500 Nights

Almost alone in Afton Canyon Campground CA

You know how sometimes, when you buy things, you worry that they’ll just sit around and gather dust and you’ll feel guilty about the expense?

Not this time.  Now traveling in our second camper vehicle over 10 years, together or separately we’ve spent 500 nights out seeking adventure.  Sometimes we found it.

In the last 100, there have been 39 brand new spots, and 67 boondocking (outside campgrounds).  Campgrounds have their charms, but solitude wins. Marco is almost retired, so I’m not alone as much (12 nights) as I was in the early years and he’s been out fishing on his own for 8, sometimes with Gypsy.  She’s learning to be a fishing dog and even got used to a boat.

Idaho Summer

We had some two-week trips, long for us.  Each of these was a highlight, north for a circle through Montana and closer to home for fall color in 2022 and 2023.

Frosty Fall Morning in the Kaibab National Forest

There were 12 nights in the North Kaibab (North Rim Grand Canyon) Forest, the most in one place. 

Cowboy silhouette, D Spur Ranch Arizona

We’re grateful for the opportunity to “driveway camp” when visiting friends or conducting business in places like Red Lodge Montana and Santa Fe. Camping at the D Spur Ranch near Phoenix for a cowboy photo workshop was another driveway highlight.

Yankee Fork Salmon River Idaho

The toughest place (and longest day), though photogenic, was on the Yankee Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho.  It was too hot to move and too buggy to hide in the shade.

Moonset over the Circle Cliffs Utah

There were a bunch of “I always wanted to camp there” spots, Like Circle Cliffs in Grand Staircase Escalate National Monument Utah, Gold Butte National Monument in Nevada, and Afton Canyon in the Mojave.

Fish Lake National Forest Utah

My favorite angler, White Mountains Arizona

A corollary to that is “We’ve gotta go back” places like the East Fork of the Bear River in Utah, the  Black River system in the White Mountains of Arizona, and perennial favorites like Kinder Crossing and Fish Lake National Forest.

In the autumn trees, Kaibab National Forest

Our Sprinter meets our needs well, but it has also dealt us some frustration, including a malfunctioning heater, seemingly infinite electrical gremlins, spontaneously broken window, wash water pump failure, free-flying solar panels on the highway, and several recalls.  The scrapes and bumps we accept as patina.

All the best to you, readers, for the holidays and new year.