We crawled into bed around midnight, local time, with the full moon blasting overhead. It was so bright it hardly felt like nighttime — more like standing in a quiet, silver daylight.
At 6:30 AM, we were up again, greeted by a chilly 43° morning and a windchill that made it feel closer to 40°. Nothing like crisp mountain air to start the day.
We packed up and made our way to the Museum of the Mountain Man. A simple stop quickly turned into something more when we were invited to camp on-site for the weekend — and we took them up on it.
Over the next few days, Gayla and I met a whole new group of folks. Everyone was incredibly welcoming, full of stories and knowledge, and we learned a lot just from sitting around and talking. I ended up sleeping under the stars for two nights — nothing between me and the night sky. Peaceful doesn’t even begin to cover it.
We also met William from Sweden, who easily gets the award for traveling the farthest to be there. He was great company and added even more richness to the weekend.
The entire experience was filled with meaningful connections and memories we’ll carry with us. Clifford got his share of attention too — several people were curious about our setup, so we gave multiple tours inside and out. It was fun watching people’s reactions and sharing our little rolling home.
Before leaving, we circled back into the museum, became members, and picked up a few more books to take with us — a small way to give back to a place that gave us so much.
Trip Stats:
Miles driven (Days 29–31): 12.71
Total miles so far: 1,597.31
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Still chasing stories and stars,
Robert & Gayla
