I’m not going to lie, while I’m extremely fortunate that my family, friends and I stayed healthy through the initial phase of COVID-19, I was very disappointed on having our Alaska vacation cancelled because of it all; I think for about a week I threw a pity-party for one! We had been planning this trip for over a year. This would had been my husband’s 1st cruise and our 1st time in Vancouver, Canada. I’m sure we will have the opportunity to revisit these plans sometime in the future. For now, the most important thing is to stay healthy so we can continue to travel. So in 2020, we go with Plan B and C.

“Life is a crazy ride. It’s a privilege to go through it with a partner.”

Kristen Bell

After 6 weeks in quarantine, we escaped and ran away to the desert. As soon as Colorado Governor announced that it would be “safe” to start going out, we didn’t finish listening to the last part of the press conference, we went! We missed a couple of the recommendations, but…

Our 1st road trip took us back to one of our favorite fishing spot along the Green River in Utah. There were a few other like-minded campers in the area, but we all practiced social-distancing and just enjoyed being outdoors again.

Our go-to spot is a small campground along the river called Indian Crossings. This is a BLM campground with no electric, but it does have nice large camp sites, away from one another, with clean bathrooms, water and river access. This campground has access to a boat ramp which is heavily used by rafters and guides. Browns Park Wildlife Refuge is just a few miles away, making the area ideal for bird watching. Many different species of birds can be seen around the camp and river. Very peaceful area for those wanting to get away from it all. Closest “town” is Dutch John, about 38 miles to the West. There you have a small convenient store, gas station, and fly store. From Dutch John you can also access the Flaming Gorge dam, the lake and the Green River. This area is very popular with rafters and fishermen floating the river.

After a couple of days in Utah, we drove a bit North to a spot along the Platte River, between Seminole and Pathfinder reservoirs, called the Miracle Mile, known for it great fishing. Here you can float these sleepy waters and be rewarded with some beautiful trout. This was my first time visiting the area; my husband had been here some 30+ years ago. According to him, nothing has changed.

This is a remote area with no facilities other than the State Parks within the reservoirs. If you love fishing, this is the spot, but make sure you have all your supplies and gas before leaving. The closest town is Sinclair, right off of I-80. There are many local fishing outfitters available to take you out on a guided trip or you can opt to do it on your own. There are some primitive camp sites along the river with access to restrooms, available on a first-come basis. First time here, but not the last for sure. I see a fall trip in our future.

For the time being, our travels are limited to camping around our western states. Lots to explore and enjoy. We love the June month in Colorado. While we can get the occasional snow storm in the high country, we still have amazing warm days with cool evenings to get out and play. This is also a good time to enjoy our outdoors before we have to share it with visitors. We have been taking advantage of most weekends and gone camping. fishing, and kayaking. Hiking this year has been somewhat limited since on our 1st camp trip, I rolled my ankle fairly bad; still nursing it back to health.

Note to self: don’t cover holes in the ground with your camping rug!!

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Stay healthy and travel as much as possible! Where to next?