Lap of Luxury

Our last camp hosting assignment was, well, primitive.  We were in a wilderness area accessed via a 12 mile dirt road just outside of Lonetree, Wyoming.  We had no electricity.  We had no cell service.  We had no internet service.  Our site was also a dirt “pull through”, complete with a large rock that trapped the truck as we tried to pull into it. Our contact with civilization came through our campers and through our weekly trips down the mountain.

Don’t get me wrong.  We loved it at Hoop Lake.  But in comparison, the assignment here at Warm River is truly living in the lap of luxury.  We are parked on a flat, gravel surface with a concrete patio where our picnic table sits.  Our front lawn is just down a few steps.  Up a few steps and we’re at the main signpost where we can greet our incoming campers.

We have full hookups – water, sewer and electricity.  We have a land line and DSL service.  The DSL seems to be intermittent, but it has worked at least part of every day since we’ve had it hooked up.  Our cell phones get very limited service here, but we are able to receive and send text messages and emails.

I have hot water on demand!  We chose not to run the water heater constantly last year to conserve propane, so we would have to turn it on and then wait ½ hour to shower.  I heated water on the stove to do dishes.  But with electricity and a new water heater, I turn the faucet and just like magic, hot water comes out.  On a personal note, Paul’s brother Jon helped him wire the water heater five days before he died unexpectedly.  We miss you, Jon.

Electricity allows us a few more luxuries.  I can use my percolator – no more “camp coffee” cooked on the stovetop.  Well, I kind of miss that a little.  We have a television and can play movies by connecting the laptop.  I don’t have to turn on a generator to use the vacuum.

The final luxury is our proximity to a real town – with a grocery store, a gas station, restaurants, and get this – a Redbox!  More about Ashton,  Idaho, in my next post.