Last night at Itch-Kep-Pe Park was a bit loud and noisy for my taste. The park was busy, and early in the night, there was a lot going on with cops and ambulance going through camp. I ended up using ear plugs to sleep better, and so I decided to take off after breakfast and find a new place. I ended up at Carbella Recreation Area, just north of Yellowstone National Park.
Category: Stays
Theodore Roosevelt National Park and Entering Montana
On Friday, I left the Hankinson Hills area and headed West. I ended up getting a hotel room for 2 nights, giving me one full day to explore and enjoy Theodore Roosevelt National Park. What a wonderful place! Unfortunately, I was ready to say goodbye to North Dakota for this year, so I continued onward today, entering Montana.
Visiting Family and into North Dakota’s Sheyenne National Grassland
It has been a while since I updated the blog now, as I spent a lot of time bouncing around with family. From Badlands NP, I headed further East to visit with family in South Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. A couple weeks of that, and I headed back out on my own. I scoped out several areas in Sheyenne National Grassland of North Dakota, and I ended up, specifically at Hankinson Hills Campground.
To South Dakota: Through Wyoming, Devils Tower, and Badlands National Park
After 2 weeks in Idaho, I finally reached the time to start heading East again. With it being Memorial Day Weekend, I had a whole extra day of travels, so I took my time traversing Wyoming. Discovering wonderful free camping. Crossing the Continental Divide. Stopping at Independence Rock. Camping and getting drunk with locals on the North Platte River. A night at Devils Tower. And driving through the Black Hills to arrive at Badlands National Park. It was a wonderful weekend!
Things Going Wrong, Ending Up In Idaho
I ended up with one hell of a crazy weekend! Everything from a broken camp stove to a flat tire, I ended up traveling the remainder of US-395 and the majority of the Nevada section of The Loneliest Road in the US, US-50. Stopping at multiple sites along US-50, including Great Basin National Park, I finally turned North in Utah, finding a wonderful campsite in Idaho for the week.
Death Valley and Owens Valley
Yesterday, after finishing my work for the day, I decided to go grocery shopping and then bail out of the general Las Vegas area. I ended up driving through Death Valley to get to Owens Valley. After one night stay at the magnificent Alabama Hills, I headed north towards Bishop to stay at the Volcanic Tablelands.
An Adventurous Day on the Road
Yesterday morning, I left Blair Valley without any real plan of where to go. I just packed up and hit the road. I explored some areas around Joshua Tree National Park before deciding to head north, eventually ending up at Lake Mead once again.
Inaja Memorial and Blair Valley
I bailed Trona Pinnacles at the end of last weekend, heading back to San Diego to finish off the last things to do there. Picking up my mail and appropriately setting up mail forwarding to the new address, I hung out for a week, and am slowly heading my way out elsewhere.
Nevada Residency and Trona Pinnacles
Yesterday, I drove into Henderson, NV to finally make my Nevada residency official! It took most of the day, but it’s all done, finally. Then, I headed out of Nevada to go find a campsite at the wonderful Trona Pinnacles.
8 Mile Road
Sometimes, a campsite just kinda sucks for me. It can be one that seems great, has great reviews, etc. For whatever reason, it just sucks for me. This was Government Wash for me this weekend.
Last night, an LEO came and told me that the spot I had setup in was apparently not acceptable for some reason. I didn’t understand why, to be honest, but I wasn’t going to argue, so I packed up and moved to whatever random, acceptable spot I could find as night set in. Only to then be woken at 2am by some asshole blasting music. Again.
So, I broke and gave up on it. Government Wash was just not working out for me at all. I had read that 8 Mile Road, just a couple of miles further East, was a good, more quiet and solitary alternative. After breakfast, I packed up and headed there, where I found some nice, quiet (so far!) spots to setup. The views aren’t quite as spectacular and there’s no toilets here, but if I can actually sleep through the night and not get complained at by law enforcement, among other possible improvements over Government Wash, I won’t complain!
