A Summer to Remember in 2023
For the third year in a row, we have joined up with other members of the RV Community to tackle a summer bucket list challenge. It's headed up by full-timers Keep Your Daydream, and the beauty of the list is, you can make it anything you want! Of course, when life is one big road trip, summers are bound to get pretty epic anyway, but our Summer to Remember list helps us keep our priorities. Last year, we wrote 20 goals for our Summer to Remember 2022, completed 19 of them, and blogged about it. This year, our list looked like this:
Some of the goals were repeats of last year, including the only task that escaped us last year, "rock an alpine slide." Some are basically givens, assuming our summer travels go as planned, and others take a little more effort. What surprised us this year, though, was that we ended up having a tougher time checking off "easy" goals than a lot of the "hard" ones. This was in large part due to our prioritization of the more challenging adventures and leaving the more mundane ones for later in the season, when we're in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming and would have nothing else to do. But, the middle of Wyoming brought in some pretty gnarly weather, mostly in the form of heatwaves, but also sometimes in the form of storms. We weren't really doing much of anything those weeks. We found ourselves in the final week of summer without so much as a patio dinner, simply because we barely had any chances to put down our patio all summer! Things like this can be a huge bummer, but we made up for any disappointment by overachieving on many of the other goals, checking them not once, not twice, but two, three, and four times over!
Alright, no more suspense. Want to know how we did? Here's our completed list!
We certainly came down the wire on some of those goals, but looking back, we're thrilled with just how many amazing memories we're taking away from our summer. Let's take a walk down memory lane!
̶D̶i̶n̶n̶e̶r̶ Breakfast on the patio
Something so simple, given that we have our patio with us at all times, and yet, there we were on Labor Day Weekend, having not put down our patio in weeks, not since Gros Ventre at the beginning of July. Granted, we did have some popcorn on the patio there, but dinner was still a no-go. Most days it was far too hot to put the patio down, and the whole summer we were battling flies galore, and in the evenings, mosquitoes. Not really the relaxing dinner atmosphere we had in mind. There is a positive side to it, though. The evenings we could have used our patio, we had beautiful, big campsites where we could just use the space around us. The patio wasn't needed.
So there we were, in the 11th hour, with all other goals completed, wondering if we should brave the heat and put down the patio. We opted to cook breakfast instead, because at least then it would only be in the 80s and not 90s like it would be at dinnertime. We had some leftover air-fried chicken thighs and decided to make a Sunday brunch of chicken and waffles with hot honey drizzle. Pro tip: If you're eating outside and there are bees, don't eat anything with honey. That said, it turned out great, and finally having the patio down again was wonderfully relaxing...at least when the sun wasn't beating down on us.
Yoga with a view
Another seemingly easy check mark to achieve, and yet, we didn't even get our mats out the door until our final week of summer. Any day that was nice weather, we opted for hikes instead. After all, we were trying to accumulate 100 miles in 3 months. I try to do at least a little yoga every morning, and boy, when I can bring my mat outdoors in a scenic campsite, it's so wonderfully peaceful, but this summer just wasn't working in my favor. It's unfortunate because, as you will soon see, we had our fair share of campsites with a view - like, some of our best views ever - but we settled for less scenic and more serene. Nothing wrong with that! Our last site of summer was in Black Hills National Forest in South Dakota, and we had a spacious site in the woods, surrounded by tall ponderosa pines. What a beautiful setting to finally enjoy some asanas. Tanner was happy with the cool morning, too.
Campsite with a view
At one point, I asked Anthony, what sites didn't have a view this summer? Of course there were a few, but what a good problem to have! I made a point to book lots of waterfront sites, mostly because I wanted water access so I could use my beloved floaty that I bought myself for my birthday at the start of summer. I'm sure you've seen it floating around online:
What we didn't expect, however, were the rock views. We had a couple of sites that had really awesome rock formations. Decide for yourself: Which site scenery is your favorite?
Salmon Lake State Park, MT:
Lolo Lakeside, Lolo National Forest, MT:
Henrys Lake State Park, ID:
Boysen State Park, WY:
Medicine Lodge State Archaeological Site, WY:
Arch Rock Campground, Keyhole State Park, WY:
Devils Tower/Black Hills KOA Journey, WY:
And those are just the our top choices. We also have some honorable mentions. Top left: Yellowstone Hot Springs Campground; Top right: Gros Ventre Campground; Bottom left: Toppings Lake Dispersed Camping; Bottom right: Buffalo Bill State Park.
Of course, not all is picture-perfect, even in campgrounds this beautiful. We had our fair share of struggles at many of these locations, particularly in Wyoming when we mostly boondocked. We left our dispersed camping site early due to neighbors breaking the rules, severe heat, and even more severe bugs. Then we battled the heat for the next several weeks, mainly at Buffalo Bill, Boysen, and Arch Rock. Boysen was where we really had a dip in morale. We were in a spectacular setting, but the desert sun was beating down on us all day, every day. We couldn't do much outdoors, so one night, we decided there was no better time to check off a summer goal.
Tech-free/hygge night:
We started off tossing blueberries, but after filming we put our phones away and had a fun few hours of games. We used to play board and card games all the time in our house, but for some reason it's rare in the RV. Maybe because we fill our time with so many adventures. Still, it's nice to slow down once in a while, and our hygge night actually motivated us to play games a few more days throughout the summer.
Take a photo of a sunset:
With so many scenic campgrounds, it's no surprise that we had ample opportunities to take gorgeous sunset pictures right from camp. There are too many to choose from, but I thought it made sense to document the sunset on our first night at Ennis RV Village in Montana. It's an RV park that didn't make the list of campsites with a view, but it certainly put on a show for us that evening!
As for sunset at a campground that did make the scenic list, this sunset at Henrys Lake continues to stand out in my mind:
Neither of those sunset photos were taken from our campsite directly, though. If I were to choose my favorite sunset pic from our site, it would be this one at Lolo Lakeside:
And, the two standout sunset photos from beyond the campgrounds took place at Yellowstone and Grand Teton. Here's sunset at Mormon Row in Grand Teton. As for the Yellowstone sunset, I'll talk about that next.
Memorable wildlife sighting:
We were fortunate to have several wildlife sightings this summer, but some ended up being more memorable than others. On my birthday, we had the most peaceful encounter when a deer crossed our path on a hike.
The opposite of peaceful was this encounter with a rattlesnake at Boysen State Park. I didn't even notice it sitting in the next site over until it rattled at me. Yikes!
Then we have our first real bison jam! This is the one at Yellowstone that lasted straight through sunset, and the source of my favorite sunset photo.
Both the sunset and the wildlife were quite the sights to see.
Also at Yellowstone, we spotted elk, pronghorns, and bears. Oh my!
But the most memorable pronghorn sighting...well, besides Anthony seeing one at the Ennis, MT fire station...
...was when we got to see a pair up close right after our hike up T Hill in Thermopolis, WY. They were just hanging out right by the trailhead! My goodness, these animals are majestic.
When we first started RVing, I created a wildlife "bingo card," which we've been trying to get blackout bingo on ever since.
We had been doing really well with our Rocky Mountain area animals, spotting elk, moose, bison, pronghorns, and bears, but the bighorn sheep kept eluding us. That was until we found the Whiskey Basin herd in Dubois, WY.
One animal we didn't have on our bingo card, which was a huge mistake because they're SO CUTE, is the mountain goat. We had our first sighting at the salt licks on the boundary of Glacier National Park. I was injured from a fall earlier that day, but still insisted on channeling my inner mountain goat and climbing the loose dirt on a cliff to get photos. Probably not the wisest idea, but I live to share the pics!
Our mountain goat sightings didn't end there. I won't spoil too much because these posts have yet to be released, but let's just share this photo as a sneak peek:
Yes, there are 5 goats. Including kids. Hearts melting all over the place. Tune into our Black Hills and Beyond series, coming up on the blog right after our summer recaps, to see more pictures and the most adorable video in the world. We'll also be sharing the story of our second bison jam - even bigger than the first!
Speaking of adorable, we cannot talk about wildlife sightings without mentioning the prairie dogs beneath Devils Tower.
Check off a new state:
Would you believe that we didn't check off a new state until the very tail end of summer?! We had already hit Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming before summer began, and so we needed to wait until crossing into South Dakota to officially check this one off the list. But what a big check it was. We can't wait to share our stories in the Black Hills and Beyond series.
Not everything had to wait until the end of summer. We actually hit the ground running while we were in Montana, during the first couple of weeks of summer. This was a good choice because we hadn't been inundated with heat yet, and we were in a perfect state for some outdoor adventures.
Go to a farmer's market:
We ended up going to 3 farmer's markets in the Glacier area...technically. One of the markets was actually only a couple of vendors, due to a legal dispute. The best of the three was definitely Whitefish. Lots of vendors, food trucks, and music. It was hopping too!
Go horseback riding:
We opted for a trail ride around the Apgar area of Glacier National Park. Was it all we had hoped for? Not necessarily. This was our second year adding horseback riding to our Summer to Remember list, and both years we struck out on the enjoyment factor. Granted, this year far exceeded last, but it still wasn't what we had hoped for. You can read more about it in this post. We've already made a pact that we will keep horseback riding off our list next year.
I know it sounds like our Glacier-area summer adventures were a bust, but we did have some amazing times as well. On Memorial Day, we spent the day at Whitefish Mountain Resort, where we got to check off two summer goals, including the only one we failed to check off last year.
Ziplining and rock an alpine slide:
We did a 5-zipline tour and followed it up with a few slides down the alpine slide. Then we ended the day with a scenic chairlift ride. The alpine slide is dangerous in the best conditions, so it closes down in the rain, which is the reason we couldn't do it last year in the Smokies. This year, we got in just under the wire. As we came down from the scenic chairlift, a thunderstorm was in the forecast, forcing all operations to close, including the alpine slide. Good thing we had already done it!
After leaving Glacier, we made our way south in Montana. This is where we got our two magical back-to-back lake sites. When we were at Lolo, we attempted to cook campfire brownies for the first time. They look better than they tasted, but it was a fun experience. We've only tried to cook over the fire a few times in total. It's sometimes a success. It's more often not, probably due to the fact that we hardly ever practice. This was our only attempt at cooking over the fire all summer.
Cook over the fire:
Speaking of food, we checked off our picnics while we were in Montana. We had a dessert picnic for my birthday with a beautiful view of Hungry Horse Reservoir, and a few days later, a lakeside picnic at Lion Lake. They weren't the "lay out a blanket and sit on the ground" kind of picnic, but the places we went this summer had some incredible picnic areas, so tables were the way to go.
Have a regular picnic:
Have a pizza picnic:
We waited until we were in a location that had pizza places with good reviews and good looking pictures. We had a few duds last year, so now we know to hold out for the good stuff. We ordered Wyo Dough pizza in Cody, WY and had our pizza picnic at our beautiful site at Buffalo Bill State Park. It was the only day where the weather was cool enough to want to eat hot food outside! We followed our picnic up with a double campfire, using our tabletop Solo Stove Mesa and the campsite firepit. If only every evening could have been filled with such pleasant outdoor affairs.
Get an extra tasty ice cream:
We expected to talk about our 4th of July bubble waffle cones here, and while those were delicious in a unique way, we have to hand it to the Devils Tower KOA for having some wonderfully yummy ice cream that tasted oh-so-good after our drive day. This was after we canceled our remaining plans to boondock and instead lived it up in luxury with all the amenities. This was a good amenity.
Go mini golfing:
The Devils Tower KOA was also where we braved the heat for a round of mini golf. It was so convenient to not need to leave the campground, and we were only steps away from our trailer. Even better, the mini golf was free! The KOA was delayed in constructing their new pool, and so they offered free mini golf to all the campers. That was an even bigger win than my victory over Anthony!
Summer to Remember is a quest in itself, but within our goals were mini-quests that led us on some really incredible roads and trails. We had too many scenic drives to even choose a favorite, plus some of our favorite bike rides ever. Then there was our challenge to hike 100 miles in the three months of summer. We didn't expect this to be so difficult, but weather wasn't on our side. Lastly, we added a rather vague goal to "try something new," but we had no idea what it would be. Turns out we tried a few new things, and each one has its own entertaining story.
We'll cover all those remaining adventures in the next blog post. Until then, click below to sign up for post notifications sent straight to your email. Here's a peek at what's coming up.