Phillips RV Park, Evanston WY

What road trip is complete without Twizzlers and beef jerky? We finally made it to Evanston, WY after driving for about 5.5 hours and fighting against the wind. As you can see, the trees have no leaves, and the temperature outside was only 53 degrees when we arrived. It seems like we are getting colder instead of warmer, which means we might be going in the wrong direction. 

We arrived at Phillips RV Park.

 Phillips RV Park - Est. 1936

It's a lovely RV park with super-friendly hosts! The site was perfectly level, making it easy to set up for the night. I wish we were staying here for another night just to explore the area more, but I guess we'll have to come back. I'm sure it'll be a great place to stay in the summer with all the trees and to check out Evanston and the surrounding areas.

 

Ab Camping RV Park, Cheyenne WY

Just wanted to let you know that we arrived safely in Cheyenne and am staying at the A.B Camping RV Park. The sites are nice, even though they are very close together, and we had dinner at the on-site BBQ place.

The food was okay, but the service was good. We are here with Kamee Goutermont-Collins and Cameron Bailey They're getting used to the RV lifestyle and had to buy a new tire already. We're planning to have a nice visit. The weather has been a bit chilly, with heavy rain last night and overcast skies this morning. It's currently 41 degrees with a slight breeze.

I am not sure if one of the helpers was having a bad day or what, but there was some misunderstanding between the owner and us having the kids come in and go straight to the site.

The next thing we knew, a guy on the 4-wheeler came driving down and started going off on Cameron, I stepped in and tried to explain what happened and why, and that it must have been a misunderstanding on my part, and sorry for that. He wasn’t happy with the answer gave some more lectures on how we needed to stop at the office and drove off.

We got the kids settled in and came up to dinner to pay the bill.

Well, that didn’t go well either. The gentleman started in on me again, asking if I was the one in sites 19 and 20, I told him yes, and he proceeded again to go about them driving through to the site when I tried to explain again what happened and why, the girl at the desk started in on how I never came to pay and I said I am here now so take my money she said no…and then sort of like accused me of well you know, you never know if you are an earlier riser and leave without paying, I said yes, I am an earlier riser but I don’t leave without paying my bill, then the guy started in again and asked how long we are here for, I told him until the 28th and he was like oh for a few days then and that seemed to ease him up.

That sort of stopped things, but you could still tell that there was some tension in the room. Maybe it was just me, but, don’t get me wrong, I like seeing police present in and around the campgrounds. Still, it was just strange, shortly after we left the restaurant the police car came driving through, stopped in front of our spot, and then when I came out of the camper he moved on. Still, he didn’t stop at any of the other guests, maybe it was just me being paranoid over the situation with the gentleman on the 4-wheeler.

So, sad to say, we would not recommend this park or stay here again. There could have been a different way to handle that situation, rather than being so rude.

We'll be here in Cheyenne until Sunday, and then we're off to Evanston, WY.

As we departed from Cheyenne, we noticed fresh snow on the mountains due to the rain and snowfall during our stay. The trees are just starting to get their leaves, and the temperature had dropped to 37 degrees. Also, we bought some gin that is distilled in Casper, Wyoming, and it tastes great!

 

Miles and Miles

Oh my goodness, what a drastic change! We woke up to 41 degrees outside and 50 inside the camper. It's quite a contrast from the upper 80's/90's temperature that we've been used to. I'm glad that I brought an extra big blanket to keep us warm. It's definitely chilly out here.

We've covered over 1000 miles since we left South Padre Island, and we've experienced some small mishaps along the way. For instance, we lost the big 9 x12 mat that was in the back of the truck. Generally, it is in the underbelly, but when we left SPI, it was full of sand and wet so we wanted to wait a day or two before putting it in the underbelly.
So the question came up....Did you put it in the underbelly? No? Well, I suppose it must have fallen out somewhere due to the rough roads and strong winds. It's a mystery how it managed to get out, considering that the back of the 5th wheel was almost sitting on the bed of the truck. I wonder who saw what happened and what they thought of it?

I must say that many of the roads we traveled on were terrible, full of ruts, bumps, and potholes. It's essential to ensure that everything you store in your camper is secured tightly. As the airlines say, be careful when opening cabinets, for some items may shift and fall out when you open the doors. Apart from these setbacks, our trailer, truck, and ourselves are holding up well.

We're now heading to Cheyenne, Wyoming, where we will hook up with some family, I'm looking forward to our visit with them.

Raton, New Mexico KOA

We made it to Raton, New Mexico. We got up early because we saw on the news that high winds could happen around noon, with gusts up to 60 mph. Wind and gusts are not good for high-profile vehicles, so we took precautions. We arrived at the campground without any issues and only experienced a slight wind.

We got everything set up and I proceeded to do laundry. We ended up with five loads, including washing towels, sheets, rugs, and our clothes. The laundry room was nice, and some of the machines are connected to an app that allows you to pay and start the machines using your phone. The app also notifies you when your laundry is done. In between laundry loads, we went to a nearby grocery store to get some more items that we needed. Fortunately, there was a small grocery store within walking distance. So we grabbed our grocery bags and away we went. Like most grocery stores, you end up buying more than you need. However, it was only a short 2-block walk back to the campground.

We had just gotten comfortable in our trailer when a strong wind started blowing. The gusts were so intense that it shook the trailer. We were relieved that we had already settled in and were not on the road as it would have been dangerous. We had planned to have a BBQ, but due to the strong winds, we decided to cook our hamburgers inside the trailer and enjoy our meal indoors.

 

Tx rear view mirror

We started our journey from Texas to Raton, New Mexico early in the morning. As they say, the best view of Texas is in your rearview mirror. We were up by 7 and decided to leave early, as we had seen the forecast for major wind gusts of up to 60 MPH starting around noon and we didn't want to take any chances. The countryside was pretty amazing, with lots of flat land, cows, and dirt.

 

Cupcakes from scratch

 I made cupcakes from scratch in the camper and only made half a recipe. I also topped them with a delicious buttercream cheese frosting. 

 

Koa Lubbock texas

We drove from Boerne, Texas to Lubbock, Texas, which took us about 6 to 7 hours. The KOA campsite was pleasant, and it was easy to set up since we didn't need to unhook the truck as we were only staying for one night. We planned to leave early in the morning to head to Raton, New Mexico. However, we are a bit concerned about the news of major winds with gusts of up to 60 mph and steady winds ranging from 25 to 35 mph. These conditions are not favorable for a high-profile camper.