Monday, June 9, 2014

Camp Hosting in Wyoming (Glenrock, WY)

We moved to Glenrock, WY on 6 May.  Glenrock is just 20 miles east of Casper.  This was our first view of our new home at River Platte RV and Campground.  Sandy wasn't too pleased with what she saw when we pulled in next to the office.  No trees, too much dirt, and very little in business facilities.  
Despite our first impressions, we decided to stay to give it a try.  We found out that this is the first year for this campground to be open and they were still building RV sites.  The pipeline and petroleum business has hit this area and business is booming.  Workers are scrambling to find a place to live near their work and many come with their own rigs.
There were only eight sites with full hook-ups when we pulled in, but the owner was starting work on a new section for another four sites when we showed up.  They are about to open up two more sections for a total of 28 - 30 sites.  All the sites have already been reserved.  Dan has been assisting in opening up new sites with sewer, water, and electrical connections.  The office gets calls everyday from people and companies looking for open sites.
View from our site
The campground has access to the river which is nice for campground residents to go kayaking, paddle boarding, or just tubing.  We enjoy the walk down to the river and looking for different birds, but we have not been in or on the river.
North Platte River
Across from the campground
There are a lot of tent sites available.  Right now, it has been a little slow.  Maybe once summer gets here and stays, the tent sites will start filling up.
Snow in May
In the meantime, the campground is filled with pipeline workers and a few have their families with them.  Needless to say, this is not what we were expecting for a summertime campers.  It is very quiet even on the weekends.
From the tent/rustic sites
So far, our work has not been what we were expecting either.  Our contract said we would only be working as camp hosts, but that has not been the case.  Our so called part-time work from Thurs-Sun has been all week long with Dan working some long manual labor hours while Sandy is barely needed in the office.  Do we like our new jobs?  Not really, but we will probably honor our contract and stay for the agreed time.  Then again, since the contract did not disclose the duties properly, we may not.
We drove to Douglas a couple of weeks ago to do a little shopping and exploring.  On our way to Douglas, we took a small side trip to Ayers Natural Bridge park.  Many of the Oregon Trail settlers wrote about this unusual natural water feature  bridge while they were stopped here on their way west on the Oregon Trail including one man from the Donner party.   Many settlers stopped here to hide from Indian attacks and some actually lived in the caves nearby.
There is a small park here with 12 sites, picnic tables, and facilities.
There is also an old power house near the bridge that was quite interesting to walk around.
old power house
We climbed one of the trails leading to the top of the natural bridge.  A little rough going and a little steep at times, but very short.  The view was worth the climb!
So, we would say we are getting into a routine, but we never know what we are doing from one week to the next.  


One thing we can say - we know it will not be a boring summer of the same ol' stuff.   As you may recall, we plan to work the holiday season at a Amazon.com processing center in Kansas starting in mid September.   Despite Amazon's 10 hour-days, they are starting to look pretty good.  We already have a good clue as to what to expect from Amazon's emails and we expect they will honor the contract as written with proper disclosure of duties and expectations.   They are organized and they communicate.
Happy Trails!

7 comments:

  1. Ouch! Looking at the picture of the snow on your car makes us wince....hope things work out for you. Keep us posted on your blog!

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  2. That certainly is a far cry from past summer jobs! With your past experiences you could probably give the owner a lot of useful advice. Hang in there!

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  3. Sorry to hear about this tiresome experience! I hope things perk up for you both. We've been by the turn for that bridge several times and never gone. Looks like we should have! When you are in KS, you will be about 100 miles from our sticks n bricks. Maybe we can catch each other for a visit!

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    1. Hi Meowmomma, I tried to send you an email, but I could not connect so I'm hoping you will return to see this comment. If we have some free time, it would be great to meet you! Please send us an email.

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  4. That developing RV park is an interesting place due to the construction equipment, etc, and the river looks like it will be great for hot days (feet in the water). My best to you both.

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  5. Sometimes camp hosting positions definitely are not as described. And sometimes that is okay but most often it makes for unhappy camp hosts. We're at the Warren Bridge campground not far from Jackson and our friends are camp hosting here. This is what I think a summer campground is like. No hookups and not real large but perfect for stopping for a few days. I would probably be moving on with all the unpaid hours you are putting in with the manual labor. Let us know how it goes.

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  6. Just to clarify, any hours over 20 per week for the RV space are compensated financially.

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