Week 825 - Beautiful Wyoming and Idaho - 06-05-2022

Beautiful Wyoming and Idaho

Next week we are visiting Yellowstone National Park. It is the park's 150th Anniversary, established by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1872.

We rarely make RV reservations but wanted to stay in the park this time. We had to get creative to book the MotherShip and the BabyShip into the same campground. We did it, but our stay was a week away. We needed to "slow walk" our travel for seven days.

Back to Beautiful Wyoming and Idaho. We left Holiday Hills RV Park in Coalville, Utah and passed by Echo Reservoir. It was just the start of amazing scenery we would witness. This is the view from US Hwy 80 overlooking the lake.

As we headed to Evanston, Wyoming, we couldn't help but to notice that this was a beautiful place to be if you had to change your tire!

Evanston is a darling town. The businesses all seemed to be surrounded by huge plots of grass. The Bear River runs through and the town has created an "historic river walk". Not sure why it is historic, but it very nice with a long and wide concrete walk and this bridge over the Bear.

Donnalee, in the BabyShip, leads the way as we head to our first stop of the week, the Hideout Motel in Cokeville, Wyoming, a Harvest Host destination. The sparse terrain on the left was a break from our having to eyeball constant beauty.

The Harvest Host concept is that after paying the annual membership, the overnight stays are free. Typically, it is dry camping. This host published full hookups! Upon arriving, the temporary help told us that the hookups were reserved for others.

That was fine with us as we enjoyed camping along the grassy area. We later learned that we were supposed to be in the hookup area. Not only does this host have full hookups, but also a home style hot tub with great jets! And a fully stocked shower with soap, shampoo and towels. Wow, this is truly the host with the most, great job Hideout and thank you!

HH stays are for a single day, so we have to move on. As we traveled the 72 miles to Star Valley Ranch, we were offered view after view of God's amazing creation.

The drive through the valley that weaves around the mountains.

Picturesque ranch below the peaks.

Who needs a house when you have a huge pool to enjoy the day.

You've got it all with mountains, snow, valleys, grass and trees.

Didn't notice the sign, either a golf course or the world's best front yard.

Star Valley Ranch in Thayne, Wyoming was one of our few "planned" stops. The Ranch was developed to sell lots to RV and park model owners. You can develop the gravel lot you purchase as you like. Our site was a long pull-thru, nothing fancy. The ranch offers these pull-thru sites for visitors to come, see and buy a lot.

The surrounding area provides hunting, fishing and off road riding. For us it is pickleball, good quality players and 12 courts.

These Star Valley photos are from our Sep 2016 archive.
The next stop of our slow walk was 37 miles to Palisades Dam in Irwin, Idaho.

This forest service Riverside Park camp offers dry camping with water or electric with no water. We came for one day and stayed four. A good deal for $15/night with 30 amp power.

As you can see it continues the beautiful scenery. There is fresh water and a dump station away from your electric sites.

73 miles to our next stop, again along the rivers and the greenery. Our destination is Fremont Golf Course, in St. Anthony, Idaho, another Harvest Host location.

On our way we got "Googled". Google Maps is a fabulous tool, but sometimes leads you astray.
Getting off the highway Google says "turn right" and you get a good view of the DEAD END sign.
1) We were hoping for a turnaround without unhooking.
2) Maybe around this corner?
3) Or maybe just a railroad track.

1) We unhook hoping to make a 14-point turn. After 2 points we realize that is not going to happen.
2) This is us backing up 3/4 of a mile to the DEAD END sign.
Not our first Google Maps rodeo.

The end result was fine, we had to unhook anyway. Our sites were on asphalt right on Tee No. 1.

The view out our windows did not disappoint.

Definition of Slow Walk: Four stays, 291 miles, average 41 miles per day. Nice!

We did not expect all the beauty of our trip. The blessings just keep coming.

With love, Pete, Ellen and Mandy

Photos from Jun 2022