West 2016 WYOMING Rockdocking Adventure(s)

[Thalweg]

This trip will be a challenge for me, and a bit outside of my comfort zone. However, the challenging part is going to be the social aspect. I tend to be a bit of a hermit. Ray, Nancy, and Maggie will probably say that I'm a bit of a jerk. My wife, Connie, is the nice one, and she thinks I need to be around people more. So, here we come. Ray will probably stick me at the back of the pack to eat everyone's dust, because I deserve it.

I've studied every bit of the proposed route. I know many of these areas pretty well. This sort of camping is pretty much our normal. I wouldn't hesitate to do any of it by myself. Connie doesn't have any concerns one way or another. I pretty much tell her when we're leaving and roughly where we're going. She packs the camper and foolishly trusts that I know what I'm doing.

As far as being prepared; I'm typically over prepared. I don't like surprises. So I usually plan for any contingency and know exactly what I'm going to do and where I'm going to do it. If things go wrong, I usually adapt by having a secondary, or even tertiary plan. It's a little outside of my comfort zone to let someone else do the planning. But in this instance, I know Ray, and know of his history, so I trust that he knows what he's doing. If he screws it up, we'll adapt.

[Lily&Me]

Are you fishing for compliments, Brent?

I would say you are witty, intelligent, and can drive a truck out of the mud with the best of them.


Maggie

[Thalweg]

I don't fish.

Be sure to wear a helmet in the truck, right? Have you recovered from the concussion yet?

[Lily&Me]

You drove us out...like a bucking bronco, I might add...and that's all that matters.


Maggie

[Ray Eklund]

Brent, Connie and Maggie have made comments about a previous Adventure. DO NOT BOTHER TO WASH YOUR TRAILER OR TOW VEHICLE before arriving in Laramie. It will be a waste of good money. Wait until the Adventure is finished to clean up. I still have ample amounts of dirt left on from the 2016 Quemado Adventure that any rain in Wyoming can take care of quickly.

So far MasTerra responded to the "Riddle" somewhere on this thread and will be getting the Beaver Divide Camping Spot on the edge of the cliff. IF he finds that this 'honor' is not wanted... who ever comes up with the best Introduction, other than Brent's or Maggie's, they get the Second best spot at Beaver Divide. There may be a THIRD place for a 8' to 23' camper on the same... cliff. Nancy and I would take it, as it is our favorite spot on the Rim, and you can see Lander and Riverton city lights in the distance. We have camped there with our 23 footer and the view is wonderful.

Please... if you are a sleep walker, let us know in advance.

The rest of us will have views of other Airstreams parked and mountain ranges in the distance... that WE will eventually be after several days on the Rim.

Somewhere on this Thread Maggie posted the trailer on the Rim from a distance.

The rest of you will have to do some fancy trailer work to spread out on the Rim, a safer distance from sure disaster than being ON the Rim. This will be done one at a time so everyone gets a decent camping spot and can detach the tow vehicle for exploring the area.

The same applies for Double Cabin. A site for three trailers among the trees at a special spot... if not taken up by other campers. But not likely taken as most would not know where to look.

I find this group rather bashful up to this point, so that is fine. After this trip we will all know one another much too well. Our eating habits. Fishing ability. Swimming, hiking, finding your way back to camp and a multitude of other observations made by other members of this Adventure. It would be hard to forget someone who locks themselves out of their Trailer and needs to crawl into an open window to retrieve them, wouldn't it?

I will have my camera ready for all possible events happening to anyone on this Adventure. YOU, as well.

If Maggie and Brent cannot persuade others to drop off the attendance list... those remaining are unshakable off this preverbal watermelon tree.

[Lily&Me]

I volunteer to NOT have a spot on any cliff or rim.


Maggie

[Thalweg]

How about a contest to see what team can back their trailer closest to cliff without going over? I would certainly lose, as my spotter has a tendency to start yelling, screaming, and waving her arms randomly in the air if I come within 20 feet of an obstacle. A cliff, while not an obstacle, would probably warrant a little freaking out.

Any takers?

[Gearheart]

I have camped in the backwoods of Algonquin Provincial Park. There are no roads. The rivers streams and lakes are the roads. The vehicles allowed are canoes or kayaks. Most of the time they carry you, but there is enough time where you carry them. Portage trails are marked at each end by a caricature of a man with a canoe where his head would be. This is Mr Canoe Head. Legend has it that he was struck by lightning while carrying a Grumman Aluminum canoe and it was permanently welded to his skull. Last year's Quemado trip had me salivating but the timing was off. A family reunion in Colorado and the need to pick up DW's dad in OKC and take him along to CO wrote finis to that adventure.
Laura and I did a wilderness trip by canoe for a week as our honeymoon. 34 years later we're still best friends and still married. She has been to Yellowstone and I have lived in British Columbia. We both love mountains and I had no trouble getting her on board for this trip. By comparison to back country canoe tripping your adventure should be a walk in the park. Ray, please don't bother to turn it up a few notches just to make me eat those words. I have been a Scouter since 1994 and understand sharing the work and having a duty roster. I will be bringing a mandolin and a guitar. I hope someone else in this crew can play music too.

[traveluminum]

Shelly and I love Boondocking much more than Rv parks, and being thrifty ( read cheapskate) this trip will be much more fun than going to Disney. On a two month trip, two years ago, we only hooked up to electricity seven nights, and we noticed every time those were our latest favorite campsites. This will be our first Boondocking adventure to the Wind river mountains, and are looking forward to finding new campsites to return to. I enjoy hiking, and Shelly tags along somewhat grudgingly going uphill, but usually enjoys it. Living in Texas, I have enjoyed traveling to the mountains every August when the temperatures hit 100. We have Airstreamed for 16 years, and only in the past few years started going to Airstream rallies. We meet interesting people on the road, and trips like this allow us to get to know people better.

[Burnside Bob]

Howdy!

Susan and I are recent retirees--well, Susan more recently than me. We have restored an Airstream to functionality that was burned alive in an RV storage building fire and then sold at an insurance auction. Now its time to try it out.

We are hoping to connect with folks with a streak of independence. I haven't figured out quite how to say it, but there is something beyond Airstreams/Air Forums/Interstates/Wally World parking lots, and which WD hitch is the best. So we are looking to meet independent thinkers that know how to get off the beaten track and have non-airstream interests like rocks, fishing, mountains, photography.

As for our past experiences, we bought our first Airstream in 1978 or 1979 and used it extensively for off grid living, mainly in Washington's Olympic Penninsula. It rains a lot there, and, in that day, generators were expensive and solar was a pipe dream--so we pretty much functioned on propane--propane lights, catalytic heater (factory option back then), and so forth. Susan sewed a lot on a treadle sewing machine. We listened to the outside world on a multiband battery powered radio. Could get NPR, which was excellent, as well as BBC on the British Columbia stations, and a wonderful story read aloud show whose name I've forgotten.

We raised four kids, all adults now. We both worked and in our spare time we developed a commercial vineyard in Oregon which we sold to CalPers and squandered the proceeds on a too big house on creek side acreage that would have been just right for four kids. Why did they have to grow up and move out before we got it built??

Nowadays we grow some of our own food, put up preserves, etc. and are looking for ways of amusing our grand children. Our homestead has about 40 fruit and nut trees, too much lawn and garden, but we've avoided having animals or poultry so we can slide away between irrigation cycles and the part of the year when nothing grows (about 1 Nov to 1 March).

So we are looking forward to meeting you all, and, if any of you has a genny, I'll bring my laptop so we can bore you with photos of our kids, grandkids, backpacking trips, and other sundry meanders in life's path. We even have a few photos of rocks since nominally this is a rockdocking adventure.

Best to all, see you soon.

Dave (aka Burnside Bob) and Susan (aka duncans

Resurrection story of our airstream here:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f516...ud-131783.html

[tmcguffy]

Vicki, Iris, and I live in Santa Fe, NM where we have been for the past 11 years. Before that we lived on a sailboat for 6 years and before that in Houston for 30 years.

We bought the airstream in January '16 and had an Itasca Navion for 4 years before and put about 40,000 miles on it. We prefer boondocking 1st, BLM & Nat Forest campgrounds 2nd, State Parks, County Parks, City Parks 3rd and commercial RV parks last.

I guess you could call us outdoorsy. Our most frequent activity in S.F. is hiking which we do a couple of times a week. We belong to a hiking group (about 60 or so) of various capabilities (2 climbed Kilimanjaro this year) and ages (mostly old!). We normally hike at the 10,000 ft level all year round.

We typically camp alone so being with 15 to 19 others will be different and the logistics a challenge. We did attend a couple of Navion/View rallies once in Quartzsite, AZ and one in Grand Marais, MN. Most of our RVing has been in NM, Colorado, Arizona and Utah. We've not been in Wyoming in the RV but spent a lot of time there on motorcycles. We look forward to meeting you all and hope for a great adventure.

Tom, Vicki and Iris

ps I do a lot of photography, Vicki is literary and Iris likes rabbits

[nvestysly]

Danielle and I are not officially entering the "introduction" contest but thought we'd chime in here to say hello.

We've owned our 29' Airstream Classic since 2002 when we purchased it from my mother and father. They owned Airstreams since 1957 (before I was born) so Airstream is in my blood. We've enjoyed dry camping and boondocking a few times and plan to do more. What better way to gain some more experience and see a beautiful part of the United States than to join the rockdocking group in Wyoming.

For the past two years we also owned a 1998 Airstream B190 - the predecessor of Airstream Interstate. We sold the van recently and decided to focus on traveling in our trailer but have to say the Class B mode of travel has it benefits.

We enjoy history, geology and geography but are experts of none. Not a fisherman but caught a fish once back in the day. Enjoy walking and hiking and meeting new people. No pets. We met Maggie and Lily a few years ago while traveling in Illinois.

[Ray Eklund]

The intent of Post #319 is so other members understand that they are no different than anyone else on this Adventure.

There will moments when you will encounter situations on this Adventure, where a decision must be made, and it is dependent on what the member in front of you is doing. Knowing a little about this person who you will be required to work and cooperate with is important.

At the same time you will be watched how you are able to navigate obstacles and able to improvise while we are on the road. It helps me to understand where you are starting from in Boondocking experience. Some members will be 'given an offer you cannot refuse' role in directing traffic when we need to scatter our campsites at a couple Off the Grid locations.

Our first challenge will be Beaver Rim / Beaver Divide. It will be important that everyone understands that these campsites are not customary pull in and outs. Backing up will be required so we all fit and align ourselves off the dirt road and along the sides, so not to block outside traffic, if any. We must have our trailers and tow vehicles orientated to exit from where we entered, requiring everyone to cooperate with those directing traffic.

I do this regularly and intend to have others to participate to become assets for future Adventures. When the number of those wanting to attend and the number exceeds the possibility of placing everyone on any future Adventure(s), those who can assist and become seasoned from this experience will be noted.

You will become more proficient as we advance on this Adventure. Your passenger will be responsible to walk along so you can maintain your backing into a spot. I will loan to you my passenger in the event you are driving by yourself, temporarily. If you need some assistance at first, my wife Nancy keeps me on target, she will do the same for you. It is a learning experience.

If this is enjoyable for everyone and a pleasant experience... 2017 will find many on this Adventure wanting to be included as your proficiency has increased beyond your expectations. By the second week, you will 'know' what to do automatically and ready to follow through.

Cooperation makes it possible for more than 5 to 10 trailers to travel as a unit. As everyone becomes adjusted for making 'Custer Decisions', those decisions that you make with the information you have available from your own observations, the more confidence you will have earned.

[SilverEagle6]

Ray, sent you a couple emails to your boondocking email account. We will not be attending the 2016 Wyoming Adventure.

[duncans]

Hi Ray,
I am the introvert in our marriage. It's my husband, Dave, who initially became interested in joining along on the Wyoming Adventures. He loves rocks, geology and people! Hence, I have not been reading all of the posts. I am not certain if I can be in such close company for 3days, let alone 10!

He says that he doesn't recall any mention of a group meal / meals. I don't want to be unprepared and show up with nothing to share. So, if you have mentioned it, could you direct me to the corresponding thread page? Or, if it is to each his own, no shared meals, I'd appreciate knowing that, as well.
Thanks,
Susan

[VeeVee]

I am a full-timer for 3+ years. Got solar installed by "Lewster" two years ago and dry camp or boondock as much as possible. Was living in Chicago, IL for 24 years, retired, bought a truck, an Airstream, sold the condo and have been traveling since with my 12 yr German Shepard, "Q-dog." Spent part of last summer in Wyoming, hitting sites outside Lander and Buffalo. Most of this spring/summer will be in Montana, currently dry camping at Dailey Lake, north of Yellowstone NP. Having lived most of my life in the Midwest, I am loving the West for it's low humidity and mountains.

Between me and my dog, I am the more introvert. I would rather have a nice dry camp/boondock area all to myself, whereas Q-dog wants me to hold a party every night. She loves people, swimming, pine cones, snow and hiking!

I wanted to go on the first Rockdocking adventure to New Mexico but my schedule didn't work out. So as far as my reasons for wanting to come, Ray Eklund had me at ... (and I am paraphrasing since I couldn't find the original post) - "My wife Nancy and I are getting older and have beenrock docking for a long time and want to show other Airstreamers some of our favorite sites in the West." Then again, every time you read a post from Ray, you are just reminded of Louis L'Armour's writings.

I try to be prepared since I am the sole driver, navigator, hookup/unhook, set up, person in our crew. But sometimes the best laid plans don't work out and you have to improvise.

I am looking forward to meeting everyone. Jen and Q

[Mas Tierra]

Buenos Noches Ray/Nancy, Maggie, y Brent/Connie. Can't say that Mas Tierra is bashful just way busy. Will however share this thought. Got on a boat in Baltros Ecuador last week with 26 people we had never met. Yeah all strangers headed to Galapagos Islands. Some old, not many younguns, some fit others NOT. Well after 7 days these strangers became friends. Everyone has a unique story. So... Wyoming 2016 Adventure will be the same. Get some human beans together, get them out of their comfort zone, present some challenges, give them a beautiful environment, and watch the friend making process evolve (Darwin would smile).
Bottom line...Karen and I look forward to all experiences good or adverse that this adventure offers.

[Thalweg]

Wow, one thing is for sure. With this group, I bet we're all treated to some great stories. This is gonna be great. What an amazing variety of experiences.

[Lily&Me]

I'm ready...now.

I didn't post a bio on myself, as I think most of you know at least of me as I've been around these Forums for a very long time, but I will say this...

Retired child welfare caseworker/social worker
Widowed 2 years
Seeking moderate, off grid adventure with like-minded folks


Maggie

[47WeeWind]

Hi Ray:

Because it served me so well during the past two weeks while attending Alumapalooza7 in Jackson Center, OH, I have decided to reward my 1953 Airstream 21' Flying Cloud by bringing it along on this Adventure. So you are now up to 19 trailers.

I've been Airstreaming and back road jeeping in the Rocky Mountains for many years, so am perfectly comfortable boondocking. I've lived in Denver nearly 40 years and have been retired for the past two. Being single and usually traveling alone, I am independent, self-reliant and content by myself. Yet I enjoy the company of others who share common interests, so am looking forward to meeting everyone on this wonderful Adventure. I'm glad to pitch in and help you wherever I can.

The main attraction of this trip is to explore Wyoming on the diagonal. For far too many years I have hurriedly traveled Wyoming only east and west along I-80. Finally, I now have the opportunity to see what delights its back roads offer. I plan on having the two 100 watt solar panels atop my 8' Alaskan camper wired (through an A-B switch) to also charge the battery in my vintage Airstream. See y'all in two months.