Campground Review:
What a cool little campground. If for no other reason but the people you will meet! We drove to Bedrock, which is a tiny little town nestled between two other tiny little towns. There is a cute little store there run by a gentleman from New York! He is really friendly and very upbeat. You turn at his little store and drive down a dirt road to get to this little campground. When we were driving in we could see this giant wall of rain, the most bizarre thing we've seen in a while. But once we turned down the little road, the rain had turned to just a light sprinkle. The drive was easy even though it was dirt and once you get to the recreation area, you realize it is a put in/take out for rafters. We tried to stay here a few days earlier and there were over 100 vehicles and the four spots for camping were taken. This time though, there were maybe 40 cars and every campsite was open. There are four cabanas, each with a grill, no fire pit, and each with a picnic table. This site is incredibly overgrown. Our options for tent placement were in the mud due to rain or on really high weeds. It would have been great to have a weed whacker to knock down the weeds but we don't carry one of those with us. We set up on the weeds, which added a little extra cushion. Slowly other campers came in by raft. Very friendly group! We talked about the rapids they had endured, previous bike tours that they have done and other such adventures. Although it rained through the night, we woke to an amazing morning. Cool at first but once we got in the sun, it was fabulous! There was an older gentleman with his dog that came through and told us about all the trails, fossils and petrified wood in the area. There is a trail that goes back a bit and except for the family of cougars found there a while back, is pretty much wildlife free. He commented that there aren't much for rattlesnakes, only seen one in the last 10 years, lots of bull snakes though and they kill the rattlesnakes. He said he walked through the campground every day with his dog and it's normally empty but they opened the spillway, which brought rafters to the river. We didn't have time to take the hikes but they sound very interesting, 3 miles about is what he said it was. We will hit that up on a return trip. We knew there wouldn't be any fire pits from our first attempt so we stocked up on freeze dried food and food easy to make over a small backpacking cookstove. It worked out quite well and our tent was almost dry when we packed it up. There are two port a potties, they were quite clean and well stocked on toilet paper and even had hand sanitizer! This is a cool spot, with things to do and cover in the event of rain. It's worth a visit!
Product Review:
As a ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time, today I am testing Eclipse All Sun Sleeves, as a red head I burn super easy! These were appealing because I can put these on for a lighter form of protection. No slimy cream or heavy shirts, only sleeves, they cover your arms and your arms only. They are moisture wicking and cooling. Plus, the sun protection never washes out! It was cool when the day started but by 9 am it was hot and I could shed some layers, but while playing ball with my boys, I didn't want to endure a sunburn. So, the sleeves went on. They are unisex and ambidextrous. So no need to figure out which side it needs to go on. They cover your hands as well, which is nice as that was where my last sun burn was. They go on easy and feel good once on. I did get a slight pinch up near the top where the labeling is. I also found that they did slip a little as I played. Not enough to not use them but enough to notice that if I didn't notice, I could get a slight burn on the back of my arm between my shirt and where the sleeves had slipped. They also take up hardly any room at all, which is nice for people like me who plan to bike tour. I can throw them in my frame pack with out worry of taking up space for something else. They will be the perfect addition. They have several colors and sizes to choose from, I ordered the large and they fit well. Definitely check out Eclipse products!
