Snowy Range, WY (still)

I’m still camped near Centennial, WY. I had to move at least 3 miles away so I can stay an additional 16 days. I found a nice spot up one of the side roads, and it’s higher in elevation (9780′!) so it’s cooler. It’s right on the edge of an escarpment and I can see forever! Well…..I can see teeny tiny cars on I-80, and that’s around 30 miles away! So far there’s been a nice breeze that keeps everything nice and cool. I really like it here! 

A few days ago I drove all over the forest looking for a new campsite. I thought I found a good one with a nice tree for afternoon shade (rare around here, even though it’s a forest). I backed in close to the tree but when I got out of the car, I was instantly covered in mosquitoes. So much for that good campsite; I hate mosquitoes.  Hardly any at this new site I found! 

Last week I drove up the Snowy Range Scenic Byway for the first time this year. It’s such a beautiful drive…27 miles from start to finish. It goes over a 12,500’ mountain pass and through forests, lakes, and meadows full of wildflowers. Still plenty of snow in the heights! 

I saw a mama and baby moose!! The baby was having a ball tearing around the meadow while mama just stood and watched. I got a couple photos that are kind of blurry, since they were so far away, I had to use both optical and digital zoom settings. I try not to post bad photos but hey, like I’ve said before, they’re MOOSE and blurry photos are OK!  Same goes for bear photos, though I’m glad I haven’t seen any here. I know they are around, because all of the trash containers are have bear-proof tops.

There are wildflowers everywhere here! I guess it’s the best time for them. So pretty…all different colors, like someone took a handful of mixed seeds and cast them out.

I need identification on these last two flower photos please!!

We’ve been getting afternoon thundershowers almost every day. Sometimes it’s just a few drops but there have been several hailstorms, which really make me nervous for my 14 year old plastic skylights, but so far, so good; no new leaks. The ones I hate are the “100 drop rains”….it rains just long enough for me to get everything closed up and put away, then stops.

I’ve been studying on which direction to head towards home in September. I was thinking of going over into Utah and down through Moab, but I think instead I’ll save my gas money and just go back pretty much the way I came, but dip down into Northern New Mexico. There are some high elevation campsites that sound interesting, and then I can hop onto I-40 and be home in a jiffy, once the hot weather breaks. I’m hoping for sooner rather than later…..I’m already tired of having to move around all the time and I’m itching to get back to work on my tiny house. Well really I don’t want to do the work, I just want it to magically build itself so I can move in. Hah. It’ll be mid-September at the earliest though. I have to find nice cool places to camp for another two months! 

Here are a few Amazon product links. Please use these links to access Amazon. You can then use Amazon’s Search box to find everything you want! Thank you!!  Well I guess just one link today…Amazon doesn’t seem to want to generate the links for me.

Outdoor Birdbath