Escapade in Rock Springs, WY and Flaming Gorge.

We've made it! The 63rd Escapade in Rock Springs, WY.

Friday, 6/14, we have arrived! This year the Escapee’s RV Club is holding their annual rally, the Escapade, in Rock Springs WY. We are parked at the Sweetwater Event Center and it is ginormous! The center hosts the National High School Rodeo Finals each year and has 1200 RV spaces with hookups (yes, that is the correct number of zeros). We signed up to park in the Xscapers area. If you recall from our event in Paris, TX, the Xscapers are a group within Escapees geared to younger working-age RVers. They are a great bunch of folks, with a totally fun vibe and very accepting – hey, they even let us old folks play! Lol. The Escapade's five days of scheduled events doesn’t officially kickoff until Sunday, but we opted for an early arrival and late departure.  Rog fought the winds for over 200 miles to get here and we were happy to get parked and settled in for our nine-day stay.

Bob, Rog, and the pups enjoy a chance to relax on the patio before all the fun begins.

Saturday was mostly a coach day. I attended to more domestic chores and Rog ran errands. We reconnected with Laurie, who we met at last year’s Escapade in Tucson. Laurie stayed at our house and took care of Riley and Raney for three weeks when we went to Africa last year. Sadly, Raney gave her a hard time for the first 10 days with a “You’re not my Mom" and "You’re Not the Boss of Me!” attitude. Which Riley saw as an opportunity to be a very, very good boy and make sister look bad. Lol. We were thrilled to see Laurie and happy to meet her new adopted girl, Amber. She is beautiful and aptly named with honey-colored wavy fur and golden eyes.     

The lovely Amber.

We attended the S.N.E.A.K. (Saturday Night Early Arrival Kickoff) Party in the evening. It was a pasta bake fundraiser for the CARE facility. CARE offers a safe place for RVers who can no longer travel due to age or health-related challenges. Escapees take their support seriously and there were several fun fundraisers for CARE during the Escapade.

Pasta anyone? The S.N.E.A.K. Party was well attended. 

Sunday, 6/16, was the first official day of Escapade with the kickoff ceremony at 3:30pm. In the morning, we walked through the vendor area and toured some of the RVs for show/sale. I’m happy to report I saw absolutely nothing that would tempt me to trade in the Short Bus. The evening entertainment was Final Eyes, a dynamic cover band that specialized in the best of the 80’s classics, rock, and dance tunes. Afterwards, the Xscapers hosted silent disco! That is always great fun!

Final Eyes rocked the 80's.

Silent Disco was a massive hit, as always!

On Monday I started off the day with a Beginner Pickleball class. Ok, now I get why this is the fastest growing sport in America! There was a huge turnout for the class, so we took turns and got right into the basics. I ended up attending every single morning and staying for additional play when I could. Now to find a court at home. Rog thinks we may have space in front of the garage. Wanna come play?

Digger and Picker ran a great beginner Pickleball class.

We attended a variety of seminars throughout the week. We learned about RV maintenance and troubleshooting, America’s Walking Club, craft beer enthusiast's RV lifestyle, strategies for controlling the cost of RV insurance, solar power, lithium battery systems, things to do around Rock Springs, and ideas for modifications to make your rigs more livable. Those were just a few of the topics covered at 64 seminars! Carole and I also attended craft classes, I made earrings, while Carole did a painting class. We attended Xscapers Socials several times, some were low-key and one was bring a charcuterie board and pot(luck) beer. What an amazing spread!

The Xscapers know how to host a Happy Hour!

Monday evening’s entertainment, The Williams Brothers, were considered a top Colorado band and they were very talented, but the volume was set at ear-bleeding loud. It was the first time we’ve ever left early. I heard that someone finally talked to the sound guy and they turned it down a bit for the last couple songs, but by then 90% of the crowd had left. Maybe they shouldn’t have hired a deaf guy to run the sound? Ugh.

The Williams Brothers Band - could have been so much better.

Tuesday's evening entertainment, Atlas Falls, was a local rock/indie band that totally won our hearts. The lead singer, Kenny, was a delight. These guys were just so much fun – great vocals, good sound, amazing stage presence and you could tell they were just having a blast too.  

We fell in love with Atlas Falls.

Raney was a fan too. 

On Wednesday we were treated to the annual, Escapees Got Talent show. This is always a hoot, with some hilarious skits and excellent musical entertainment. The Master of Ceremonies, Jim, is famous for his excruciatingly lame dad jokes and his wild and varied wardrobe. One of the younger Xscapers, Violet, is a whiz with a Rubik’s Cube. She challenged the audience to donate to CARE, with the amount depending on how quickly she could solve the cube. She did it in under 30 seconds!! Wow!! And she raised $1200 for CARE. Also, Wow!

Violet kills the Cube in under 30 seconds!

"How Xscapers make a Sundae" had us rolling.
(Yes, that's two Xscapers!)

The talented "Stink Floyd" was my favorite musical act.

Jim never fails to entertain with his dad jokes and quick wardrobe changes.

No question, Escapees Got Talent!

Thursday, 6/20, was the final day of the Escapade. Last call for Pickle Ball! One of the more interesting reveals at the closing ceremony are the event stats. Here are a few of the highlights: 1172 attendees in 554 rigs; 186 gallons of coffee and 3284 donuts were consumed at the morning Hospitality; and a variety of fund-raising efforts netted $16,164 for CARE. The volunteers were honored, and the Parking Team had a surprise send off for their Team Leaders. Lol.

The Parking Team honored their leaders with a Silly String assault.

The Status Crowes were on board for the final evening’s Big Social. Escapee members themselves, Chuck and Michelle, are fan favorites. Billed as the acoustical jukebox, they do a staggering array of covers from just about every musical genre and they do it all so well. It was a toe-tapping, clapping, dancing, sing-along festive evening.

It wouldn't be an Escapees event without the Status Crowes.

With the Escapade officially in the books, many folks started leaving on Friday. We’re booked for two extra days so we can relax and explore the area.  There were several food trucks on hand during the week to feed the hordes of hungry Escapees and we hit up Street Meats on our first day. OMG. We were blown away. Drew makes some great sandwiches and humungous loaded baked potatoes. He also makes a (and I am out of adequate adjectives!) absolutely amazing peanut butter pie. I confess that we hit up his food truck Every. Single. Day. It didn’t hurt that he also made an excellent jalapeno limeade that just begged for a wee bit of tequila. 😊 To say we were fans was an understatement, I did offer to adopt him. In fact, I was so effusive in my praise of the peanut butter pie that there were only four pieces left for me to take home on the final day. Sigh. Some secrets are better kept close. Lol.

Rog holds a Streat Meats peanut butter pie, the holy grail of desserts.

Saturday, 6/22, was our last day in Rock Springs and we spent the day exploring Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area. What a gorgeous area! Rising 502 feet, Flaming Gorge Dam impounds the waters of the Green River to form the reservoir, which extends 91 miles to the north. We made a big loop going down one side of the Green River, crossing at the Flaming Gorge Dam and then up the other side.

Views from the many overlooks were stunning.

It's called Flaming Gorge for a reason! 

The dam creates the Flaming Gorge Reservoir which extends for 91 miles.

We stopped whenever the mood struck and explored a couple of camping areas for future reference. Fire Hole Canyon had a campground and very interesting rock formations. We drove through the Lucerne Marina campground and saw a herd of pronghorn, who were not the least bit concerned about us. Did you know pronghorns are the fastest mammals in North America? It was fun to watch a mom and her fawn pacing us at 35 mph and they weren’t even trying! Fun pronghorn facts: While commonly misidentified as an antelope, the pronghorn is actually more closely related to the giraffe. The pronghorns headgear is also unique, they have the only forked horns in the world, which they shed annually. The pronghorn’s top speed is about 55mph, and they can maintain roughly 30mph for almost 20 miles!

Fire Hole Canyon.

Lucerne Marina had a campground, and...

...a resident herd of Pronghorns.

A stop at the Red Canyon Visitors Center is a must do. The views were just amazing! The visitor center sits on a bluff 1,360 feet above the water. The blue sky, white clouds, red rock, and teal green water was a study in contrasts. We walked the pathways to several overlooks, I was intrigued by the huge cracks and crevices in the rock, some were hundreds of feet deep. We were also delighted to see a momma Rock Ptarmigan and her three babies on the trail.

The view from the Red Canyon Visitor's Center just blows you away!

Yikes! Bob and Carole are split. Lol.

I loved the steep walls and deep crevices.

The Rock Ptarmigan was well camouflaged, can you see two babies on the right?

The reservoir exends for miles in both directions.

The pups got extra play sessions at the dog park and pond to make up for spending their day in the coach. On the way back from the dog park, Rog spotted a great horned owl sitting on a light post. How cool is that? Later that evening I was working on the computer, when Carole tapped at the door and said I should come see the moon. Wow! This year the full moon coincided with summer solstice. It hung low on the horizon, making it appear huge and pumpkin orange.  

Riley's in his happy place (again), while Raney explores.

Whooooo are you looking at?

Full moon low on the horizon.

At our next stop we'll get to fondle ancient dinosaur bones and go on a white-water adventure. Stay tuned! 

Devils Tower – Close Encounters of the Best Kind.

 

Devils Tower.

On Monday, 6/10, we relocated to Bell Fourche River Campground in Devils Tower National Monument. The Tower has been on my list for years, but it just never seemed to work out. Did you know that Devils Tower was the first National Monument? On September 24, 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed it America’s first National Monument under the newly passed Antiquities Act. The Tower was initially difficult to visit, improved roads built in the 1920’s led to more visitors. And then the 1977 movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind featured Devils Tower, resulting in a huge increase in visitors and climbers to the monument.

Devils Tower in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. 
(photo from Pinterest)

We had three days scheduled there and managed to snag truly excellent spots in the first come/first served campground. We had views of the Tower right from our patio! We also had a tiny visitor, a baby raccoon was toddling around behind Bob and Carole’s RV. We thought he might have fallen from a nest in the tree by their campsite. We let the camp host know and the little guy spent the night at the base of the tree. We were hoping mom would return to claim him, but no love. We were happy when some of the park volunteers picked him up and said they would at least give him a chance.

How's that for an awesome site?!

We hope the tiny guy is doing well.

We had bovine neighbors again! 
They were supposed to be fenced, but several wandered through our campsite.

After getting settled in we drove up to the visitor’s center, which is located close to the base of the Tower to look at the exhibits and learn more about the area. There are several trails, and while most of the hikes are fairly short, you can string together a couple if you want a bigger challenge. The one we were most interested in was the hike around the base of the Tower.  

The visitor's center had a perfectly positioned "selfie stand".

That afternoon we watched yet another huge thunderstorm pass by. The clouds were massive and moving fast. Happily, we experienced none of the heavy rain and 2-inch hail that it produced further to the north of us.

We dodged another big thunderstorm.

We got up Tuesday morning and headed back to the Tower. The hike around the base is a must do! It’s a 1.3-mile paved trail that circles the monument. Devils Tower rises 867 feet and the diameter at its base is 1,000 feet. About 50 million years ago magma was forced into sedimentary rock and cooled underground. As it cooled, it contracted and fractured into columns. Over millions of years, the softer sedimentary rock eroded leaving the monolith exposed. It is fascinating to hike around it, it’s the rock with a thousand faces. You rarely get to see a formation of this size from every angle. As you walk around it, the view constantly changes.

The view from the visitor's center is excellent. 

The Tower Trail around the base is paved...

...but it's fun playing on the boulders too!

The Tower had many faces, changing as we circled the base.

The symmetrical columns are the tallest (up to 600 feet) and widest (10-20 feet) in the world. One feature is the “window”, a 300-foot alcove formed when a section of columns toppled to the ground. On the west side there is a huge boulder pile 150 feet deep, more evidence of fallen columns. The good news, none have fallen in the known history of the monument.  

The symetrical columns can be seen from every angle.

Columns fell away to create the 300 ft tall Window.

The boulder field on the west side
of the monument is impressive.

The tower is a popular climbing spot, the earliest recorded ascent was in 1893 when William Rogers built a wooden ladder to climb the first 350 feet before ascending to the top. Records of Tower climbs have been kept since 1937. Approximately 5000 climbers come every year. Over 220 climbing routes have been used and the youngest climber was just six years old, while the oldest was over 90! Please note, I will not be one of the 5000 somewhat deranged individuals who make the climb. One look up, and I am in awe. There is no easy route to the top – although the vertical columns offer a variety of foot and handholds, it’s all ropes and technical climbing gear. I get sweaty palms just thinking about it. Lol.

Remnants of William Rogers wooden ladder are still visible.

The Tower is also a sacred place to over 20 indigenous tribes. There are many Native American stories centered on the tower and Bear Lodge is one of the names given to the Tower. When we visited in June, there was a voluntary restriction on climbing the tower as several tribes visit and hold ceremonies during this time. All along the trail there were prayer cloths tied to trees.  

Prayer cloths were tied all around the monument.

We spent a couple evenings trying to catch the Tower at sunset with varying degrees of success. I also stayed up until 11:30 on Tuesday night to try for a night sky shot with the stars above the monument. No love, by the time it got dark enough for the stars to come out the clouds had rolled in over the Tower. Sigh. I tried a second time and had some success. Yay! Learning how to do night sky photography has been on my list for quite a while. But I thought I’d need to spend big bucks on a high-end camera, who knew you can do it with your phone?! Now, I’m not saying the results are going to be anywhere near as good as those folks who have invested in quality camera equipment, but I was thrilled to be able to capture the stars around Devils Tower. Can you see the Big Dipper right above the Tower?

Evening light on Devils Tower.

We got a little color in the clouds.

Can you see the Big Dipper above the Tower?

The stars were glorious!
Yes, it was worth getting up at 1am.

Wednesday, 6/12, was Riley’s seventh birthday! How is that possible?? He was such an adorable, sweet tiny chunk and he is still our sweet baby boo – although not so tiny anymore. The birthday boy got extra treats and his favorite game – chase the red light. We thought about crossing off the “ss” on the pink Birthday Princess banner, but opted to leave the old man a little dignity. Lol. In the evening, we drove back for sunset pics of Devil’s Tower and Riley posed for a birthday photo shoot.     

Riley at 8 weeks and 7 years. 
Still the best boy!

On Wednesday, we cobbled together a 2-mile hike, doing bits of several trails. Since we’d already seen the Tower from just about every angle, we chose routes that gave us some different views. We passed by a prairie dog town and then did part of the Red Beds Trail which took us past cliffs of dark red sandstone. The color was a stunning contrast against the green meadows. Then we hiked down to see The Circle of Sacred Smoke sculpture by sculptor Junkyu Muto. The sculpture was designed to help raise awareness of the importance of the tower to over twenty native tribes. The sculpture represents the first puff of smoke from a newly lit peace pipe and perfectly frames the mountain.  

Prairie Dog convention. 

Red rocks and green fields.

Bell Fourche River and our neighborly herd.

The Circle of Sacred Smoke.

Bob and Carole capture Devils Tower in the Circle of Smoke.

Our three days at Devils Tower passed much too quickly and we left on Thursday, 6/13, to spend one night at Gruner Brothers Brewery, a Harvest Host spot in Casper, WY. They had an excellent selection of craft brews and good food. Rog and I both opted for a spicy chicken sandwich called the Angry Yardbird. 😊 We had a lovely meal on the deck watching the thunderclouds in the distance and spotted a rainbow arcing over the RV’s, no sign of that pot of gold though. Lol.

Gruner Brothers Brewery in Casper, WY.

A rainbow over our happy homes.

Next up is a super busy week in Rock Springs, WY. Why there? We’re meeting up with about a thousand of our favorite RVing friends!