As we left Flaming Gorge, we dropped down into Utah where we caught US Hwy 40 at Vernal and took it east across the state line into Colorado. We made a quick stop at Dinosaur National Monument to check out the new facility. We had been there in 1989, I think it was, and I was interested in what they had done to it. The bones still looked the same.
We camped at the Yampa River State Park. Another nice park and another nearly empty park. Running late in the season certainly has its advantages. Past Steamboat Springs, we took State Hwy 14 toward Walden, Co. Coming down on the east side of the mountains, we encountered a rancher and his cow hands moving his herd down from the upper pastures for the winter.
If you will notice, the yellow hoodie cowboy is a cowgirl. Since we weren't going anywhere soon, I struck a conversation with her. She is how I knew they were moving the herd to winter pastures. She was also how I knew they had another herd about the same size a mile or two down the road. Oh well, I always did enjoy staring at the rear ends of young heifers. Once we got through the black stampede, we drove on through Fort Collins and to Jackson Lake for the night.
Having completed our tour of Yellowstone, we headed out the south entrance of the park toward the Grand Tetons. My puny photos can't possibly do the Tetons justice and more professional ones are available all over the place, so I'll just post a few to show we were there because we were...there, that is.
The Tetons were hidden in the clouds when we first got there but began to clear as we drew alongside. We did not make any side road trips, but the view from afar was still breathtaking. Continuing on south on US Hwy 89 through Jackson and on to Thayne, Wy. where we stopped for the night at a private campground. It was just a plain campground, nothing fancy, but it slept good. We had an interesting camper next to us.
This is a Mercedes Unimog (I believe that's what it is called). The campers were a youngish couple and their little kid - looked to be about 2. The guy was busy checking out his vehicle while the woman sat and entertained the kid on a blanket spread on the ground. The kid kept escaping and mom would chase him down and then try to occupy him back on the blanket. She was not very successful. After all, the kid was 2. The following morning I hauled out the water hose and squeegee and was washing the windshield when the next door neighbor came out. I spoke with him and as it turned out, they were a German family and had brought their vehicle over by ship. They had landed in Canada and had worked their way across Canada and had turned south through the U.S. They, like us, had just finished Yellowstone. However, we were about to head east toward home. They were heading for Mexico! What a trip. That kid will be ready for school by the time they get back home. We continued on south on Hwy 89. It took a slight jog across the state line into Idaho then back into Wyoming and picked up US Hwy 30. Taking Hwy 30 on toward Kemmerer, Wy., we came upon Fossil Butte National Monument...never heard of it, so we decided to look around. It was an interesting side trip. Fossil Butte is an area "where some of the world's best preserved fossils are found". We toured the roads around the park then stopped at the visitors center.
Interesting, but I had forgotten to pack my geologists tools, so we headed on down to Manila, Ut. and the Flaming Gorge KOA for the night. Flaming Gorge KOA is a nice RV resort, but we were there one day before it officially closed for the season, so it was pretty empty. It was a relaxing stop.
It was difficult to leave Ashton this morning. We have had such a wonderful time and those babies are such a treat. We love 'em all. But, we have to get home sometime this month. The postal service is holding our mail until the 28th. After that, they'll start returning to sender. We headed back up to Yellowstone through the west entrance. When we came to Ashton, we just cut across the park and didn't do much sight seeing. So, since we're here... We entered the park and drove on down to Old Faithful. Had a short wait, but watched her spout off at about 5:15 pm. Actually, I almost missed the show, but here's proof we were there.
We had no reservations anywhere, so I checked with a Ranger at the info desk at Old Faithful Visitor Center. He said about our only choice was Lewis Lake campground, which was great because we were heading that way (south) in the morning, anyway. We arrived at the campground just at dusk and went looking for a site. Actually, there were plenty open sites, but we needed a level one to make things easier. We latched onto site B-14. By then it was dark...deep forest dark...lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Well, there were bears shi, uh, hiding in those woods, anyway. Joyce fixed some dinner while I walked Ditto and shortly after that, we hit the sack. No bears had accosted Ditto or me. We had decided to tour the park again rather than head south for the Grand Tetons right away and it had been a long day, our first day back on the road.
We just about froze Monday night. The furnace quit on us in the middle of the night and being a National Park, there was no electrical power available to run our electric heater. When I got up, it was 32 degrees. The furnace would not light and the cooktop wouldn't even stay lit. Something was wrong with the gas, probably the regulator. Joyce was really upset and I wasn't far behind. If I couldn't get the gas to work, our vacation was over. But, as the morning sun started warming things up, the cooktop lit and stayed on. Eventually, the furnace did, too. I guess there was moisture in the propane regulator that froze up and when thawed out, everything worked normally. Maybe we can finish our vacation after all. We visited Yellowstone in July of 2014. It was not a pretty sight. I think half of China was there along with Los Angeles and portions of the rest of the world. The crowds and traffic made it totally "unfun", so we just scooted on out the other side. This time, being the early part of October, the scene was totally different. Oh, half the crowd was still Chinese (or, at least Oriental), but we could see actual gaps in the traffic flow. Nowhere did we have to jockey for parking. Heck, it was nearly empty! Except for the occasional roadblock.
We visited Yellowstone in 1970, too. I took a photo then of Joyce and the boys sitting on a bench in front of the Yellowstone Lower Falls (Dusty is in the photo, but not yet visible). Joyce couldn't make the walk to the same spot this time, but I did. While there, I got a fellow visitor to take my photo on that same bench...45 years later. How cool is that?
We had planned on leaving today. But, the Kerr siblings decided it was a perfect time to give Millie a surprize birthday party. Actually, her birthday isn't until Wednesday, but what the heck? We were here. Joyce and I needed to do some stocking up for our continued trip, so we borrowed Kensey's little Kia sedan, a 5-speed stick shift. I hadn't driven a stick in several years, but it came back quickly...except for the narrow footwell and my big fat Crocs. I had a little trouble fitting both feet down there at the same time. We went to St. Anthony for groceries, but the one and only grocery was closed, Sunday, you know. So, we went on to Rexburg. We found an Albertson's and both took a cart. When we checked out, I remembered I was driving a small Kia. I wasn't real sure we could get it all in. But, we did and headed back. While at the store, Joyce had picked up a single long-stem rose for Millie. Now why didn't I think of that? We got home and unloaded the car and Joyce had me present the rose to Millie. I felt a little, uh, like I was stealing since it was Joyce that had bought the rose. To manage the surprize party, we had to get Millie out of the house so the girls could decorate. Sky, Millie, Joyce and I - oh, and baby Pennie went for a drive. The "reason" was so Sky could show us where he worked. He extended the trip by running up into the foothills where he had done his student teaching at an outdoor classroom camp. The drive was amazing. The rolling hills of farmland, horse ranches and hay fields in the most wide open land I've seen. In the near distance, the open range land and pine forests. Another great drive.
We came back home to a houseful of excited kids and sisters and surprised Millie. We had ice cream and brownies and popped balloons between our bodies in a most interesting and maybe a little vulgar way.
Grandma Joyce did some babysitting during the melee'.
It was fun, but the evening was passing and Joyce and I were heading out in the morning. Goodnight all.
A nice day...no, a great day. Skyler wanted to take us all up to Teardrop Lake to show us where they camp. A picnic was in order. Sky packed up some port steaks and a bunch of fixin's, plus Smores parts and pieces (marshmallows, Graham crackers, and Hershey bars). We had to take two vehicles as Millie's Suburban is a big vehicle, but it couldn't handle ten passengers, especially since five of them required car seats. So, Whitney took her Chevy sedan as well. The drive was beautiful, climbing into the foothills of the Teton Range. We drove up past Warm River campground and just kept going. The road turned into one I was a little dubious Whitney's sedan should attempt, but she hung in there. Eventually, we came to a beautiful lake.
Actually, Whitney had beaten us there because Skyler had taken us up to see their "secret" campsite, waaay back in the woods with the deer, elk, and bears. Bears! Funny story. Sky had taken his sister Kensey along to camp there a few weeks ago. He had done such a good job of describing the hazards of meeting with the local bears that Kensey was a bit more than concerned. Sky volunteered to fire off a shot or two from his pistol to make sure the bears kept their distance. I guess it worked. Kensey is still with us. Anyway, we caught up with Whitney at the lake. The best picnic spot was across a little stream that was the overflow for the lake. It didn't look like much sitting in Millie's Suburban, but we weren't sure about Whitney's Chevy. But, Sky said he had a tow strap in the back and just charged on across the stream leaving Whitney to fend for herself. She did and came rolling up behind Sky at the fire pit. We all jumped out and started setting up chairs and dragging out picnic stuff. It didn't take long for us to realize the light jackets we had worn weren't going to be sufficient. Sky started building a fire, so we decided we might be okay. But, our Jeremiah Johnson was a little slow at getting a decent fire going.
Most of us were beginning to shiver and hiding behind trees to block the wind. That wind! It would have been plenty warm enough without that wind.
The big decision came down fairly quickly. It would be Smores only. So, after several burned tongues, sticky fingers and marshmallow wads on shirt sleeves and blue jean knees, Sky poured water on the small fire he had started, we packed up and headed back. On the way, we were blessed with a good view of a moose strolling in a roadside meadow.
After traveling across North Dakota, much of Montana and through Yellowstone, we finally saw a moose just a few miles from Ashton. It was a fine finish to a fine day...except for that sharp wind.
Addey was off to work early in her new long-sleeved shirt she had bought at the D. I. store and Skyler off for his 5th day on his new job. Skyler’s oldest sister, Whitney and her three kids were coming up from Salt Lake City to stay for a week. After a few fits and starts, Whitney called to let us know she would be in around 6 pm. Joyce, Millie and I had a late breakfast and we did some laundry. Then Skyler came home early. Sky and I goofed off with Rosie in the TV room and before we knew it. Whitney rolled in around 7. The noise level immediately went up several db. Whitney has a five year old girl, Pepper and a four year old boy named Kade and a beautiful little 6 month old girl, Emree. To say Kade keeps things stirred up is to put it mildly. He’s a handful. His big sister is not big enough to keep him from doing his “deeds” on her. Alone, he’s a sweet little boy. Mix him in with Rosie and Pepper and his spots seem to change right before your eyes. It’s going to be an interesting week. We did some more catching up with Whitney and her kids (we had met with them in early September in New York when we visited her daddy, our oldest).
Skyler went off to work. Addey took the day off and the girls all went to the D. I. store (Desaret Industries, sort of a Goodwill type store) in Rexburg to see what bargains they could drum up. I was left home alone. It sure was quiet. I managed to finish Skyler’s laptop (updated it to Windows 10) then went to the local visitors center and dumped the RV’s waste tanks. Just as we arrived in Ashton on Tuesday, the DEF warning light had come on, so I stopped at an auto parts store and bought a 2.5 gal jugs of it. When I got home, Skyler was there, home from work. He helped me park on the leveling blocks again and I topped off the DEF and fresh water. Empty waste tanks, full fresh water tanks and DEF topped off. We were set for a few more days. When the girls got home Skyler and Millie cooked up some delicious chicken fajitas and that about finished off the day. Millie took Joyce to her salon to cut her hair and give her a pedicure. Addey drove them and Rosie went along for the ride. Skyler and I watch The Bourne Identity and babysat Pennie. Dollie (the dog) helped by keeping watch on Pennie in the bedroom. She would come in and jump on Sky’s lap for a few minutes, only to return to the bedroom to resume her baby watch. Good little watchdog. After the girls got back home, Grandma Joyce was put in the hospital.
