We gave up! What happened next?

We experienced a lot of ups and downs during our trip across Wyoming. The ups? Unbelievable campsites with some of the best views we've ever had, where we could bask in the beauty of nature. The downs? Horrendous heat waves that trapped us inside most days and eventually caused me to have some heat-related illness. Then finally, with only miles to go before the eastern Wyoming border, we began having issues with our RV. Our generator was working overtime to keep our batteries charged and our AC on. If you recall last year, around this same time, our generator eventually decided it had had enough turmoil and induced its own coma. We weren't sure if it was happening again, but when we notice our generator not wanting to turn on, we take it seriously. Our assumption was that it needed some good filter cleaning in areas we can't reach without a professional. It's also almost due for new spark plugs. Both of those are logical reasons why it was struggling to turn on and reeking of gas when it did. While we were able to run the generator when we needed, we had to keep the cover to the access panel off. Otherwise the generator would emit fumes intense enough to set off our carbon monoxide detector. We'd rather not expose our access panel to the elements if we can help it, and we also didn't know how much longer the generator would run for us before coma #2. And so, we decided that it was time to give up on boondocking across Wyoming.

We only had one more destination planned before crossing the border into South Dakota, and that was Devils Tower. We initially had plans to grab a first-come, first-served site at Belle Fourche Campground inside the national monument gates, but the sites have no hookups and the week was showing temperatures approaching 100 degrees. We needed electricity. Because no reservations are accepted at Belle Fourche, we at least didn't have anything booked that we needed to cancel, and so we went online to see which surrounding RV parks had last-minute availabilities. Typically when we find ourselves in a bind, we gravitate towards KOAs, and this time was no exception. We booked a pull-thru, full-hookup site at the KOA just outside the entrance to Devils Tower. Then we prepped for our travel day the next morning.

We were a little disappointed in our boondocking quest. Instead of camping without hookups the whole way across the Wyoming, we ended up taking a 6-night stint with full hookups in Dubois, and then our overnight in Worland. Now we'd be taking another 6 nights in Devils Tower. But when equipment - and health - start failing, we need to take those as signs.

Turns out, we made a really smart choice to grab full hookups for Devils Tower. Not only was our generator not working properly, but the morning we were packing up to head to Devils Tower, our water pump died. It just stopped pumping water in the middle of washing dishes. Unlike past experiences with our water pump, this one was very undramatic. We never liked this pump. It was way too loud, despite the fact that we did lots of modifications to it that were supposed to decrease the volume. We had already been researching new ones, with plans to upgrade the pump towards the end of the year. Instead, we just ordered one sooner. Earlier that morning, we had made an appointment with an RV service department in Rapid City to repair our generator. When our pump died, we simply called them back and asked if they could also install a new water pump for us while we're there. They said yes. So we ordered not one, but two upgraded pumps (in case one doesn't work for whatever reason), and for the rest of our packing up and driving to Devils Tower, we made do with some water jugs that we already had from our boondocking excursion. For a situation where a vital component of our RV busts, this all couldn't have turned out any better. It was like the Universe was sending us a sign that it was truly time to let our boondocking experience go. We were onto bigger and better adventures, and we knew that the rest of the day was going to be a good one.

Coming up on Devils Tower was incredible. As we drove closer, the tower appeared over the horizon as if from nowhere. We hadn't been to a big US landmark since we left the Tetons, and this one in particular we were really excited for. We've always been geology nerds, and in fact that was one of the topics we bonded over when we first started dating. Devils Tower is a combination of igneous and sedimentary rock, where as far as geologists can tell, the lava made its way between the crevices of the rock, and then many, many years of erosion pushed the formation up from under ground, carving the intriguing feature it is today. Devils Tower was the first US national monument and is now an area for visitors to recreate through hiking and rock climbing - yes, rocking climbing the tower itself. And camping on top of it, if you're feeling extra fancy.

We approached the intersection that joins the KOA's entrance, the monument entrance gate, and the Devils Tower Trading Post. It was hopping! The weather was gorgeous and it was a Saturday, so people were out and about. There was also an antique car show going on in the KOA's overflow lot. We carefully made our way in through the crowds, registered, and were escorted to our site. We "sprang" for a site with a view...an extra $1ish a night...but we did have a pretty amazing view of the tower!

This KOA is designated as a Journey, which typically means a less frilly campground, but we all know good and well that those designations actually mean nothing, as evidenced by this KOA having amenities galore! We were itching to explore as soon as we settled in. We wanted to take advantage of the nice weather before the heat returned, and with all the campground activities, we didn't need to venture far! We first headed across the street to the Trading Post just to check it out. Then we went to the KOA store, which also has an ice cream stand and a restaurant. We ate an early dinner out on the patio and then had a couple waffle cones. After that, we explored the grounds with Tanner. We capped off our evening with the daily hayride. Yep, this KOA has a hayride that runs every day, as long as enough people buy tickets. The tickets are super cheap at only $8 per person. The owners of this KOA location are the Driskills. The Driskill family has owned the land for generations and they have a beautiful ranch adjacent to the campground. Before they built the KOA, the area was a large pasture, which is where the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind was filmed. To honor this, the campground plays the movie on a big outdoor screen every night. The hayride takes campers around the ranch, where we got to see deer running through the meadows, gorgeous views of the Bell Fourche River, and the tower silhouetted by the evening sun. It was the best ending to our day, reiterating the best choice we could have made to end our boondocking early.

We learned a lot during our adventures boondocking across Wyoming. When we began the trip, we were looking forward to camping in more local areas. We had been nonstop visiting major national parks like Yellowstone and the Tetons, and we were feeling overwhelmed. All we wanted was the peace and quiet of nature. But then, fast forward five weeks later, and we were really happy to be back surrounded by people, vibing off the happy neighbors at the RV park. We're not usually the types to use many campground amenities, but we were looking forward to enjoying more at the KOA. We learned that we need a contrast in our camping lifestyle. Sometimes we want to camp in the middle of nowhere, but other times we really do want to be immersed in the RV community. It makes sense; some of our favorite camping experiences in the past were when we were near civilization but could still retreat to nature whenever we wanted. We always knew that regrouping stays were important for the logistics, so we could have reliable cell service, do laundry, take long showers, and conveniently dump our tanks, but we never considered what the regroups do for our mental - and in this case physical - health. We had a lot of energy pent up from our boondocking days, and Devils Tower was the perfect outlet for that energy.