After breakfast we went to town to the Yellowstone Foundation to get tickets to a fundraising dinner/dance/entertainment on Saturday. Also went to the visitor center to do the blog and went to the grocery store. After lunch I went fly fishing on the Madison river.
Judy watched me and knitted among the biting flies. I got three bites and one small trout which got off the barb less hook only a few feet away. Fun fishing. Soft taco’s for dinner and afterwards watched the president’s speech.
Wednesday September 11 Remember the day 12 years ago.
We drove the loop from Madison Junction to Norris to Canyon to Fishing Bridge to West Thumb and back home. Lots of bison in the Yellowstone River valley between Canyon and Fishing Bridge. Saw some otter too.
Drove a few miles South to Lake Village and had lunch at the Yellowstone Lake Lodge built in 1890 and had a nice lunch.
 |
| Lodge on Yellowstone lake |
On the way home from there, the traffic was stop and go for miles because of elk in several places along the way. Crepes for dinner, yummy.After eating we drove to the West Thumb geyser basin and walked around.
While we have been here we have watched a man installing snow sticks, or better known as snow markers… well….. Hope the weather stays for us. J
Thursday September 12
We were planning to go rockhounding but when we woke up it was raining so we decided to just take it easy today. It rained almost all day and we got about 0.2 inches of rain. We did go out for a while to the grocery store and a few other places. Nice quite day reading, knitting and kumihimo cord making.
Friday September 13
We got up and headed out North on Hwy 287 to the small junction town of Norris. At a place called Quake lake , just outside the park, we saw a big horned sheep on the road.
Really foggy until we got over the first range of mountains then it was nice and sunny. We got to Norris and headed Westerly about 6 miles up into the mountains. Very beautiful.
We went to several mine sites and found some beautiful quartz crystals on milky quartz. 
On the way home, thunderstorms were seen in the distance. Saw antelope too. Stopped in Ennis to look at some of the antique shops. Good fish dinner.This was a perfect day. On the way to our chosen location we stopped quickly when a beautiful Big horned Sheep stepped out in front of us. We took several pictures. What a treat….J
Saturday September 14
We slept in this morning. Rained off and on through out the day giving about 0.05 inches. In the evening we went to the “Happening” put on by the Yellowstone Foundation who support all kinds of charitable endeavors. Prime rib dinner, silent auction (Judy got a small purse), live auction and music by the “Midlife Chryslers”, a group made up of doctors and other medical professionals. We met some real old timers who were full of stories of the good old day. One lady was 94 and an other couple were in their mid 80’s.
Did not pack our real dress-up clothes, but we seemed to fit right in. Oh, how we danced….J
Sunday September 15
We left West Yellowstone and headed for the Grand Teton National Park. As we were passing the exit to Old Faithful, the two lanes were going down to one when some idiot with a trailer tried to pass as the lanes converge. He missed, could not go into the other lane for fear of a head on collision, and side swiped the front of the motor home. Luckily, he just hit the mirror, breaking the housing and one of the mirrors. He did not stop. Called 911 to report the hit and run and a ranger came and took our report. Called the insurance company also. We managed to get the mirror back in place and adjust it. Need to get the wide angle view mirror replaced. Drove out of the park and will spend the next few days at Flagg Ranch RV park. Nice place in the woods, no grass, no TV, no internet at our site. Very nice and rustic. Before dinner we went for a drive on the Grassy Lake road which is mostly dirt.
Saw three grouse on the trip. 
We drove as far as Grassy lake which is not a reservoir. We hoped to see moose or something. 
On the way back, stopped at a river bar on the Snake River and found some fun rocks.Thanks to “cool ”Richard our incident was handled with no ado. It was pretty frightening. I think the fela made the right decision… We are so very careful on the road… The parks are full of people from the big cities, and some from other countries. The speed limit does not always hold. J
Monday September 16
Left Flagg Ranch and headed into the Grand Teton National Park. Weather was good. We stopped at the Colter visitor center to check it out. A ranger was giving a talk about the history of the park. Part way through someone spotted a black bear about a quarter a mile away. The talk stopped and everyone ran to the rail of the deck to look. After the talk we headed further into the park stopping at various places enjoying the view of the mountains.
Thunder storms started up later in the afternoon and continued into the evening.
Tuesday September 17
Thunderstorms all night long. Got about 0.3 inch rain. Nice after breakfast, so we headed South into the park. The mountains were encased in clouds and rain. On the South end of the park is the L. Rockefeller Preserve which is a large amount of land donated to the park by Rockefeller. In the visitor center was a mural of mountains, lighted and was made up of small pictures of birds, flowers and animals.
We went down to the Moose entrance and took the back road to the town of Jackson.. We went to the auto parts store and got a replacement mirror for the motorhome. Also went to the Albertsons store which was huge. Judy and I thought it was the biggest grocery store we have ever been in. On the way home, we saw a bear which had just crossed the road and was heading into the wood. It must have been less then 200 yards when we first saw it.
Thunderstorms with rain started again after dinner.Richard has now completed his wish list, as to the animals he wanted to see, save --- the illusive Moose… We will double our scope, by riding in the RV. I can not say enough about the pristine beauty of this park. It is a close second in my heart to Glacier Park. What a beautiful country. There will be pictures to tempt you to come, or to refresh your memory. J
Wednesday September 18
We left the flag ranch after a night of rain. Headed South through the Grand Teton National Park and noticed snow on the mountains. We knew it got cold last night. In Jackson took hwy 26 to Twin Falls which follows the Snake River most of the way. The road was twisty and not the best. When we got into Idaho, there were high winds of 25 mph with gusts to 35 according to the weather man. I had a hard time driving. In Twin Falls we took I-15 North to Dillon and now the wind was more to our back so driving was much easier. We spent the night at Countryside RV park space C-8. We had a nice pork chop dinner and saw a pretty sun set. R
Whew, an ugly day of travel… windey roads .and wind …. so there was the snow on the Tetons this morning…telling us to head for home… unfortunately the Moose stayed in his comfortable spot, .so no sighting we will be in our cozy nest soon. J
Thursday September 18
Left Dillon and continued heading North to I-90. Drove to Missoula and stayed in the local Wal-Mart “RV park.” Weather much better.
Great drive from Dillon to Butte, then on to Missoula. Blue skies and sun shine where life goes on in these small towns and ranches. J
Friday September 19
Drove from Missoula to Cheney, WA and checked into the Ponderosa RV park taking spot R-1. We called granddaughter Jessica and make plans to have her and her room mate over for dinner tomorrow.
I failed to mention the welcoming committee that awaited us as we took possession of our RV site near the Tetons. Right away we noted a very busy grey squirrel, running from one tree to another. We got hooked up, fixed lunch and as we started our meal, I saw a very pert grey rodent, inside the RV. Richard got up, and, the fury one disappeared. Come to find out there is an entrance from the outside front of the bus to the inside…at least one small enough for live creatchers to pass… I swear I saw him waving as we left the beautiful area. We hope to return. J
No comments:
Post a Comment