Camping by the Florida River in May

We traveled just 40 minutes from our house for our 2nd camping trip in the camper -- to the Florida (pronounced Flor-EE-dah) River Campground, north of Lemon Reservoir.  

 

Royal did her "Run of Joy" after we found our campsite and let her out of the truck.

We found a beautiful campsite, right by the river, surrrounded by huge Ponderosa Pines.

Took a hike after lunch . . . 

Hiked up to a pinnacle where we had a nice view of the river . . . 

The river was running fast, but not particularly high.  

Saw this funny aspen tree, wrapped around the pine tree . . . 

A lot of the pine trees had this mossy stuff (fancy biological name) hanging off the branches. . . 

Good little hike on Saturday, with a great view of the Florida River.  Hard to believe this is the same river that flows through our neighborhood.

Hardly anyone at the campground the weekend before Memorial Day -- it had just opened on Friday (May 24).  The campground hosts (from Texas) were really nice.  They refunded us $8.50, since Alan gave them too much in the envelope.

Things we forgot:  another chair, Pam spray, butter, axe, and coffee mug.  Oh well . . . we managed just fine.  We'll get this figured out, eventually.

Snacked on smoked salmon, Laughing Cow cheese, garlic-stuffed olives, and Triscuits -- and beer and wine, of course.

Love hearing the sound of the river . . . 

We hid out inside the camper when it started raining.  Royal freaks out when there's thunder (even though we didn't hear any).  Covering her with a beach towel seems to calm her down.

Did it stop raining yet?

Look what I saw in the fire!  Alan thought it looked like a snake's head -- I thought it looked like a dog.  But, I promise, no animals were hurt in the making of this campfire. . . 

It was getting dark, and was FREEZING, so we ate dinner inside the camper -- burgers with avocado and tomato slices, and three-bean salad -- and beer and wine, of course.

It got cold, but the heater in the camper worked great

"Helping" Alan collect firewood for our morning campfire . . . 

We need to buy a generator, so we can make coffee inside the camper instead of the back of the truck.

Royal was great -- a few woofs now and then when someone walked or drove by the campsite, but that's about it.  She really loves it.

Beautiful morning!  And, it didn't snow like they were predicting.

Making breakfast on our camper stove, which works great.  The refrigerator works too well -- some of the eggs were frozen, so we need to adjust the temperature.  Breakfast was scrambled eggs, Canadian bacon, blueberry bread, Zola juice, and coffee.

Took another nice hike after breakfast -- this time on the other side of the river. . . 

Such a beautiful place, and so close to home.

Crazy dog!  She loves the water, no matter how cold.  It was 39 degrees outside, so you know that water had to be cold!

Pretty little red columbine -- probably the only wildflower we saw . . . 

It was fun to explore nearby campgrounds -- we'll definitely come back here.

Our First Camping Trip in Our New Camper

We left the house on Friday, April 26, 2013, for our inaugural trip with our new Camp-Lite camper, attached to Alan's Toyota Tacoma.  Royal hopped into the truck and was ready to go, before we were finished packing.  From Durango, we headed west, thinking we were going to end up around Butler Wash or Hatch Point.

Alan was thinking our issue would be off-road capabilities -- meaning the ups and downs of Butler Wash, and finding a campsite that we could get in and out of easily.  Alan has a lot of experience with motorcycles and boats.  Campers and trailers?  Not so much.  And, I have no experience with any of this, so I'm not much help.

We decided to stop at Devil's Canyon Campground -- about 10 miles south of Monticello, Utah.  It turned out to be a nice campground -- not many people there.  Easy in and out of the campsite, which was good for our first night.  We had a picnic table and a firepit with a grill, and restrooms a short distance away.

That evening, we walked down to the end of the campground, and found a Nature Trail -- very short -- but, we got to see part of Devil's Canyon, with the Moki Ruin.

Issues we DID have, right off the bat -- The gas (propane) didn't work -- ugh, major pain.  iPod didn't work in the radio.  Drain in sink didn't work and had broken water gaskets.  Air in the water pipes, we guess, because the water sputtered all weekend.  Alan had to drive into town (good thing we didn't camp at Hatch Point!) -- got ice and filled the propane tank, which it turned out, didn't need filling.  So, there was a clogged line right from the tank.  We ultimately "fixed" it with duct tape.  Next day, coffeemaker didn't work, but we were able to use the truck, so at least we had coffee every morning.  Gotta fix that.  

Had smothered burritos for dinner and margaritas -- with ice!  Yum!

Next day (Saturday), we packed up and traveled south, past Blanding, and then headed west on 95.  Decided to take a right turn, towards Cottonwood Wash. 

The cottonwoods along the creek are just starting to bud, so they look pale gray-green from the top of the canyon.

Indian Paintbrush was blooming!

Lunch was Italian sandwiches, chips, pickles, cookies, and beer, probably.

Thanks to Alan's GPS, we found a great campsite, right on the creek -- no one else around. (BLM land)

There's water in the creek right now, so Royal is in heaven!

It's 73 degrees and sunny -- perfect!  Setting up the awning was a little tricky (we should really learn to read manuals), but it's nice to have.  It's actually hot in the sun.

We took a hike along the creek before dinner, and saw an old ruin . . . 

Back at the campsite, Alan made a fire and opened the bottle of Pinot Gris.

Dinner was steak, baked potatoes, coleslaw, and brownies for dessert.

There were little lizards everywhere, rustling in the leaves and scurrying up and down the trees.

Another issue we need to deal with -- The smoke detector went off when I was cooking, and then when we turned on the heat.  How annoying!  

But, the stove works fine, and so does the refrigerator.  I just need to bring a smaller frying pan.

Our clean and shiny new camper isn't so clean and shiny anymore

On Sunday, we took another hike -- this time, we brought water.

The Abajo Mountains

Royal had a run-in with a wild turkey, who flew a little ways off.  I'm sure the hen was relieved when we finally left and she could get back to her nest.

We'll definitely come back again, and spring is the best time.  There probably won't be water here, later in the year, and it'll probably be pretty hot and dry in the summer.

Here's a slideshow of our trip, with soundtrack by Norah Jones . . . 

Can't wait for our next trip . . .