catherinebockheim

Go past the conoco, take
Meadows to sawmill to
Wooden spur and go
Out the dirt road at the cul-de-sac. Grassy area up above the river. Didn’t try to get down to the river but I see rigs down there. Highway nearby but not too bad.

Arrived fairly early (4pm). Large lot. Backed up on the edge and didn’t talk to anybody nor see anyone. Nobody else came in throughout the night. Was very surprised how quiet it got throughout the night, even being backed up towards the highway.

Windy as Kansas tends to be. Quiet. Nobody else here. Water VERY low. I did not go left cause it looked like a cow path but drove all the way around the area and then across the dam. When I leave I’ll drive straight out what I see is not a cow path! Vault toilet. (No paper, bring your own!). Only 1 bar on Verizon LTE but am managing some www and txts. Even pictures are sending after a short delay. Nothing fancy but beats Walmart parking lot (which was my first plan - in Dodge City - but I finished the touristy things too early in the day so continued west).

Quiet. Solitude. Windy. Lake super low so won’t be any fisher dudes around. No feedlot smell as of yet 🤞Vault toilet. Bring your own paper. I did not turn left at the sign cause it looked like a cow path. Instead drove all the away around the “lake” and across the dam. I’ll drive straight out when I leave as I see it is not a cow path 🥴

Signs everywhere saying it’s closed. Damn COVID!

Stopped on my way from Buffalo, NY to Key West. 1st stop of many. The place is almost empty. Very few cars in the parking at 5pm and no other campers. Level enough for this little Class C. I can hear the Highway and trucks in the plaza down below, but it’s a heck of a lot quieter than being parked in amongst the trucks.

Exactly one month later. Florida✔️ Headed back home. Few more campers in the lot tonight. Got to visit the Culture center for about half an hour before they closed. So many nice things in there and a great snack bar too. Worth the visit if you have time. You can hear the interstate noise off in the distance, but can also hear the peepers tonight.

We went in a little ways and got a perfectly flat spot in amongst the scrub trees. Far enough away from the road that we didn’t get terribly dusty from the traffic heading in and out the blm road. If you’re feeling froggy I suggest traveling down the 26 mile washboard road and hiking the peek-a-boo and spooky slot canyons. Well worth the drive!

Drove in at 10am and got this spot. On of the 3 that were open. Guy came by and said the spot had been empty less than an hour. Visitors center closed Tuesday and Wednesday which is a bummer. Hiked the canyon trail starting at 6am. Took a couple wrong spurs but still hiked just over 10 miles. No service at all anywhere in the Monument.

Very quiet. Maybe a dozen campers. Bought a 5 day non resident license so works out to @$8.75 a night. Perfectly fine with me for electric hookup. Snowed a couple days so I’m sure I used more than $8.75 running the electric heater. Nice host, sticks to himself after checking my license the first (second?) day. Walked along the lake, drove into the visitors center (11 miles from my spot). Drove into town to Walmart (to buy a heater) after waking up to 27F! and get a Starbucks. 50 mile round trip. Waterfowl on the lake and rabbits in the underbrush.