We are a Big Rig looking for a Tent Experience. Go back to 2024 Hosting Page

Why are we gonna be camp hosts you may ask? It's time to do our thing. We laid low during COVID and in 2022 did the big trip to Alaska. I didn't post the trip here as we were too busy just doing it, so to speak. And I was still reeling from what they liked to call Long Covid. I never tested POS for it, but who knows what was going on. I lost over 75 lb. and just did not like to eat much of anything. I didn't feel sick but, food was just repulsive to me. That lasted most of the year and in 2023 I was starting to gain weight and eat. We traveled back to Iowa in the spring and then on to South Dakota to get my driver's lic. and then Montana, WY, CO, UT, NM, and back to our Arizona winter property. Dry camping in BLM and FS campgrounds. Stayed for the max. allowed time in each site. (14 days) and then would move on slowly. It was a relaxing summer. So what should we do this summer and it hit us why not settle down a bit and Camp Host again. We had done a gig in 2017 - 2019 at Blackfoot Res for the BLM. So on to vollunteer.gov to research opportunities. Boy did that start the ball rolling. So many choices that need to be gone over trying to find the right fit for us. Did we want to do a huge campground with mutable hosts and mess with a reservation system OR first come first served (FCFS) small locations. And of course, fishing was a big want for Terry. We thought we had it down to a few, but when we started to ask questions and read the reviews things got narrowed down in short order. It seemed the more due dalliance questions we asked the less information was offered. Since we had been comp hosts for the BLM in the past we kind of knew the ins and outs and could see some locations had obstacles that we could tell we just would not have liked to deal with. We did get into accepting a FS campground in Steeley Lake, MT. It was a two-host deal with one host on duty T - S and us S - W. That's right we would have weekends off. How cool would that be for a camp host situation? Our philosophy is that if on site (even not on duty) we are still there to help. But the offer was canceled later on, as they were having water issues and had decided to close the campground for most of the summer and rework the plumbing so that took care of that thought. Next, time was growing short to find another as many openings were being gobbled up in the meantime. But persistence paid off and we were offered a just north of the entrance to Yellowstone National Park. 18 miles north of Gardiner MT right on the Yellowstone River. 16 sites and float boat launch, and get this is a BLM campground FCFS with no Fees. Yes as in Free. No water, power, or dump. But free is free, and just outside YNP. Carbella Campground. The link shows many pictures of this location in Google Maps. This was right up our alley as we are well equipped to boondock as we have solar, lithium bats, and an 8 K diesel generator in our MH. To stay connected if cell service is poor we have of course Starlink. This is after all how we travel all the time so we can do this. And we will get a stipend of $30 per day to boot. We have filled out all the government forms for background and security checks. We had been through this before with the BLM so not an issue. Wondering how our last Camp hosting gig went. Now my story. We had camp hosted for the BLM for three years, (2017 - 2019) at the same location, but not again. Why. The campground was mostly used by locals and boaters, not so much tourists. Over those three years, the attitude of the local users changed. It seems now a certain segment of the population has come to feel empowered in their thoughts and views in that they can think and do anything they want without regard to rules. It became a game as to who had to pay day-use fees (for boat launching) and if they could ride their ATVs, OHVs in the campground which was not permitted. It didn't matter, they thought they could do as they wished. It used to be a free county park which they could run wild in as it was just across a dike from there summer homes on a reservoir.   We were also frustrated that we were required to write down the Lic plates of all day-use and campers whether they paid or not knowing the BLM would probably not follow up on the non-payers. We just didn't feel we were safe anymore. Go back to 2024 Hosting Page