After leaving the dam, we drove to the town of Dutch John, which was recommended by our tour guide Mason. Dutch John is about 6 miles south of the dam. Mason told us that they had cabins there, and this time of year we should be able to get one without a reservation. We thought that sounded fun, and were hoping to find a little rustic cabin for the night.
As we drove up to Dutch John, there was a sign by the highway that said "Fire Danger 12:00 - 9:00". We thought this was odd. Usually the signs say "Fire Danger High" or "Fire Danger Moderate".
There are two places that rent cabins. As we came into town, we accidentally drove right by the first one, so our first stop was at the convenience store and restaurant just past the town on the highway. We inquired about their cabins, and for a new cabin (fully equipped with everything including a flat screen TV) it was $153/night, or he had an older hotel with rooms that weren't as nice for $109/night. Neither of these was really what we were looking for.
Since we were hoping for more of a rustic cabin feel, we thanked him and went back down the road to check out the other RV park, which is the first store you come to on the main road. It is called Dutch John Resort (435-885-3191). They had an option called a lite cabin for $69/night, which was just that, a cabin with no fancy amenities. A queen bed, two bunks and a table. It was a cute, new 11x14 room with aspen furniture. When we walked in, it had the smell of aspen, and was cute as could be. It definitely wasn't rustic, but it was close enough for us.
We got ourselves moved in, then moved to the picnic table on the porch so I could get some work done. The weather was perfect, and the surroundings were perfect for working. As I was typing, sitting at the picnic table outside our lite-cabin, I noticed ash from the nearby fire falling on my computer screen. We never did figure out where the fire was, but no one seemed too concerned, so it must not have been that close.
The only thing about this cabin that we weren't too sure about was that it didn't even have a restroom. It had a shared bath-house/restroom for all of the lite cabins to share. We've done tent camping (in our younger days), so we really didn't think that this was going to be a problem.
We walked down to the store/restaurant/fly fishing store/raft rentals, etc. You get my drift! For dinner, we went to their restaurant. The menu had somewhat typical cafe type of food. We split a fish and chips (which was pretty good fish and tortilla chips with salsa, interesting) and a chef salad (which was really good). The interesting thing about the restaurant was that all of their help were on a work program from other countries. Our waitress was from Ukraine, the cook was from Czech Republic, and there were two other girls, one from Romania and one from Turkey. Our waitress was super nice and easy to talk to. Her English was great! She flew into Denver on May 25th, and will leave on September 1st. She is going to do a little bit of touring before she heads home, and will be back in the Ukraine on September 8th.
There are a lot of very friendly young men that are working outside on the maintenance jobs, we think that they are part of the work program as well. We don't know for sure, but it appears that way.
When we were in Bar Harbor last fall, we stayed at a motel who's entire staff was from Jamaica. It appears that these small towns that thrive only on summer tourism belong to these work programs and bring in all of their summer help from other countries. I hope they are paid well and enjoy what they do while they are here!
After dinner we walked down the road to check out the town. We didn't walk too far into town, but it appeared to be deserted. There were business buildings, but no houses, and no one in town. We think that everyone lives in the surrounding areas and work in town. We've never spent any time in these small seasonal towns other than during the height of tourist season, so we have never seen this side of them before. It's hard to imagine life in a place like this.
As we walked back to our cabin, we noticed a machine that one of the young men had been driving. It didn't have a steering wheel, just sticks that he used to steer it.
When we got done in the bath-house, Steve walked over and turned the sprinklers off until we were able to get our things to the car. They definitely didn't have very good timing!
As we were going into the store to turn in our cabin keys, we noticed a duck hovering right by the front door. And around back, they were set up with saws and other equipment that they were using for their restaurant addition.
There are two places that rent cabins. As we came into town, we accidentally drove right by the first one, so our first stop was at the convenience store and restaurant just past the town on the highway. We inquired about their cabins, and for a new cabin (fully equipped with everything including a flat screen TV) it was $153/night, or he had an older hotel with rooms that weren't as nice for $109/night. Neither of these was really what we were looking for.
Since we were hoping for more of a rustic cabin feel, we thanked him and went back down the road to check out the other RV park, which is the first store you come to on the main road. It is called Dutch John Resort (435-885-3191). They had an option called a lite cabin for $69/night, which was just that, a cabin with no fancy amenities. A queen bed, two bunks and a table. It was a cute, new 11x14 room with aspen furniture. When we walked in, it had the smell of aspen, and was cute as could be. It definitely wasn't rustic, but it was close enough for us.
We got ourselves moved in, then moved to the picnic table on the porch so I could get some work done. The weather was perfect, and the surroundings were perfect for working. As I was typing, sitting at the picnic table outside our lite-cabin, I noticed ash from the nearby fire falling on my computer screen. We never did figure out where the fire was, but no one seemed too concerned, so it must not have been that close.
The only thing about this cabin that we weren't too sure about was that it didn't even have a restroom. It had a shared bath-house/restroom for all of the lite cabins to share. We've done tent camping (in our younger days), so we really didn't think that this was going to be a problem.
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| Laundry room on the left, restroom/bath-house on the right. |
There are a lot of very friendly young men that are working outside on the maintenance jobs, we think that they are part of the work program as well. We don't know for sure, but it appears that way.
When we were in Bar Harbor last fall, we stayed at a motel who's entire staff was from Jamaica. It appears that these small towns that thrive only on summer tourism belong to these work programs and bring in all of their summer help from other countries. I hope they are paid well and enjoy what they do while they are here!
After dinner we walked down the road to check out the town. We didn't walk too far into town, but it appeared to be deserted. There were business buildings, but no houses, and no one in town. We think that everyone lives in the surrounding areas and work in town. We've never spent any time in these small seasonal towns other than during the height of tourist season, so we have never seen this side of them before. It's hard to imagine life in a place like this.
We had a great night's sleep in our little cabin! The bed was so comfortable! When we woke up in the morning, we felt like we had been tent camping. The cabin felt cold and humid. When we got ready to walk to the bath-house, we realized that they had turned on the sprinklers right outside our door. There was no way to get out of our room but to go through about four different sprinklers. So we made a run for it.
When we got done in the bath-house, Steve walked over and turned the sprinklers off until we were able to get our things to the car. They definitely didn't have very good timing!
And then we had to try and get into the car, avoiding all the mud from the sprinklers.
As we were going into the store to turn in our cabin keys, we noticed a duck hovering right by the front door. And around back, they were set up with saws and other equipment that they were using for their restaurant addition.
As we came back out, one of the employees was leading the duck away from the entrance with a trail of bread crumbs. It's a quirky little place, but quite refreshing for the night.
