In Limbo In Wendover
The Mighty Defiant is now very near the Bonneville Salt Flats just outside of Wendover, Utah. The campsite is an unromantic spot in the flat area where racers tend to congregate in August and September in a sort of junkyard camping festival. I wondered at the different appearance of the entire surface here, as it looks like vegetation has made a start at filling in places where the campers usually congregate. Looks as though nobody’s been here! An online tour of the various clubs that use the track for speed events indicates that few if any have been able to use the track due to rainstorms flooding the salt surface. A little Datsun-based truck camper has commandeered the spot I had last year, and I explored an alternate further in – as far as it’s safe to go with the Defiant – that has a rock projection surrounded by “dirt” and thick dust. That was a no-go, since a walk around it showed that the Ford alone might make it with momentum in 4WD, but with the trailer, no way.
The Defiant is unhitched, but still in Travel Mode because the winds are brisk and gusty enough that carrying the big solar panels out to hang them would be risky and difficult. I wondered at that, because on the short romp here, the Mighty Furd was
stoking the turbo to hold my modest 60 MPH cruising speed. On any longer drive, fuel mileage would have dumped! It may die down later today, but for now, I’m using the trailer’s batteries only for critical tasks like, um, being able to watch a movie at the end of the day. I’m a man with priorities, after all. Once power is officially up, I’ll post about a few remaining notable Green River trails I took on the e-bike, among other things.
Based on weather forecasts, I’ll be able to stay here right up to and through Zero Hour, when I head for a tourist place wannabe called Pioche City, Nevada. Because it’s off main routes, they supposedly have a downtown city-owned camp where you can stay – with full hookups – for a week. Then, it’s on to the Yuma, Arizona area for a November 1 arrival. Until then, temps here range from the mid-70s to the low-50s. Not exactly a thing to endure.
Strolling Amok 
Finding a decent place to layover until your actual destination becomes available can be challenging. I always want to say, “How dare you?” to people who take “my” spot. 🙂
I think it was last year at that very same spot, one guy did! Race fan, with a fifth wheel. Seems he was used to getting that spot each year and came over to ask whether I’d just arrived or had been there awhile. Very nice about it, but he felt robbed, more or less. Oh well. By the way, that truck camper left this afternoon! But I’m staying put. It’s the same at the LTVA in Winterhaven Ca, near Yuma. Found a spot, guy at the next site walked over as I rolled in and told me that the elderly couple who had used it for many years had passed away, and he bequeathed me the campsite on their behalf. He had even set out a tiny bunch of plastic flowers and a solar lawn light in the campfire ring. Personally, I found it all more creepy and “entitled” than honoring. But his cluster camp was too noisy for me, so I camped elsewhere the next season. His main hobby seemed to be trying to keep his trailer’s slides from leaking cold air and rain.