West 2016 WYOMING Rockdocking Adventure(s)

[xrvr]

Not for me but please sign up if you like this type of thing. Ray appears to be a real expert, what an experience to go boondocking with him. Looks like a chance for a once in a lifetime trip, a trip that could be repeated. A great chance to get out of your comfort zone. You guys have a great time.

[Ray Eklund]

This is the CURRENT ROSTER and CLOSED for any additional members.

#1- Ray Eklund
#2- Thalweg
#3- Thinair
#4- Unifreck
#5- X Cancelled
#6- Prickly Pair
#7- VeeVee
#8- Gearhart
#9- Lumatic
#10- Barretta2
#11- 47WeeWind
#12- BurnsideBob
#13- X Cancelled
#14- Decembergal
#15- Lily&Me
#16- traveluminum
#17- tmcguffy
#18- MasTerra
#19- nvestysly
#20- SilverEagle6
#21- McDave

This is the current list.

One member is meeting the group at a location after we begin.

Anyone who wants to be on the 'Trailer in Waiting' list must email that information requested within this Thread and sent to: www.boondockingairstream.com

It seems that about three weeks before a meeting date, people begin to Cancel. If someone cancels you MUST be a Trailer in Waiting. As soon as a position is available and you are among those waiting, you will be emailed from the information sent to me and invited to participate. This will be as soon as I am aware of an opening for #22.

Anyone who is concerned about their participation, the risks involved on this Adventure AND wanting to Cancel... please give someone else the opportunity before it is too late.

[Ray Eklund]

Originally Posted by tmcguffy

Here is a nice little free book that describes the pioneer trails that cross Wyoming some of which we will explore on our trip. https://www.nps.gov/cali/planyourvis...TRIG%20Web.pdf

Tom

********

Maybe seven or eight years ago I inquired for any interest in doing the Oregon Trail Adventure from Independence, Missouri to Astoria, Oregon... with no takers on this Forum. It is lost among the hundred or thousand threads, since.

This paper does a very good job from Omaha, Nebraska to Idaho for history and then goes into detailed stops if you are interested. Wyoming has many of the BEST 1840 to 1865 history of migration to the West Coast.

When you get to South Pass, Oregon Buttes, Farson, Green River... we will be there and traveling on some of these trails via Covered Airstream.

Thank you Tom for adding this to the Thread.

I will be bringing my 'Oregon Trail' material with me on this trip. We might try an unplanned Covered Airstream 2016 off the grid camp, close to an Oregon or Bust campsite... just to get a sense of the real pioneers before us.

Some members on this Adventure may have BEEN on the 1850 trip and in 1862 watched Pony Express riders following the same route through Wyoming.

Added: We will be passing Rock River, Wyoming. Just to the northwest of town are the Original Union Pacific tracks laid in 1867 and onward to Utah. The tracks had been pulled in the later 1800's and moved to the SOUTH of Rock River, as you see them today. They appear as a raised grade with on tracks. I have followed these tracks west and find a lucky 1867 railroad spike... but NOT the solid gold one that... they claim was used and disappeared.

[Lily&Me]

I had thought I would follow Brent & Connie down to Laramie, but may stop to see them a bit earlier and poke around somewhere else awhile before the meet-up date.

I am stopping to see someone in Spearfish first, and need to avoid Bike Week....at all costs.

Looking forward to seeing the crew from last year, and meeting some new folks.


Maggie

[Lily&Me]

Oregon trail sounds interesting!


Maggie

[Lily&Me]

Should we be getting our dogs vaccinated for anything special before this trip?


Maggie

[Thalweg]

Originally Posted by Ray Eklund

********

I will be bringing my 'Oregon Trail' material with me on this trip. We might try an unplanned Covered Airstream 2016 off the grid camp, close to an Oregon or Bust campsite... just to get a sense of the real pioneers before us.

Added: We will be passing Rock River, Wyoming. Just to the northwest of town are the Original Union Pacific tracks laid in 1867 and onward to Utah. The tracks had been pulled in the later 1800's and moved to the SOUTH of Rock River, as you see them today. They appear as a raised grade with on tracks. I have followed these tracks west and find a lucky 1867 railroad spike... but NOT the solid gold one that... they claim was used and disappeared.

So, parking arrangements will be to "Circle the Airstreams"? Women and dogs in the center, firing positions on the perimeter? Sounds like fun!

Rock River, isn't that the town featured in Blazing Saddles? We better remember to bring a #@%&load of dimes for the William J. Lepetomane Memorial Throughway.

[Lily&Me]

I can't wait for this trip.


Maggie

[Thalweg]

Originally Posted by Lily&Me

I had thought I would follow Brent & Connie down to Laramie, but may stop to see them a bit earlier and poke around somewhere else awhile before the meet-up date.

I am stopping to see someone in Spearfish first, and need to avoid Bike Week....at all costs.

Looking forward to seeing the crew from last year, and meeting some new folks.


Maggie

Come early, stay late, show up anytime, stay as long as you want.

We're about two hours from Spearfish.

[Lily&Me]

You're sweet, and I'm looking forward to seeing you two and your place.


Maggie

[Thalweg]

Originally Posted by Lily&Me

Should we be getting our dogs vaccinated for anything special before this trip?


Maggie

We've considered getting Porsha vaccinated against rattlesnakes. However, she typically has great respect for snakes, so we think it is unnecessary. I've heard that there may be side effects to the vaccine. So we've chosen not to do it.

If Lily is likely to go after snakes, maybe it would be worth thinking about. The only other thing to be concerned with regarding the dogs are ticks. There will be ticks. You just have to accept that and be prepared. Obviously, you'll want to make sure she's up to date on rabies vaccine.

[Lily&Me]

She of course is up to date on her vaccinations, and treated for fleas and ticks, but I'm a bit concerned about rattlesnakes.

Are we more likely to encounter them in Wyoming than in New Mexico last year?

I'm sure she has never seen one, but she will confront any animal or bird she comes across and try to chase it off. so I don't know that a snake would be any different.

When I walk her on the bike path, she will jump at groundhogs hiding in the underbrush. They haven't attacked her yet, but one might take a chunk out of her nose if she catches them on a bad day.

I might talk with the vet about a rattlesnake vaccination. We have an excellent veterinary school at the U of I in Champaign, and they consult with our vets regularly, so they may have something insightful to offer.


Maggie

[Thalweg]

I doubt that we're any more likely to run into rattlesnakes than in New Mexico. Probably about the same risk. I think the worry is quite a bit overstated. I spend a lot of time out in snake habitat, and only see a few per year. I don't bother them, and they don't bother me, although I did see one yesterday. He was a big feller, just hanging out catching some rays.

[Lily&Me]

Last year I was concerned about javelina, and we never saw a one.


Maggie

[Lily&Me]

Originally Posted by Thalweg

Come early, stay late, show up anytime, stay as long as you want.

We're about two hours from Spearfish.

I had thought you were much closer, so bikers shouldn't be an issue.

I'll still get myself thru Spearfish well before bike week starts, tho.


The book link Ray provided is a great resource, by the way.


Maggie

[Ray Eklund]

Those on the 'Trailers in Waiting' list. You have hope.

Between the rampant flea and tick infestations of Wyoming and the migration of venom bearing snakes from the lower southwest moving north for better, fatter rodents... there could be some opportunities to get on board and fill a vacancy!

I have found my sleeping bag full of ticks, fleas and newly bred rattlesnakes so often... we went to trailer camping. Then came the desert mice, rats and spiders looking for shelter in our trailer... so we prefer to stay home and watch cable television Wild America on the Road.

If that does not change your determination to back out, if not run away... Roswell, New Mexico maybe be a distant second from inter stellar visitors and potential crash sites trying to recover lost shiny aluminum craft scattered upon the countryside of our own earthly manufacture, but resembling lost aliens looking for recovery by relatives and free medical checkups.

And just for a good reason to come along... an evening at Rock River, Wyoming could be worth it all.

You will not need a cushy Rally folding chair. The cheaper the better. Make sure you put your name and telephone number onto each item weighing under five pounds. When the winds break into the 50mph or better range, light objects end up outside of Chadron, Nebraska.

[Ray Eklund]

Now for just fun stuff...
These can be an issue:
-Mosquitos.
-Flies.
-Gnats.

These are known to exist in the area:
-Coyotes.
-Mountain Lions.
-Bear.
-Jack Rabbits.
-Jackalopes.

These are things to avoid stepping upon:
-Any surface area of Wyoming is dangerous.
-Over the last 12,000 years of Wyoming's past, many individuals have died and today are unaccounted for. No record of their existing is available on the internet or Facebook.
-Covered wagons have been known to been taken apart and used as firewood.
-City dwellers dwell upon critters and things that go 'bump in the dark' more than Yahoo's like myself.
-When stepping outside your trailer after dark, the hot metal retains its heat and attracts rattlesnakes to maintain their body temperatures and feed upon mice that are trying to crawl up your fender wells into your food pantry.

Please email me at www.boondockingairstream.com to check out or in for openings. If this does not do it... we have failed to discourage those who should have reconsidered a long, long time ago.

Be well as you will need every ounce of courage and strength to pass the Gauntlet of Wyoming. May the Force be With You and your typing ability improve.

[Lily&Me]

I just bought a couple of these...insect repellent and treating, made around a loofa...


http://www.herbariasoap.com/luffa-soaps.html


I have used their basic insect repellant soap before, and it works very well....you can even wash your hair in it if you are in no-see-um country and they want to eat your scalp.



Maggie

[ColoradoLady]

Ray, you are so funny! You are soooo discouraging to those who are signed up....now, I may want to join in.....just to see how much of your warnings are really, really true!
Evelyn.

[Lily&Me]

He made the same dire warnings about New Mexico, but we had not a single problem.

We're going to be in a group, too, with at least some of the participants armed.

I am relatively fearless, going into this.


Maggie