Trip Favorite

21 Friday Oct 2016

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“What was the favorite part of your trip?”  This was the common question I was asked when I returned to work.  I didn’t have an obvious answer which pushed me to ponder.  The scenery was gorgeous.  The ability to walk in the footsteps of the ancient people was humbling.  The geology was mind blowing.   But these items were all wisps in the memories dancing in my head.  I realized the memories with density, were of the people I met.

Meeting the Wander The West people in the Valley of Gods was wonderful.  I’m still thinking about my chat about a 1,700-foot, 36-inch diameter horizontal directional drill run.  And meeting Hoyden who later wrote about her trip :   “Perhaps that’s what I learned on this trip: to take one step at a time, not to give credence to the future unknowns, and watch for cairns – the markers of where others have gone and suggested a reasonable path.”

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Some of the Wander The West group

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Camping at the middle of nowhere

14 Friday Oct 2016

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My mind today kept returning to the message written on my mirror: “Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.”  I twisted the phrase in my mind:  “Drive times are longer than they appear on maps.”   I had estimated about 3 hours of driving today and I was so very wrong.  The day began with my assumption that the east section of the Green River Cutoff Road by The Wedge would be similar to the west section.  What a bad assumption.  The road got narrow and windy, not like the west section gravel freeway.  It was so unlike what I expected that I pulled out my GPS to make sure we were on the correct road and hadn’t made a wrong turn.  Onward, we slowly went.  Up and down and twisting through canyons on a single lane road at times, not encountering another sole.  I was so focused on driving, that below is the only photo I took along the way. 

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The rocks looked like chocolate cake with cream cheese icing.

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The Wedge – Again

12 Wednesday Oct 2016

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The trip to the Wedge had involved many miles of driving for me, an air flight for my friend that joined me in Salt Lake City, and then more miles driving.  Then there was the chores of grocery shopping, buying items forgotten, and filling the trailer water tank in Huntington.  When we reached the Wedge the land cried out for us to slow down.  It held on to us.  We found our campsite and settled in for two nights.

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View from The Wedge

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Scofield

11 Tuesday Oct 2016

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After picking up my friend at the Salt Lake City airport we headed south.  The Scofield Campground was a functional stop for the night.  We ate dinner, slept, drank coffee and left.

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The campground

Facts:

  • The Scofield campground is located north of Price, Utah and west of Highway 6 about 15 miles.
  • The campground wasn’t appealing to me, but it was functional.
  • I didn’t see any showers.
  • We were the only ones at the campground.

Curlew

10 Monday Oct 2016

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Loving my trip to Utah in 2014, I decided to head back to see more of the incredible sights. In plotting my path to Utah I identified a campground at the Curlew National Grasslands by Snowville, Utah that seemed like a good location to spend a night.  It turned out the stop was better than good, it was wonderful.  The summer’s campground host and I (plus three dogs) were the only ones there that night enjoying the open view and wildlife.  Big open sky in a quite area.  The simple campground is a green oasis on Stone Reservoir surrounded by 360 degrees of long views which put a smile on the face of this western Washington city girl.

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View from the campground

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Carl Washburne Campground

24 Sunday Jan 2016

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Those that have read my blog posts on camping sites know that I do not frequent established campgrounds.  But life is full of unanticipated twists and turns.  I found myself wanting a simple January vacation this year.  A vacation where I didn’t have to make a lot of decisions like where to camp, where to find food, and what to do each day.   So I decided to volunteer where I would have limited decisions to make.  For the month of January I was a docent at the Heceta Head lighthouse.  In exchange for volunteering as a docent I received free camping in the Carl Washburne campground with all hookups.  The first time I have “camped” with complete hookups.  Kind of glamping not camping.

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Carl Washburne campground

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Coming Home

23 Saturday Jan 2016

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Today I leave the beach and the life of a lighthouse docent and go home to my alternate reality of being an engineer. I leave behind a life scheduled by the tide table and the

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Photo credit:  Ron

lighthouse.  A life where I had started to memorize the curves in the road and know which beach access is good at which tide.  A life where I knew enough to chat with the locals about fossils and agates, and where to shop in town.  And a life were I learned how to pronounce Yachats, Heceta, Umpqua, Yaquina, and Fresnel.  Living here has been comfortable and simple.   I’ve enjoyed it.

But challenges and adventures are the spice of life.  It is time to move on.