Full-timing requires flexibility and 'jello' planning!

Payson, ID; 15 Sept, '17

The weather was so lovely in Craters of the Moon, I thought I'd head over to Yellowstone for a few days . . . 

I checked on the weather - it looked like cooler temps with a chance of a 'light frosting of snow'.  Goodie!  Some crisp fall weather for hiking.  So, off I went.

What does a town do when surrounded by bare volcanic rock?

Apparently, in Arco, ID, all that bare rock is a great place for high-school graffiti!  Can't say that I was impressed.

As you can see, the clouds are rolling in and soon I was driving in a light rain.

I had some chores to do before getting back into a national park and away from a lot of resources.  I need to do laundry, get a haircut and a few groceries.  Often I stop in a shopping strip and get these kind of chores done early in the day - but I wanted to get a few miles under my belt before stopping for the night.  

Yellowstone was in reach for a one day travel - but not with the chores to get done.  Also, I was getting close to a weekend - so I decided to reserve a spot in a full service RV park close to the park.  That way I could get all my stuff done and head into the park early in the day when I'd have a better shot of finding a first-come first-served campsite.

Sounds like a plan, right?

I reserved a spot at what sounded like a great RV Park (there rates certainly looked like they should be top-notch - luckily, I got a 50% Passport America discount).  However, when I got there, late in the day, I found a very tight campground with not-very-level dirt and grass sites.  The trees were so close that the manager had to help me navigate to get backed in without hitting anything. 

The sprinklers were on - spraying over both sides of the trailer!  The manager did put a bucket over one sprinkler head so that I could get in and out of the trailer without being sprayed.

How funky was this place?  My neighbor was unshaven and wearing pajama bottoms.  I was going to use their showers but after seeing the laundry room, I showered in my trailer.  I had to clean the washer/dryer before using them (I was desperate or I would have given that a miss too).  Unpainted dry-wall, bare sub-flooring, a defunct washer and hot water heater off to one side - sigh.

But, it was quiet and the managers were nice.

Then, I got the weather update!

By now, it was cooling down a lot and raining off and on.  My cell signal wasn't very good (even with my booster) but the RV park wi-fi was pretty good (that hardly ever happens!).

So, I checked out the weather on my 'Weather Bug' app and then on Television network news.  An unexpectedly strong storm system was moving in and the forecast for Yellowstone and Jackson Hole was updated to 'high temps in the mid-30's and 4-8" of snow, slippery roads - use caution'.

Oh-oh!  Not exactly great towing conditions or hiking conditions.

Plan 'C'

Well, plan 'B' had been the spontaneous idea to zip over to Yellowstone for awhile.  Plan 'C' had me turn around and head south on I-15 into Utah.  Temps look great there and I always love the scenery in Utah.  

It rained all night, I got up this morning and hooked up in the rain (not my favorite thing!).  But, it only took about a half-hour to drive out of the steady rain.  While it continued to sprinkle on/off, I could tell I was driving out of the weather system.

Since I was really flying blind at this point, I ended up in Salt Lake City during rush hour and by the time it spit me out, I had driven 300 miles and ended up in a Wal-Mart in Payson, ID.

Wheewww!  What a day!  I bought a few groceries, got a haircut and had dinner at a small Chinese restaurant within walking distance.

Highlight of the day: I saw a badger coming out of a culvert and looking around a bit myopically as I zoomed by.

Time to check the maps again and see what tomorrow brings!

I have great cell signal here - so I'll do some trip planning and then turn in early so I can beat the traffic out of here in the morning.