West Yellowstone

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Thursday
Time to leave Jackson and our campground home for the past 5 nights and hit the road.  It got down to 31° last night and I just couldn't keep warm. It was my fault, I just didn't put on enough clothes.  Get this.  Rick was fine.  Mr. I Am Always Cold was fine!  I'll probably never live this one down.  He did a great job at warming me up this morning, though, with a propane heater and extra covers of clothes. Once the sun came up over the mountains, it warmed up quickly. We emptied our bear box, took down the camper, loaded up & headed out.  We went north through Grand Teton National Park and into the south entrance of Yellowstone. Rick surprised me and had made reservations for us at a place called Hibernation Station in West Yellowstone, MT!  It was about a 130-mile drive so after a late start,  slow going through the park (a max speed of 45 mph), and stopping to see wildlife, we got to our little log cabin about 5pm. Yes, log cabin.  It is the cutest thing and I am beyond excited!  West Yellowstone is a neat little town with everything we could possibly need.  It'll be home until Monday morning and it sure is happy trails for me! 

The Bar J Wranglers

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

With yesterday behind us we were excited for today.  We made a trip back to "The Missing Sock" to dry our clothes so, once again, we were warm, dry and ready to go. 
Our first stop was to Teton Village to ride the tram up Rendezvous Mountain. It was a beautiful ride and once you were on top you had a 360° view of the Snake Valley that was amazing.
Then, for our last night in Jackson, we had tickets for a chuck wagon dinner/western show put on by the Bar J Wranglers. They are a very popular show in Jackson and it was one I really wanted to see. They sure didn't disappoint.
After a great dinner, the dad came out to tell their story. A very perfect old cowboy. He's retired now, but comes to shows now and then, and we were lucky enough to hit a night when he was there.  His two sons and three other men, (the Bar J Wranglers) then thoroughly entertained us for the next hour and a half.  They sang the greatest cowboy and western songs with absolute beautiful harmony.  They were so funny!  The two brothers were like the Smothers Brothers, for those of you who remember them. They sang sad songs, popular songs, patriotic songs, and their talent was just so impressive.  At the end, the dad came out to sing "Ol' Shep" and he had me crying through that.  We just enjoyed every minute.  Special thanks to my cousin, Terry & his wife, Jenny, for recommending the show.
We met the nicest couple there that lived in Jackson part of the year.  They said this was about their 12th time seeing the show and they never get tired of it.  They had lots of great suggestions for us when we visited Yellowstone.  It was great timing as we were leaving for there the next morning.  Last big stop before heading back home.  Happy trails.

P.S.  Happy, Happy Birthday to my beautiful niece, Karen.  We hope  your day is extra special and we love you.

The Saga of "The Missing Sock"

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Well, Mother Nature finally caught up with us.  We've been so lucky on this trip.  Yes, we've had some searing heat, a little rain, and some wind, but we've never really gotten wet or caught in any severe weather.  Sometimes it really looks like it's going to be a rotten day out here, but it doesn't rain at all, the sun comes out and it's a beautiful day. We've gotten very spoiled...until today.
It started out quite gloomy with  clouds hanging down very low in the valley. It didn't look like a good day to go riding at all so we decided to go to the Jackson Recreation Center for a swim & hot tub in the morning and then do laundry in the afternoon.  Laundry has not been an easy task on a motorcycle but we stuff wherever we can stuff and off we go to "The Missing Sock". It's important to note here that Rick needs to wash both pair of his jeans so he wore shorts and we took our rain suits out of the bike because we really needed the room. 
Well, several hours later the chore is done.  It still looks pretty threatening, but it isn't raining (and hasn't rained) so we load up and head back to the campground.  It's also important to note that the "The Missing Sock" and home base are about 16 miles apart. 
About one mile into the ride, it starts to sprinkle.  About three miles in it starts to rain.  We just get through town and it starts to rain really hard.  We are both cold and soaked by this time so we figure we might as well just keep going.  At first I started hearing these really loud raindrops against my helmet. I'm thinking, what in the world?  Then I start to feel like someone is pelting me with stones.  It's hailing!  Most of them were the size of peas or a little smaller but some were almost the size of garbanzo beans!  We were both hollering "ouch!" every few seconds but found out that didn't help.  Poor Rick is having to drive.....in shorts!  He was a little protected by the windshield and bike but definitely took the hits. It hailed for probably 5 minutes and then thankfully, it stopped.  We proceeded to the campground and were never so glad to see our little camper.  We were wet but safe and that's all that mattered. Another large storm and colder temps (low of 36°) rolled in later that night but our camper kept us mostly warm and dry.  I'm thinking it's time for hard walls. :)  Happy hailing trails.

Jackson Hole & Grand Teton National Park

Saturday, Sunday & Monday, September 14, 15, & 16, 2013

What a beautiful site!  We're back in the mountains and what beauties they are.  I guess I still haven't gotten my fill of them.  The Tetons are right up there with the best of them. 
We arrived in Jackson, WY mid-Saturday and proceeded directly to the Visitor Center.  It's a very busy, high traffic town, (much larger than expected) and we really wondered if we'd even find a place to stay. The guy at the center looked at us cross-eyed when we told him we needed a place to stay until we told him we had a camper and didn't need electricity.  He smiled then and directed us toward a campground called Gros Vente (Grow Vont) about 10 miles north of town and just south of Grand Teton National Park. It's also just beyond the National Elk Refuge that is home to 6-7 thousand elk in the winter. Great location and great park. We've met lots of very nice people there.
So.....our last three days have been spent doing a lot of riding in the area, scouting for wildlife, checking out the town, and living the camping life. Not too shabby.  We like to take a ride very late  afternoon or early evening just outside the campground.  Our first night we saw three beautiful elk not too far from the road and a short while later an entire herd of buffalo! There were so many of them, so close to the road, it was a little intimidating.  We kept a respectful distance being on a bike. They actually caused a traffic jam when they all decided to cross the road. What a wonderful site to see.
The next day we saw a moose and her calf in the woods. The biggest clue is a million cars pulled over to the side of the road. We didn't get a real good look but caught glimpses of them now & then.  We've seen large families of mule deer, pronghorn antelope and several lone buffalo.  I always wonder why they're out there all alone and not with the herd. Also saw a large elk herd but they were quite a distance from the road and difficult to see. It's so wonderful seeing all these animals in the wild.
The weather is not supposed to be very nice here the next couple of days. It's getting colder with frequent showers.  Same with Yellowstone, so we're going to stay put and do our errands and whatever else we can come up with between raindrops. I guess we're just not quite ready to leave here yet.  :)
Happy trails.
P.S.  We have no internet or phone service in the campground so I'm  running behind in blogging.  I'll do my best to catch up!

The Salmon River and Peaks & Craters

Friday, September 13, 2013

We ended up in Salmon, Idaho Thursday night after an unbelievably beautiful ride up along the Salmon River. You'll never guess what happened then.  We stayed at a wonderful motel called the Salmon River Motel!  First time since August 22nd that we've slept indoors, had electricity, and a bathtub. Almost forgot how fun that stuff is!  Rick spent 3 hours cleaning the trike and trailer while I sat in the tub, gave myself a manicure and a pedicure and had a quiet relaxing night.  Aaahhhh.....
Friday morning we left Salmon, dodging the raindrops, and headed south on the Peaks & Craters Scenic Byway towards Idaho Falls. We loved the peaks a lot more than the craters but like I read somewhere, "You can't appreciate one without the other." There apparently was a huge earthquake in that area in 1983 that created a 26-mile fault at the base of the mountain range.  It lowered the valley by 9 feet and the mountains actually raised. It swallowed a river and the small town is now called Lost River. 
For the first time in a long while, we left the mountains behind us and made our way into Idaho Falls. Interesting night there.  No room at the inn of campgrounds but the owner of one recommended a "free" camping area "down by the river" called South Tourist Park.  Sure enough.  We went down there, found a beautiful spot on the river and set up camp.  Well, it turned out, that while the rule was, "One Night Only", people had been living there all summer.  Many of them homeless and some just there to party.  There was a man and a young girl next door that were very friendly.  They had come upon hard times and had been staying there quite frequently, so they filled us in on all the scoop.  The police were there for quite a while before we went to bed and apparently our neighbor called them back in the middle of the night because he heard such terrible fighting from a tent down the way.  Rick and I never heard a thing, slept great through a rainstorm and headed out in the very cool morning aimed for Jackson, WY.  It looks like we're going to be struggling with the weather for the next few days. Temperatures have definitely dropped and thunderstorm chances increased to between 40 & 80%.  Oh well.....I guess we'll just have cool & rainy happy trails.

We Love Idaho!

Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday September 10, 11, & 12, 2013

We continue to make our way through Idaho this week and are truly enjoying every minute.  What a beautiful state!  We are driving about 200 miles each day so I haven't had much time to write at days end.  The routes are often through the mountains so our days are full and by the time we find our campsite, set up and grab a bite to eat, we're done. 
We are just amazed by the beauty we see every day and never knew there were so many different kinds of mountains. Tree covered, bald, rocky, brown, red, blue, green, sagebrush covered....it's just fun going around the next curve to see what's ahead.
For the most part, we are choosing backroads (sometimes that's all there are) but we have also gone through cities more populated like Ketchum, Sun Valley and Hailey.  Lots of money in some of those areas; huge homes, fancy golf courses, etc.  We stayed in Bellevue, south of Hailey, because there were no RV resorts that accepted tents. 
:(
One more day before our next big stop and that will be Jackson, WY and the Tetons.  From there, into Yellowstone National Park.  We plan on saving a good week and a half for those areas. It's hard to believe we're 30 days into this trip and by the 24th or 25th we'll be heading for home.
We'd like to say a special "Happy Birthday" to our sister-in-law, Lynnie, today.  We love you, hope it's the best and can't wait to see you in a few weeks!  Happy trails.

It's so hard to believe it's been 12 years since 9/11. In many ways, it seems like yesterday. We can never forget...

God Bless America.

Puttin' On the Miles in Idaho

Sunday & Monday, September 8 & 9 2013

As Libby is only about 35 miles from the western border of Montana, we entered Idaho and Pacific Time late Sunday morning.  The weather was cool, overcast and everything felt damp but it is supposed to improve and we are bound to see the sights and enjoy the ride.  Our first town in Idaho was Bonner's Ferry and from there we headed to a town called Sandpoint. I had read good things about the city and it seemed like a nice place, but there was a ton of road construction wherever you went. In the afternoon, the weather cleared and it ended up being a warm and comfortable 75 degrees.  We continued our drive and ended up in Coeur d'Alene for the night.  We chose the Wolf Lodge Campground as our resting place, having traveled 200 miles.  Coeur d'Alene is one of the most highly populated cities in Idaho with ~44,000 people.  It is a very pretty resort town with a huge lake surrounded by the mountains. We drove around the lake as we were leaving the next morning and it seemed like it never ended. Up, down and around for over 30 miles.  It was very beautiful with lots of fancy homes built into the mountain sides.
Monday was another 200-miler with us continuing to head south through the mountainous canyon areas. We are choosing "scenic byways" as we plot our course and have been thrilled with the results.  We have never seen mountains like some of those we are seeing in Idaho.  We were on the Nez Perce Indian Reservation for most of the afternoon, riding along the beautiful Clearwater River.  It got very hot out here again today with temps in the very high 80s. Both of us were very warm. We put away the rainsuits and sweats and went back to T-shirts!  These are long days of driving for Rick. Two hundred miles doesn't sound like a lot but when they are through the mountains, with all the twisting and turning, it's a lot.  He's been a real trooper.  We chose the town of Kamiah to stay overnight and we slept like rocks. It's still happy trails.