Last Thursday morning we were up and out very early in the morning heading to Big Timber to meet friends Ken and Lesley plus Charlie and Peggy. It was the maiden voyage for our little new to us travel trailer and the Polaris RZR we purchased this year when returning from Arizona. We were heading to the small high mountain (7000′ elevation) community of Dubois, Wyoming.
I simply can’t say enough about how easy it was to travel with these two couples. Charlie lead the way at an easy pace and we brought up the rear. We stopped for gas/fuel in Thermopolis, WY and lunch beside the Wind River. Dubois was a busy little tourist town–we found our required Wyoming ATV permits on our third try and headed northwest out of town about 25 miles to the Brooks Lake area.
The USFS campground on the shores of Brooks lake was small, tight and very crowded. Each couple was traveling with a dog and we chose the dispersed camping having the area mostly to ourselves for the four nights we were there. The three dogs are well behaved, come when called and in dispersed camping they didn’t have to be tethered all the time.
Again, I can’t say enough about how easy it was to travel with these guys. The people got along and so did the dogs! Appetizers and adult beverages each evening with lots of stories. Charlie was the grill king and each couple provided our own meat–Charlie grilled it to perfection each night. The ladies would decide each morning who would bring the appetizers and who would provide the sides for the evening meals. Easy, easy!
The ATV riding was spectacular! These guys like to ride–the first day we rode 50 miles, second day 70 miles and third day 80 miles. Our temperatures were amazing at 9200 to almost 10,000 feet elevation. On two mornings there was frost on the windshields of the trucks.
Ken was our leader and showed us some amazing country. We saw very little wildlife–the Cowboy and I did catch a grazing moose one morning and we spotted this guy sunning himself–
Most of our rides ended at beautiful mountain lakes–
We saw very few people while out and about on the ATVs–not what we expected after seeing the busy little town of Dubois. The three dogs got along very well, Emmi even tried to play a bit with Lacy who belongs to Peggy and Charlie.
I wish I had taken more photos on the first day as on the second day of riding, the smoke from a forest fires rolled in obscuring most of our mountain views. We had no cellular service and no idea where the forest fire might be. At home Monday night we discovered it appears the entire western United States is on fire–UGH!
The only not so great thing about this trip was the dang mosquitoes–incessant, relentless, millions of mosquitoes! We even put bug spray on the dogs–that’s how bad it was!!
Our little travel trailer performed well–for the first time in many RVs, I have an oven again and I used it making jalapeno poppers for appetizers the first evening. We slept well snuggled down into lots of blankets–it was cold at night! It’s so dry in Wyoming and our boondocking spot was very dusty–and much of that dust made its way inside of our trailer! The pooch needs a bath now that we are home.
Monday morning the Cowboy and I headed home with Lesley and Ken making tracks later in the morning. Peggy and Charlie stayed another day. At home we’ve been on the go non-stop–laundry, cleaning the house, changing the oil in the RZR, washing the RZR, etc. Emmi has been sleeping, recovering from all that ATV riding!
On Tuesday we greeted Emmi’s new sitter, a young woman who grew up in our neighborhood and who loves animals. We had a very long day in Billings and just didn’t feel right about leaving Emmi alone for nine hours. It was a joy to have Brooklyn here and Emmi even warmed up to her, allowing Brooklyn to hold her.
In Billings our first stop was the dermatologist for the Cowboy where he had two spots biopsied–UGH–poor guy, he just can’t catch a break with this skin cancer thing. Next stop was lunch followed by a routine dentist appointment for me and then Costco. A haircut and a Walmart grocery pickup were the last two appointments before we pointed our tired selves toward home.
We had such a good time and are so glad these guys included us in their trip! Life is good!
Restoration Cowboy Style 
Your boondocking spot and companions were just perfect…..except for the nasty mosquitos! I just can’t take them!
The last few pictures of the tall pine with the sun atop it looked like a Christmas tree with a glowing topper!
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I am a mosquito magnet—I reeked of OFF the whole time! It was a beautiful spot, we hated to see the smoke but it did make for nice photos—thanks Sue!
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What GPS unit did the Cowboy put on your RZR and did it work well for him. Thank you.
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We have an older Garmin Montana—it has always worked well for us. You can purchase SD cards for the Garmin which show land ownership in each of the states. This feature comes in handy when we are out ATVing, keeps us from trespassing!
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Wonderful pictures, beautiful scenery!
Sounds like a great get away for you all.
It’s darn hot in our valley, gets so old.
No pictures of your most recent RV?
My comment section for your blog, finally
repaired itself🥰🥰 Whew!
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It’s only the middle of July—going to be a miserable summer! So glad you can comment again!
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Good to see you found my favorite fishing spot,Brooks Lake. I spent the summers of 2006 thru 2011 working for Grand Teton Lodge Co. Wyoming and Montana are in my mind the most beautiful places on earth.
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We tend to agree with you! Thanks for commenting!
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What an awesome time…minus the “skeeters”. I am a mosquito ( and gnats and flies) magnet too. The scenery is gorgeous…it’s a beautiful country we live in!
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Yes, it is a beautiful country Gay!
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We camped in Thermopolis and even enjoyed the springs, camped west of Dubois at Falls Creek, loved the little town and loved our campground along the creek and our hikes into the lakes. Your photos looked very familiar and I had to return to my blog from 2012 and sure enough, we hiked to Brooks Lake! It is beautiful country, and you saw even more of it with your quads, which is nice. Nice to have friends who enjoy doing what you enjoy for happy times together. Great trip, in spite of the smoke. Watching the smoke plume map even though we are closer to the fires, you are getting a lot more smoke there in Montana. Yes, the West is burning, drying out, and heating up, everywhere, even in gorgeous green wild Montana. Sigh. and. Mosquitoes are no fun ever, and they love my fair freckled skin. I hate those welts and use DEET without reservation. We were lucky, no skeeters here in GP and none at our camping area at East Lake last week.
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That’s amazing you guys were in the same place just a few years ago! I too use Deet without reservation–the all natural stuff does not work for me, I still get eaten! We have no skeeters at our place in Montana and definitely not in AZ!
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Your camping spot looks perfect! And sharing it with great peeps makes it even better. Mosquitos love me too I’m afraid so that part wouldn’t have been fun 😦 So bummed to see Montana covered in fire and smoke yet again!
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We too are bummed about all the smoke–every single year!
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What a terrific get away and to such a fabulous locaton. Beauty all around with nice long ATV rides. Perfect! Well, you know, except for your flying friends. Mosquitos, gnats, and no-seeums are the reason I won’t return to Florida. I am such a bug magnet, as well. Not fun. The desert and I get along just fine without bugs. Glad Emmi had a fun trip and had her own friends. What a very long day. Hope Michael is all right and gets good news.
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I’m with you on Florida–way too many bugs and too much humidity!
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