Buck & Charlene came for a visit in July and after they took off to continue their journey we realized that we have a 35’ camper parked beside our house that hadn’t moved in over a year. With Joe’s job only occupying half his time and Teri having a boss with a heart we decided that it was high time we got the camper provisioned up and get up to the forest before there was ice hanging from the bumper and it took dressing up like an Eskimo to get the bike farther than the city limits. The broken irrigation line and a little paint on the shop door would have to wait. ‘Nuf Said.

So...during the month of August we managed to get the "House on Wheels" movin' outside of the city limits three times, mingling with nature and roughing it. Okay as rough as it can get in a self contained camper with hot and cold running water and a toilet.

It didn't take long for us to deduce that we had been missing out on a lot by neglecting to get the camper out of moth balls. Unfortunately on our second night in the woods a lightning strike started the "Columbine" fire just inside the east boundary of Yellowstone, about 15 miles from our campsite. By the time next week rolled around "Columbine" had spread to 18,000 acres and visibility within 20 miles of the fire was down to a quarter of a mile and less in thick smoke and ash.

"Columbine" put a little damper on our exursions up the North Fork to the Shoshone Forest, but not for long. Fortunately we live in an area where "Mountains" are found in every direction.

After Joe took a run up the North Fork to rescue a camper that belonged to Sara & Seven who had been using it for company housing for Goff Creek Lodge and found the fire way too close to Eagle Creek Campground we decided to head for the Bighorns. As it turned out we discovered a new campground at Prune Creek on the top of the Bighorn Mountains that worked out great. Since there are NO Grizzlies in the Bighorns it also made the Bear Spray unnecessary.

While we camped at Prune Creek we did a little recon with the bike to find spots for future trips. There are numerous National Forest Service Campgrounds as well as countless "Boondock" roads where you can camp anywhere you want, as long as you can get your rig up the road that is. When we get down to AZ in the winter we love to "BoonDock" camp, but when we do that in AZ we usually don't have to put all the dishes, etc. back in the cabinets after we get to our spot. We'll stick to the developed campgrounds up here, no sense in breaking something just to get to a campsite. Ask us how we learned this!!

As this is being written, we are once again at Eagle Creek Campground. "Columbine" has spared the Shoshone Forest on the North Fork, so far. Cooler weather and a substantial amount of rain has slowed its progress, but putting it out will have to be left to "Mother Nature" and a good fall snowstorm. Although it's only a matter of time before our little piece of heaven up here gets turned into an ash pile, we'll take any reprieve we can get.

To see the pics from our camping trips this summer, just CLICK HERE