Well we just spent three days in Yellowstone! No Internet
here and even spotty phone service although you could usually get a call out
when you needed to. We left Cody about 10:40. Joanne had heard about a good place
to buy boots so we went by there about 10 and after 40 minutes Joanne walked
out with a new pair. We headed to Yellowstone and in about 1 hour we were
already at the east gate. It took us about another hour and half to reach the
campground. We stayed at Bay Bridge campground and with our senior citizen
discount we would pay only $12 a night. This campground had water and flush
toilets! You could say luxurious. Right when we pulled in a lone Bison walked
through the campground and greeted us. After he moved on we set up camp had
lunch and set out to West Thumb Geyser. We took turns watching the dogs and
viewing the geyser. West Thumb is right on Yellowstone Lake and very large.
What a great way to start our visit to the park. By the time we got back it was
around 5 and everyone was ready for their daily nap. After a nap Lyn fixed a
great dinner that we finished around 9. Perfect timing as there is another
amphitheatre at this campground and tonight they were going to talk about
wolves. We enjoyed a great presentation in the cool of the night and headed
back to our campsite. Tonight it would be in the low 40’s. A little high for
Yellowstone this time of year but plenty cold for a good nights sleep. The
night went well except for the occasional slip of a blanket that would cause
you to wake up freezing and cover your self back up. Jasper worked his way
under our blankets in the middle of the night and warmed us up completely. We
woke up about 6 am and it was cold outside. I decided to build a fire and then
fixed breakfast. It was great to sit around the fire while the temperature had
barely hit 50. Not bad for the middle of July! We had to drive 4 miles to take
a shower at another campground. It was across the famous “Fishing Bridge” which
is beautiful anytime of day but at 7AM ……….well what can I say I do not have
the vocabulary to describe it. Lets just say if you have the opportunity to
hang out there on any given morning you should take the time to do it. You will
be better for it. After we got back we headed out for day two of Yellowstone.
We decided to do the bottom loop. This would take about 6 hours counting the
many stops and time for lunch. We stopped at the “Grand Canyon” of Yellowstone
and some idiot suggested that we do Uncle Tom’s trail. (Of course that idiot
would be me.) We would be able to view the upper falls from the bottom. The
trail started off slightly down hill and Joanne, Lyn and myself gladly walked
down the winding trail and finally the trail turned to the occasional case of
stairs and further on it turned into just stairs. Not wimpy stairs mind you
stairs that were just one step away from being considered a ladder. Every time
we stopped and considered turning around the view got better. We kept pushing
ahead. The funny thing is that all of the people going down were laughing and joking
around. All of the people coming up looked stressed and those that could utter
a word cannot be quoted here. J
Anyway we finally made it to the bottom and were rewarded with a fantastic view
of the upper falls. After starting
to go back up I figured out that we were in trouble in about 5 minutes. It took
us about 35 minutes to climb back to the top. My Dad greeted us wondering what
took us so long and none of us could utter a word. Next stop Midway Geyser
Basin. We had recovered by the time we stopped here. Lyn, Joanne and myself
went and toured the Geyser while my Dad watched the dogs. It was really nice
and we got back in the car with a little more vigor this time. We had lunch at
Old faithful and got to see it do its thing and then went and toured the Old
Faithful lodge. Naptime was near
so we headed back to camp took a nap. It was bit hot but we made do and ate
another one of Lyn’s great meals around 8. We saw another ranger program about
discovering Yellowstone and headed to bed about 10:30PM. After another great
night of sleep Lyn and I got up about 6. We had breakfast and decided to take
an early shower. Lyn had planned on doing her make-up and drying her hair there
since they had a very nice facility. I found a place to charge my phone and got
ready for a long wait. Surprisingly Lyn came out really fast. I asked her why
she did not do her hair and she said the mirrors were to high and she could not
see herself in them…. Ha Ha! That’s life at 4 foot 10 inches!! We decided to
head down to the Grand Tetons. Some people refer to these as a\the American
Alps. They do not disappoint! (See the pictures below.) In any National Park
you do a lot of driving to get from point to point. During this time I found
out that Joanne has a condition known as Auto-narcolepsy. Anytime she rides in
the car she can be asleep in 5 minutes. Usually we would be riding along and a
beautiful view would pop out through the trees. My Dad would yell Joanne’s name
to wake her up she would be startled a wake and yell something like “lake…got
it!” This happened about every 10 minutes through out the entire park. It was
very entertaining! Thanks Joanne! We stopped at the visitor center and then
walked around back to the Marina where some of the best views of the Tetons
are. After that we took a two-hour tour around the park stopping at Jackson
Lodge for lunch. We brought our own picnic lunch and had it right in front of
the hotel looking out over the mountains. It was priceless! After touring the
Tetons we headed back to camp and arrived around 5. Lyn fixed Spaghetti and
salad and we finished up around 7:30. It was already starting to cool off so we
just sat around camp while waiting for the nightly ranger show. One thing that
has been hard at Yellowstone is not having access to wifi and the Internet.
Even our phones were limited and can rarely get the Internet to work. So to
find out information you have to use all of your resources. That may include rangers and word of
mouth from other campers. We had
been trying to get information on Glacier Park our next Destination. We had
been especially interested in the weather since things have been a little
hotter than usual these past few days. All of a sudden my Dad gets a call from
the “Mole” a childhood friend who’s real name is Dane (He calls my Dad “Turtle”
for reasons better left unknown.) that had been looking up the weather for us.
Thanks to that call we now knew that we going to be treated with Daily
temperatures that will be 10 degrees cooler than here. Thanks Dane
you are a lifesaver! We did not want “The Hot Woman” to return! Ha Ha! After
the ranger show we went to bed about 11. I woke up at 12 and could not sleep
for some reason. I could hear a father in the distance yelling at his kid that
had to have a midnight bathroom break. I also heard hushed conversations around
the camp. I l so heard something like an electric fan being turned on and off.
It was like woosh and then woosh and then woosh. Kind of strange since there is
no electricity in the camp. As I lay there this sound started getting closer
and closer. Finally the sound arrived at our tent accompanied by heavy footsteps
and the sound of something eating grass. By this time Lyn and I were fully
awake and both quietly listening to this noise that just got louder and louder.
I wondered if maybe the lone bison had come back. The sound grew louder as it
got up to the tent and as we waited for it to pass on by it started to circle
our tent. By now it was obvious that this sound was that of a large bear
checking out our tent not a Bison. The sound was the bear exhaling. I had
already grabbed Jasper and kept him in a wrestling hold with my hand forcefully
covering his mouth. I could tell he wanted to bark but he made now whining
sounds. The three of us waited quietly for the Bear to leave but it kept
circling our tent. We could hear every exhaled breath along with every footstep
and the occasional rooting along the ground. Our heartbeats increased with
every sound while we tried to remain as silent as possible. At the ranger show
that night we learned a little about bears. They told us that the black bears
were mainly to the north and the grizzly bears wear the ones that were known to
come through our campground. Lyn and I were both praying and waited for what
seemed like ever for the sounds to move away from our tent. Finally it moved
away by maybe 10 yards. We had to decide what to do. The problem was to get to
the car I had to get the keys, put Jasper’s leash on and then unzip the tent.
The zipper alone would make a lot of noise so while we were debating quietly it
came back. Finally it moved away and we could not hear it any more. We quietly
went to the car and got in. We felt safe but our hearts were pounding. Our car
was next to Joanne and Dad’s car. We decided to let them sleep as we could blow
the car horn if it came back and we felt like it had left. This was by far the
scariest moment of my entire life and I am sure it was for Lyn as well. We slept
off and on in the car for the rest of the night. Tomorrow we head off to Glacier
National Park. We shall see if we camp in our tent or try our hand at car
camping! (Sleeping in the car.) Either way the adventure continues and I am
glad to be on it!
Finally Yellowstone!
Bison in on our campsite!
Brutal but beautiful!
Uncle Tom's trail.
Joanne and Lyn at Midway Geyser.
Dad talking to the "Mole".
Upper Falls!
The Grand Tetons!
Marina Grand Tetons!
Dad and Noel Grand Tetons marina!
Lunch time!
Grand Tetons marina!
This guy drove his entire family from Tennessee in this 1964 Olds 98!
Dinner time!
Roosevelt Tower (North entrance to Yellowstone.)
