Happy Mothers Day to all of you. I am writing from Sweetwater Fairgrounds RV Camp, Rock Springs, WY. It would seem that a fairground is an unusual place to be camping however, it is actually quite common. This is our second opportunity to stay at such a place and while the amenities are spartan, they are adequate. How we ended up here is a bit of a tale.
We left Rifle Falls State Park early after a rainy night. The temperatures had dipped causing a thin sheet of ice to form on the top for our slide awnings. When I brought in the slides, the ice came crashing down. It was no problem really just a bit of a shock that it had gotten cold enough to form ice.
We hurried to hook-up and hit the road. Unlike the route out of Dolores, we had no mountain to climb. We passed through rolling, grasslands with the Dolores River on one side and later, the San Juan River flowed along the highway. The ranches raised cattle, sheep and alpaca too. It is beautiful country. Dotted along the way are tiny towns that date back to mining days. Hardly a town at all but just little dots on the map. Unfortunately, the road is not the best. While it is mostly straight and wide, it is rough and badly in need of resurfacing. At times, we could see for what seemed like miles without a curve in sight. Speaking of sight, along the way we saw lots of wildlife. There was Elk of course, but mostly we saw Pronghorn Antelope. In Arizona, they are a rare sight and protected as well but here it is not the case. We saw quite a lot of them along the way, everything from a single animal to small herds. Their color stood out against the landscape and it sort of became a game between Jim and I to spot them.
As I drove, I kept noticing that the temperature was slowly dropping. The closer to Rock Springs we got, the colder it became. Snow capped mountains were in the distance and along the roadside too. After changing drivers, I looked up the weather on my iPad and found that we were driving headlong into a freak, winter storm. Yikes. The outlook called for high winds, cold temperatures and snow -- ye gads, snow?! I freaked out to say the least.
In my agitated state, all I could think of was to backtrack to Rifle where the temperature was a balmy 54. Jim on the other hand, highlighted that it was another six hours drive back and he was tired and not inclined to make the journey. We had planned on dry camping at the fairgrounds but decided perhaps staying where full hookups were available might be better. So, we headed to the KOA. It was expensive and the site they gave us was very muddy. Jim decided he did not want to stay there so, perhaps the drive back would be best. I called the fairgrounds to see if they had hookups and they do, so we headed there instead.
By the time we got there, the wind was howling and the temperature had dropped below 30. The campground has spaces for several hundred RVs. When we arrived, we were the sixth rig to stay sort of like a ghost town. The challenge before us was to get setup before the wind caused us to have frostbite. After only a few moments in the wind, my ears and hands were freezing. I hurried inside and retrieved a kitchen towel and tied it around my head to protect my ears. I am sure anyone who saw me probably thought here come some country bumpkins. Of course, in our rush we had issues and poor Jim was so frustrated. He kept insisting that I get back into the truck and wait but I insisted we were partners and I wanted to help. Finally, it was done and we rushed inside and turned on the furnace. It did not take too long for us to get warm, thankfully. The care we took in choosing an RV really paid off as it is well insulated and kept the cold at bay. I was concerned about freezing pipes but it turned out to be needless. While the wind howled the night away, we were snug and warm. We woke to snow fog, grey skies and snow flurries. So, we will pass the day doing things inside. Tomorrow, the weather will begin to improve and by Tuesday we will be on our way to Yellowstone but not before we check the weather forecast!
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