
Inger and Jeff Latreille
Let it Snow!
~Tuesday, April 12, 2022~
Day 667
What do you know?! The four inches of snow on the ground just seemed to appear out of nowhere after the wild ride

we and our trailer had most of the night. The whispered dusting of white powder sort of snuck up on us, though much preferred over the 6 hours of high winds, sandblasting everything in sight. All we can assume is that a big weather front approached the area which could have caused such extreme weather. Around midnight the wind got so bad to the point of smelling the dust/sand being blown against the trailer, we finally decided to bring in the slides to help diminish the noise coming from the awnings over the slides and to keep them from ripping off. That fabric is amazingly strong, but we didnât feel like testing it further. Of course bringing in the slides diminishes our sleeping quarters, so we were one little cozy bundle. About an hour later, after finally getting some shut eye, the loudest clap of thunder seemed to be right over us. It would have jolted anyone out of a dead sleep.
Feeling a bit groggy, with hot cocoa and coffee in hand, we left the trailer where it was, and took a drive over to the Needles portion of the national park to check out the 2 campground loops, Loop A and B. Loop B is reservable whereas Loop A is first come/first serve. Check-out time in the campgrounds is 10:00 a.m. so it was imperative for us to get there no later than 9:00 a.m. if we had any chance of getting a site. Most RVerâs/campers seem to be early risers. We started looking at Loop A but with one person already ahead of us scouting things out, we didnât think weâd have a chance. So we went over to Loop B. Nothing and none of the sites seemed deep enough for our trailer length anyway (which is probably why we didnât book here in the first place). Loop A would be our best chance, and all the sights are nice. We just needed to find one long enough for our trailer. So we went back to Loop A (thank goodness). About Ÿ of the way in, there was a tagless post. The siteâŠ.even bigger than we needed, complete with fire ring and a picnic table tucked in a nice alcove at the rear. YES!! Weâre in. It was a âWillie Wonkaâ kind of moment

as if weâd won the golden ticket. And just across the way near one of the many parkâs trailheads, we have pit toilets, garbage and even potable water (we had no access to water at the Outpost). All this for $20/night as opposed to the Outpostâs $33.00/night. So while Jeff stayed to claim our site, I went to the pay station just down the road. We decided to take only 1 night because we still werenât sure if we were getting reimbursed for the Needles Outpost debacle. Everything was going great, until I realized after putting the paying envelope in the slot, that I had put April 11, not the 12th. So now weâre paying for a night that we didnât use. OMG!!! O.k. At least I got the 3rd of the âthree times a charmâ out of the way by messing up another date. Next to the comfort station was the camp host, thankfully âon dutyâ. Camp host Pat was training a new guy Ernie Roy as they sat huddled inside Patâs EuroVan, keeping warm from the winter chill. Pat suggested that if we wanted to extend our stay that we would just pay for only 5 of the 6 days (a work around for overpaying). Or I could go through the park service for reimbursement. Nice to have options.
Officially tagged, we parked a few chairs and our one houseplant at the new campsite, staking our claim until weâd return with the trailer.
When we got back to the Outpost, we checked in with Lisa to see if she had any news for us about our refund. Unfortunately due to last nightâs storm, their Starlink service was down with no communication in or out. Sheâs not happy with Elon Musk at the moment. But she assured me she would do her best to relay our information to the owner when things were back up and running. We didnât get over to the new site until about 12:30 after our campsite hunt and breaking down at the Outpost. In the end, we actually are in a better place. One thing weâve learned about CanyonlandsâŠ..if you want to stay in the park itself, particularly the Needles area, and you have a long drive day ahead to get to the park, itâs best to book your 1 or 2 nights at Needles Outpost (just make sure you book the right dates đ) while you vye for an even better site in Loop A in the national park. Worse case, boondocking outside the park is always an option (if youâre self-contained).
Later in the afternoon while we were setting things up outside, we had a few people stop to ask if we were in fact leaving âtomorrowâ as our tag stated. Smart that people are scouring the âneighborhoodâ to see what peopleâs checkout dates are before the next morning. HmmâŠ..note to self. Anyway, after my third âno, Iâm sorry good lucksâ, I decided to check in with our camp host again to see if we could just go ahead and pay for the next 6 nights, and get a new tag with the more accurate check out date on it, so we wonât get other fellow camperâs hopes up. By this point, Jeff and I had already decided no matter what happened with the refund, we preferred staying here as opposed to the Outpost anyway. We really are in a sweet spot.
With no cell service whatsoever in the park, there is a small area outside the visitor center that at least allows you to tap into their wi-fi. They even have pay phones if youâre really in a bind. Those young millennials must really do a double take when they see those things. Understandably, the staff wonât allow you to use their wi-fi inside the building nor in their foyer, though it was tempting with the chilly temps outside. 45-degrees and light winds forced us to get what we needed done, fast. And we werenât alone as there were a handful of tourists, like us, tapping into the luxury of internet. At least we were able to get a few emails done and hear the latest weather updates. Tonightâs lowsâŠ..26 degrees. Tomorrowâs highâsâŠ.55 degrees. But Saturday, finally low 70âs. Hallelujah!!-bring it on!!