A lot has happened since my last post, which seems like a long time ago to me. And yet, not that much has happened. Unless you consider hours of driving, and more driving, and yet still more driving a lot of ‘happening’.
I could blame most of this on the internet and trusting the Artificial Intelligence that dominates the landscape these days, and I would be at least partially correct. But in the end, I just have to point my finger at… myself.
In my quest to find the most fuel efficient, time saving, and traffic avoiding routes to take while getting to my desired destination, my faith in the internet allowed myself to get boxed in to what would result in my logging so many unnecessary miles and burning too many gallons of gas, and still not achieving my goal of seeing all 5 National Parks in Utah. In fact, not seeing even one.
Oh… I guess I didn’t mention that goal in the last post, did I? That’s what happens when your brain gets frazzled with events beyond your control, like the big wind storm that ripped thru northeastern Utah, kicking up massive clouds of red dirt into the air, and into my lungs. I’m still recovering from the effects of that one.
That storm ruined my first boondocking stay in a BLM site outside of Vernal, Utah. but did allow me to see how even Walmart got caught up in their town’s obsession with Dinosaurs.
Yes, I knew the area has a number of areas that explains the association, and the community of Vernal has capitalized on that fact in marketing their town, but it felt like they out-Roswelled’ Roswell, NM with their UFO craze.
For now, I’m just going to continue to stay overnight at the places who still value the economy that full time RVers provide when they’re allowed to park their rigs where asked, and just use the opportunity to rest, not pretend it’s a campground, or a place to create a ruckus, or stay as long as they want.
I have yet been refused when I’ve asked the manager of a retail establishment to park for a night, and they appreciate my returning the favor by purchasing something I already needed at their place of business. And those signs that state the opposite? Well, it seems that definitions of certain words have different meanings in different circles or circumstances.
Hopefully, that reality will not change anytime soon.