Custer State Park Working Adventure: Bighorn National Forest, Wyoming

We took a camping trip from our camping trip! We loaded up our tent and sleeping bags and headed to Wyoming to spend our days off at Bighorn National Forest. It was a chilly adventure, but that should be expected when getting above 9,000 feet (and it doesn’t help that we still have Florida blood in our veins, so chilly is interpretive).

On Saturday, the smoke in the area was quite thick and the haze had settled in. We hoped it wouldn’t last all weekend.

Once again, we were amazed at the beauty. We stayed at Sibley Lake Recreation area. The campground was full when we arrived on Saturday night, but the camp hosts were kind enough to allow us to camp in the picnic area for the first night. Then we move to site #4 the following morning. This was a very private site overlooking the lake on three sides. The tent/non electric area cost $17.00 per night.

First night in the picnic area.

After moving our camp, (we literally put the fully set up tent on top of the truck), we hiked around Lake Sibley on Sunday

Abby…it looked like a shed!

Our second camp site, with appropriately warm fire 🔥

Monday brought rain, so we explored the national forest by truck (and a little hoofing it when the rain let up).

The area was setting up for hunting season, we found lots of campers and trailers out in the woods and even this tent “village” that we understand was set up by guide companies, who bring hunters in and provide all they need. Well except for the game, I hope.

Hunting camp in Bighorn National Forest

Views from around the forest.

Plum Creek

Plum Creek

Our hiking crew

Things you find

What is it?

Ready to go

Haven’t seen one of those in a long time!

Oh deer, with ears only a mama could love. Mule Deer?

I can see for miles, and miles.

Mirror Image Butte.

Signs of fall.

Signs of fall.

Monday’s rain didn’t let up. And we watched the temperatures drop all afternoon. When we stopped to chat with the camp hosts, they let us know they were expecting temps in the mid to high 20’s that night. So we did the only thing that seemed appropriate to Floridians…we fled!

Which actually turned out to be a good thing for other reasons. We went back to Custer via Greybull and we found this guy having a little dinner snack. He was kind enough to pose for us. Wow! what a blessing to see a moose in person.

The views on the way to Greybull are estounding, even in cloudy weather.

Shell Falls, Wyoming

Canyon views.

I think we should move here…it would be nice to take them up to 85!

Shell, Wyoming

She just broke 20K, I think she needs a name!

Clouds and rain = cold Floridians

Views, Views, Views!

The last of the day’s light as we cross back through Wyoming. We will come back this way again, it was simply spectacular.

Wyoming sunset.

Thanks for sharing this week’s adventure with us. Sure hope each of you have a wonderful Labor Day, and have a much needed adventure of your own. Keep in touch…we love to hear from you.

What We do, When We’re Doing Nothing: November 2016 to March 2017

Collier-Seminole State Park

I’m not sure how to attest for this missing period of time on our blog…so I’m just going to fill it in as best I can.  We finished our Short, Short Trailer trip and returned home in mid November. We had nothing to do, except unpack and relax around the house. If you know us…you’re already laughing uncontrollably.

We returned on November 13th and headed back out the door on November 18th, to meet up with our Florida kids and grand-kids, at Collier-Seminole State Park in Naples Florida. This was a very nice, small park. Great for the kids to ride around on their bikes. We had campfires every night and ate our way through a few bags of marshmallows in the evenings and pancakes in the morning.

Marco Island sunset with the family

Russ and RJ

Family photo time, Collier-Seminole State Park

Out-takes:

It’s hard to get a good picture off this gang!

No wonder these people are a bunch of cut-ups! Apples and trees, they don’t fall very far.

Marco Island Sunset

We had a great few hours hanging out with Tommy and Alecia, as they headed South through Jensen Beach on Saol Nua. It’s amazing how many great friends we have made along this adventure!

Tommy and Alecia and the family, making their way back to Boot Key Harbor

We had a big crowd for Thanksgiving! Josiah and Sami came from Dallas to be with us, it was a great day to be thankful for family and friends.

Thanksgiving 2016

Josiah, Sami, Jennifer and Russ

Every year close to Thanksgiving, its gonna be Josiah’s birthday. This year we celebrated a day early, while the whole gang was here. Julie made a delicious cake, and Josiah’s still able to blow out all the candles, whoohoo!

Josiah’s 27th birthday…no helping with the candles, kids!

We always make time to go for a ride!

There’s always time for a ride with Rick and Jennifer

We have been blessed with so many friends since we began this adventure. Jack and Cheryl, from Zig Zag, came to visit! Yes…I promise Cheryl was there, too…she always manages to elude my camera!!! Eureka and Nyah had a good ole reunion, Pepe was being a cat.

Jack, Cheryl and Eureka came for a visit

While Josiah was in the area, we were able to spend a few more days with him up at our place in the Ocala Forest. Here’s a change up…dinner by Josiah, photography by Mom!

Dinner by Josiah

On December 5th we headed out to Indiantown to the DuPuis Wildlife Management Area. This is a free campground, although you need to go on-line and register in advance. There are no hook-ups for water or electric (we brought a generator.) They do have a dump station on site. And speaking of sites, there were no designated spots, just pull into an area and put out the table cloth. But, that also means, that after you are all set up, someone can set up too close, which is what happened to us. It was nice this time of year, no bugs, and we didn’t need any a/c.

DuPuis Wildlife Management Area, Indiantown, FL

My brother, his wife and my sister came to town, and we celebrated an early birthday dinner for my Mom. Mmmm, Captain Jack’s buried treasure. I miss Ale House! Can Mom have another birthday soon?

Early Birthday dinner for Jennifer’s Mom.

Austin and Kiera invited us to their school parties.

Parties at School

We are relaxing, right? We really need to make sure our new camper is working, so, on December 18th, we headed out to the St. Lucie Locks campground, and though it was close to home, we had a great time. We had a few visitors, a couple of hikes, a couple of bicycle rides, and a great time just watching the boats go through the locks. Russ had the whole place lit up with a ton of Christmas lights, too. This was a great campground, difficult to get a reservation, because there are only ten or so sites. We will come again.

St. Lucie Locks, Stuart, FL

St. Lucie Locks

St. Lucie Locks

Before we knew it, it was time for Christmas festivities to begin. Kiera and Chloe, twirled their way through the Stuart Christmas Parade.

Our little Twirlers marched in the Stuart Christmas Parade

Christmas in our world is always spread out over a week or two. First up, another visit from Josiah! I think he just came to see Nyah and Pepe, lol!

Josiah and Nyah. Nyah loved her lion mane, and proudly pranced around.

Christmas Eve and Christmas day with the family.

Christmas Eve, Christmas day, family fun

When Missy comes to visit, that means presents from Miss Nancy for everyone!

Opening our Christmas presents

Russ’ high school buddy, Dan and Pam, came to hang out after Christmas with us.

 

Dan and Pam, lights at the Mansion on Hutchinson

And just in case you think we couldn’t possibly squeeze any more into the schedule, all my cousins came to Jacksonville, and I had not seen them in many years. So I ran up to visit my Aunt and Uncle, and all the cousins! I was home by New Years Eve!

Hanging out with my cousins!

And that was a wrap on 2016! Do you think we squeezed enough in? It was a great year, and we would do it all again. This adventure is absolutely awesome!

Welcome 2017. What can we find to do this year? Let’s start with a camping trip to Gainseville and Chiefland, Florida. We spent January 4-8 at Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, just South of Gainesville. It was a great campground, filled with beautiful oak hammocks, and a short walk to Lake Walburg. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate with us. A cold-front moved in, we had rain and a too cold for South-Florida people kinda days. But, we didn’t have a wet tent to deal with!!!

Paynes Prairie Preserve, Gainseville, FL

We moved on January 8th to Manatee Springs State Park. The weather cleared up and we had a fabulous time hiking, kayaking, and eating some really great BBQ at Anderson’s Outfitters located right in the park on the spring.

Russ trying out his Christmas gift from Josiah and Sami. Hiking trails abound. Manatee Springs State Park.

Kayaking at Manatee Springs State Park

Lunch at Anderson’s Outfitters, Manatee Springs State Park

Campground hosts, Manatee Springs State Park

Around Chiefland, Manatee Springs State Park

Love camping in the winter and a great campfire, Manatee Springs State Park

We had a great dinner with Ashton and Nina, on s/v Soul Mate, while they were held up waiting for a weather window to head out for the Bahamas. Have I mentioned how much fun we have been having with all these boating people we have made friends with. Wish we could have gone to the Bahamas with you!

Ashton and Nina, just one pic with the peacock!

And our sad day, the one we were dreading, where Nyah walked over the rainbow bridge to the special place that our fur-babies go. She was the best pup ever and our hearts are broken! Miss you girl, you are the best!

Miss Nyah 1-31-12 to 1-23-1017

Miss Nyah 1-31-12 to 1-23-1017

Miss Nyah 1-31-12 to 1-23-1017

Miss Nyah 1-31-12 to 1-23-1017

Miss Nyah 1-31-12 to 1-23-1017

We tried to stay home…but… So we spent a few days at our place in the Ocala National forest. More hiking and fires and a few more tears!

Hiking a section of the Florida Trail in the Ocala National Forest

Fire! Ocala National Forest

Birding, Ocala National Forest

Our place in the Forest, is just a nice ride to St. Augustine…and no trip to St. Augustine would be complete without O’Steen’s and visiting friends who happen to be in town.

O’Steen’s

We found Mike and Lori working. What’s wrong with these people! It was great to make them stop and have a drink and catch up since we last saw them back at Boot Key Harbor.

Mike an Lori, from Cheshire

And just when we think we can take a break…the bottom needs a little attention. We headed out to the inlet with Ike and John, to give the boats a little TLC.

Hey look! We still have a boat.

Now that the sailboat bottom is all cleaned up, we decided to…wait for it…take a camping trip to the Keys! Fun, fun, fun hanging out and catching up with everyone, and the weather was perfect!

Was this site, one, two or three? Camping in the Keys, Long Key State Park

We had to move two times during our stay to make it work, but it was worth it!

Kayaking in Boot Key Harbor with Cyndi and Molly, from Island Finz

Scrapple for breakfast at the Wooden Spoon. Oh, yea…he don’t like scrapple, he got pancakes!

Crane Point and Russ’ birthday with Steve and Cyndi…and Molly too.

Burdidne’s for dinner and Music of Cory and Ty. Roland and Lita, Tommy and Alecia and gang, and Steve and Cyndi.

Pepe misses being on the boat!

We slowed down for March. We have another adventure for April and May, so we need to pack and get it all together. But not until we celebrated my Dad’s birthday with a weekend trip to the Ocala National Forest, with my sister and her girl, Roxie!

Birthday Weekend for my Dad

Around the house while we were packing, our bird of paradise bloomed and Missy came to visit for a few days.

Bird of paradise, Missy and Pepe Le Pew

We did a looong day up to Daytona Bike Week…I think there’s a reason they call it a bike week and not a bike day! It’s a lot to squeeze into one day, but we did it! It was much easier with the Krispy Creme donuts on the ride home, Thanks Jennifer for the great snack idea!!!

2017 Daytona Bike Week, with Rick and Jennifer

A Couple of family birthday dinners, and we are ready to gas up the truck and head out of here.

Early birthday dinners with the family

Hey, thanks for hanging in there for my catch-up blog. You know we love you and are glad you can follow along with our crazy adventures! Stay tuned…more to come!

Short, Short Trailer, Long, Long Trip: Badlands National Park 2016_09_19

We made it to South Dakota!!! Where we purchased our National Park Annual Pass, as we entered Badlands National Park. This is where we wanted to be, and wow, what a change for this Florida girl. Mountains, valleys, hills, rocks, dried up rivers…I should have paid more attention in Geology 101. All of this is beautiful and as unlike Florida as you can get (if you don’t count snow!)

And it is soooooo BIG.

My camera will not do justice to the bigness of this place.

We set up camp for our first two nights down at the Sage Creek Campground. We had been advised that riding the motorcycle from this campground would not be an issue. Then we turned onto this!

We weren’t sure the van and trailer would make it to the campground on this washboard road, and we were more than sure taking the bike out of here was not an options. We decided to stay at least one or two nights and then move to another campground inside the park, when we were finished hiking and were ready to ride the bike. We loosely set up camp, because there are no designated campsites in Sage Creek Campground, just find a spot and set up. The pic on the left is our second campground, the right is Sage Creek.

Sage Creek Campground on right. Cedar Creek Campground (left)

Russ and Nyah climbed to the top to watch the sunset.

Bright and early in the morning, the locals came out. Nyah wanted to play with the buffalo, but we wouldn’t let her.

Buffalo over by the out-house…I want to play with one!

Goofing around and resting up, from our long drive north.

Be careful how high you stack your cairn, or it might not last!

Puppy love

We needed ice, so we took a ride on the “back road” to Wall. Wall is quite a small town, way out in the middle of nowhere.  I can’t actually remember exactly where I saw my first Wall Drug sign, because I didn’t pay any attention to it, or the one after that or after that! But eventually it clicked, and I realized that an advertising blitz was on. I had to bust out google to figure it out. In 1931 Ted and Dorothy Hustead needed more business for their small town drug store. They came up with the idea of reaching out to the travelers on the local roads who were out visiting the Badlands and other natural wonders. Tourist who were hot and thirsty. They made road signs to attract them into town by offering free ice-water. And it worked, then and now! Read their story here.

Being silly at Wall Drugs, Wall, SD

While down in the valley, we hiked around Sage Creek. Which actually had some water in it. Very muddy water.

Sage Creek, Badlands N.P.

We hiked around the rim of Sage Creek.

 

The landscape was beautiful and my hiking buddies made for a few good shots too.

 

A few flowers remained into the fall.

Tree balance.

Sprinkles of fall.

Badlands was full of Buffalo. Not only did they invade the campground in the morning, we found this one on our hike. Yikes, did that big boy just stand up when we came over the berm? Yes! Oh, please stay over there…we will pass quickly. They are much larger when you are not in a car.

 

Stay, nice buffalo, stay…

I wonder what the entrance fee is? Do they do annual passes or pay daily?

We also saw big horn sheep.

These prairy dogs where fun to watch. I’m pretty sure their numbers were right up there with the buffalo.

After two days down by Sage Creek we moved up to Cedar Creek Campground. Sage Creek was free camping, with no facilities, only pit toilets. Cedar Creek Campground had water and pay showers along with “real” flushing toilets, but no electricity. The main reason we wanted this campground was the paved roads, so we could get the motorcycle out, and go riding through the park. The weather was perfect for riding.

 

We are well underway into our Short, Short Trailer adventure. I’m trying to get all the pics and adventures posted, but I am so busy having fun, I can’t keep up! Thanks for following along with us, there’s more to come. Up next Sturges and points on our way out of South Dakota.