to get that position there.

During our days off, we would explore the area like Yellowstone, Quake Lake, different trails, and even did some fly fishing!  It was the first time for Terry.  I know what you’re thinking; No, we did not catch anything.  I never said we were good at it!  One day we met “Long, long honeymoon” (a youtuber).  They were staying at one of our sister campgrounds.

Michael and Kara came up and visited us.  We spent the day at the Smoke jumper’s museum and the Smoke jumper’s operations base.  Did you know they make all their own clothes and packs?  Me neither.

At the end of the season, we were getting the RV ready to travel.  When we greased the wet bolts on the RV, Terry heard a bang.  I said, “It’s probably nothing.  Don’t worry about it.”.   The next day we hooked up and headed to West Yellowstone to meet up with the boss to turn in our stuff.  On the way there, I noticed I could see all of the driver side of the RV and none of the passenger side.  That didn’t look right!  So, when we stopped outside of the town to meet up with the boss, I walked around the RV and sure enough, we broke a spring!  Our boss let us park the trailer at her house so I can get it fixed.  It took an hour to find out what type of spring I needed and where to get one.  Who knew there was a Spring store in Bozeman MT.  So, off we went to Bozeman to get two springs.  The trip took us about 4 hours.  Then it took another 3 hours for me and my boss to replace two springs.  We spent the rest of the night in the driveway, and then we were off the next day to South Dakota.  We were planning on going though Yellowstone Park, but that burned up a day so now, we had to rush to get to our reservation in Watertown SD.  We stopped at Twin Butte campground in Bowman ND along the way.

When we arrived at Watertown, we settled into our campsite at Sandy Shores Rec Area.  From here we visited with Justin and his family before heading back to Benson.  It was a good family visit. 

From Watertown, we headed to the KOA Belvedere in Midland SD.  This place has an old western movie set that you can wander through.  it's called "1880 town".  It was quite cool with two streets.  Here are the pictures for that.  

From here we headed to the Golden Spike Visitor Center in North Platte NE for the night.  It’s also a Harvest Host.  It was cool.  It is where they fix all the Train engines.  There was lines and lines of train engines lined up to be worked on.  They also can connect all the train cars together by using gravity.  A bunch of tracks goes downhill at a small angle.  Just enough so the cars slowly roll down to the other cars.  Check it out if you have time.  Here are our pictures.

Our next stop was in Monument Co at the Colorado Heights campground.  We stopped here to see Michael.  Then on to another Harvest host; Yellow Car Winery in Cortez, CO.  They had some tasty wine.  I even had a little more that my share, as I stumbled back to the RV, 100 feet away.

We made reservations to spend a night at Fool Hollow State Park in Show Low, AZ, but when we arrived, they gave our site away.  It’s not like we were late or anything, it was 1:00 PM in the afternoon.  But they made up for it and gave us a nicer site.  Then on back to Benson.

Well that's it for this year.  We'll see ya next year!