June 2017
Last year we stayed
at Rim Station RV Park in Pinedale, WY. I wrote about it in a previous
blog. It was one of my favorite RV Parks! This year we discovered that just
down the road from them is a Coast-to-Coast Park called Wind River View
Campground. It’s not as pretty as Rim Station but the lady who runs it is
really nice and we do have a budget! It’s also a little bit closer to Soda
Lake! Fishing at Soda Lake is a blast! We were telling our neighbors, Greg and
Cindy about it and they asked if they could join us! Greg is hilarious and
Cindy is a sweetheart! We were glad for the company!
The next day we all
packed up, fishing gear and licenses in hand, and headed for Soda Lake! We told
them the limit on the lake was only one fish each but they were big and you
were pretty much guaranteed to catch your limit, then you move on to either
Sunshine Lake or Lake Freemont
where the fishing is a little more challenging!
where the fishing is a little more challenging!
Greg and Cindy travel
in a Motorhome, pulling a small sedan behind them. We forgot about the unpaved
road to get to Soda Lake. It’s quite the bumpy ride even in our 4-wheel drive
pickup!
They said it was exhilarating!
They said it was exhilarating!
A fun little surprise was waiting for us in the form of some beautiful horses blocking the gate to the bumpiest of the
roads we had to go through! After taking some pictures and they let us pass! When we
got to the lake we saw a magnificent bald eagle surveying its territory! I was
hoping to see it swoop down and snag a fish out of the lake. I guess it was still
digesting its last meal.
We set up fishing
spots about 50 yards apart! Just enough to not get in each other’s way but
close enough to hear Greg! Soda Lake is crystal clear for the first 20 or so
feet. You can see the giant trout swimming back and forth in front of you. Greg
could not contain his excitement when he saw them,
“You should see the size of these things!”
“You should see the size of these things!”
Larry and I just
smiled. We knew from experience they were taunting him. Eventually we would catch
fish but not them. Those are the sentries that try to keep the smaller ones
from getting caught. After a while Greg’s enthusiasm turned to frustration as
he tried to coax the fish onto his hook by yelling at them, “Come on! Come get
it! You know you want it!” Not the best method.
On our end Jackson
and Jenny were in doggie heaven splashing around! I’m pretty sure Jenny caught
more than the legal limit of minnows! She got it down to a science. She figured
out they like to hang out under the football-sized rocks that dot the lake near
the shore. She’d stand there, knee deep in the water, for her that’s about an
inch and a half and stare at the rocks until she’d spot one then dig like
crazy! It worked pretty well. I saw her eat 3 or 4. But I’m sure she ate more.
Poor Jackson’s method of jumping on them didn’t quite yield the same results.
Mostly he just got wet!
As I was watching and
laughing at my dogs, Greg’s frustration level was reaching a breaking point!
Then it happened! He got a bite! He started screaming! “Oh, my God! Oh, my God!
It’s huge!”
I looked at the water just in time to see it jump.
I looked at the water just in time to see it jump.
IT WAS HUGE!!!
It jumped out of the
water, jerked its head and did a Greg Louganis back into the lake! I’m pretty
sure it took the bait on purpose just to give how-to-get-away lessons to the
younger fish. I thought Greg would be disappointed but he was so excited to
have hooked it long enough to see it! He just kept laughing, jumping around and
screaming, “Did you see that?!? Did you?”
He and Cindy hugged
and went back to work with more confidence than ever!
It didn’t take long
for him to start talking to the fish again, trying to coax them. This time when
his frustration level got high, I got a bite! It wasn’t quite the monster that
got away from Greg but it was big! I never really understood the term “play
with it” before but I was learning! I’d real it in then let some out, real it
in and let some out! I “played with it” and eventually pulled it in!
It wasn’t long before
Greg got another bite that he landed this time, then Larry, then Cindy!
Watching Cindy pull
hers in was so much fun! She had a big grin on her face the whole time!
We all caught our
limit! The dogs had a blast splashing around.
It was a good afternoon but we weren’t done yet.
It was a good afternoon but we weren’t done yet.
Larry and I usually
bring gallon size zip lock bags to put the fish in then we put them in our big
lunch cooler. We forgot the bags! We had to pass through town on our way to the
other lake anyway so we decided to stop and get bags and a small cooler just
for the fish.
When I told Greg
about wanting to buy the bags he had to rub it in and tell me, “Well maybe that
little thing you caught will fit in a zip lock bag, but I’m going to need
something much bigger for that monster I caught!” Like I said Greg’s hilarious!
He did buy the Styrofoam cooler for us.
He told me it was our “Guide Fee”.
He told me it was our “Guide Fee”.
We got our supplies
and headed for Lake Fremont! It’s a beautiful lake but it got a little windy
and the lake was choppy! The only thing I caught was this awesome bracelet! But
we had a great time with great people and we introduced some new friends to one
of our favorite fishing spots!
This bridge is for the animals to cross without getting hit. We've been told it works really well! YAY!
Saw this post with the nest on top when we got to the park.
We weren't sure what kind of bird it was at first.
The clouds were awesome!
And then the rain came!
And the rain brought these!
The horses that blocked the gate. I think they just wanted their picture taken!
So majestical!
(I heard that word in a movie! The kid in the movie said it wasn't a real word.
I think it's a great word!)
Jenny and Jackson love this part of our adventure!
Such a beautiful lake!
Having fun at Lake Freemont!
Didn't catch any fish but it's still fun!
Did see this fat little ladybug though!
And found this pretty bracelet!
Mine and Larry's fish!
Gregg and Cindy's fish. (about 4 or 5 inches bigger than ours)
Greg and Cindy! Love meeting new friends!
The closer you get to Nebraska, the more you start seeing businesses named Jensen!
The nest was an Osprey nest! This is one of the babies! Look close at its feet.
Apparently the bird went fishing too!
The birds catch was bigger than our too!
