September 19, 2019 Thursday Wildlife Traffic Jams!

After getting up and around we walked the dogs near the RV Park in West Yellowstone. They have a zipline place that was closed for the season and the dogs really enjoyed exploring it. Then we did all the necessary things to get ready for driving, like checking the oil and unhooking the utilities then hooking up the pickup. We stopped at The Grizzly Wolf Discovery Center and got new T-shirts. We didn't tour it, because we did that a few years back. 

Then we started our drive through Yellowstone. We saw bison and  other lovely sights. The drive was excellent. We stopped for a lunch break at Lewis Lake. 

Geysers

Lewis Lake

Lewis Falls - YNP

Glimpse of Lewis Falls

Lewis Falls flowing into the river

I believe we crossed the continental divide three times on our way- I didn't remember that from previous drives. 

We kept driving on John D. Rockefeller Highway out of Yellowstone and into Grand Teton National Park - you really can't hardly tell when you pass from one to the other.  The views were amazing and the mountains look so rugged! 

Entering the Tetons

Jackson Lake

We passed Jackson Lake and eventually just kept moving south toward Jackson. As we got near the airport, all the traffic stopped and a big moose crossed the road! I got a couple of pictures! 

Moose crossing road

Something cute in Jackson Hole

When we arrived at Jackson, it was busy and full of tourists. We got set up and unhooked the pickup. We just picked up burgers for supper and then went on a drive to look for wildlife. 

We did a quick check at the visitor center in Jackson and I took a few pictures of stuffed elk there.

 s

On our way we saw a big herd of elk, but I was driving and they were too far for Steve to get a picture with my phone. We got to the Lawrence Rockefeller Preserve (on Moose Road) and saw another traffic jam. Anyway there was a Park Ranger there and we asked a lady in the jam where the bear was. She told us and Steve got out and looked, then I got out and looked. One of us had to stay in the pickup with the dogs - so they wouldn't go nuts. Some guy said there is another bearing the parking lot, so we drove there and didn't see a bear. We started back to the RV and got a really good look at three bears. After that we returned to the RV.

Bears

September 17, 2018 Monday - Into Yellowstone

We walked first thing this morning (after waiting for a little warm-up 30 degrees this morning) and then headed into West Yellowstone (the town). We stopped at the hardware store to get a new light bulb for the RV and while Steve was in there - I got a reservation for Tuesday night in town.  We wanted to take showers after our forest time.  Then we started our drive into Yellowstone National Park.  We got the the entrance pretty quick, using my National Parks Pass, and made pretty good progress for awhile.

a wee bit of fall color

Masssive Mountain

Then the traffic started slowing down to a crawl! We could not see anything that would hold us up.  So we just kept plodding along, moving when the line moved - then we saw the elk! They were  right by the road near the river. They looked awesome.
                                         

Finally the line started moving a bit. We stopped to use the restroom at Madison picnic area. The parking lot and bathrooms were very busy.  I have heard for the last few years to go to Yellowstone and other popular parks after Labor Day because the crowds thin out. I do not think this is true. There were tons of people everywhere.
We moved on after that and got into another slow line of traffic. This time it was Bison. There was a pretty sizable herd hanging out. So we just went with the flow. If you go to Yellowstone - you must be patient. It is very slow going.

The sign says: Mary's Mountain! I'll take it!

My goal this visit was to see Grand Prismatic Spring. I've never seen it in person, only pictures.  Well that is another thing that got cancelled! The parking lot and both sides of the road were packed! No way to get in there. So I will visit again at another time and hopefully arrive earlier in the day.  The next time I visit will be in late May or early June or later in September.  Maybe I should visit in winter! LOL I would probably freeze!

Old Faithful Inn (back side)

People looking at Elk

We saw these elk on our way out of the park!

Our next stop was the Old Faithful visitor center. I wanted to pick up some souvenirs. Well same story - it was packed! I almost gave up on that, but we went around the circle to the back side and I went in another gift shop and got a few things.  After that we were ready to go back to the RV.  I fixed us a skillet supper of cubed potatoes,  leftover steak bites, and scrambled eggs topped with cheese and it was good. We walked some more and called it a day.

Friday, May 8, 2015 Further North

We got up a little late and walked the dogs and did our morning routine.  We hit the road without much work today though, since we had not had to unhook the pickup or put out the slides.  Again we enjoyed a lovely drive on I-15.  We crossed into Idaho at 11;15 AM.  

We saw some lovely sights out the window again.  We stopped at a rest stop and had some lunch.  They had a trail you could walk, either a short or long loop. We walked the short loop and really enjoyed it.  It gave information about the lava flow, that was not from a volcanic eruption, but just oozed out of the ground, many thousand years ago.

Then we got to some more pretty country.

I picked out a campground that was on the Salmon River.  I called them and made a reservation. We had a delightful ride.  And I was amazed, because we had seen some of this country before and I did not remember the mountains and how pretty things were.  Of course this time it is Spring, and things are greener and some of these mountains are frosted with a touch of snow.   

The weather is very pleasant for driving, about 60 degrees, no need to use the air conditioner.  At Rexburg, ID we went west to Mud Lake and then turned Northwest on ID 28 until it met with US 93 in Salmon, ID. 

Again, very little traffic made the drive enjoyable.

We were about 3 miles from our campground, when I glanced left and saw a huge herd of Steve was able to pull over and we took pictures and counted.  There were about 25-30 elk in the herd.  They were in a pasture on the mountainside.  Cattle were nearby also.  We were amazed!  We had seen a large herd of elk previously, but that was in Rocky Mountain NP.  These were just free-roaming.  Then we pulled into the campground and we saw a Bald Eagle.  It was soaring over the Salmon River right in front of the RV.  It is so awesome to see this wildlife!  And the view out the front window of the RV is beautiful and peaceful!

  I would highly recommend this campground if you are anywhere 

The name of it is"  Wagonhammer RV, North Fork, ID.