We drove through Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park and are spending the night in West Yellowstone at the Yellowstone Grizzly RV park. We stayed here in 2008 but had to leave early to get back to The Woodlands before hurricane IKE hit.
The drive was very scenic. Lots of Elk, Buffalo, Deer and oh yeah, sleet and snow! There were drifts of snow 10-12 FEET tall in Teton NP and only 8-10 FEET in Yellowstone NP. The freezing precipitation was so bad, I had to stop and scrape the ice off the windshield.
Do you think I might be a little early in the season for fishing?
When we arrived at the RV park we had a little problem when the surge suppressor system would not accept power from the park. Turns out it was us, not the park. A frantic call to the manufacturer confirmed the problem and they are sending us a part by priority mail to the KOA in Glacier NP. Judicious use of a rubber mallet on the offending system (this is how we fix a lot of problems in the aviation world) got it to take shore power so for tonight we are ok.
When we checked in they told us to disconnect the water hose tonight because they are expecting a hard freeze tonight.
After that little episode I climbed into the coach, opened the closet and the shelves and clothes bar had fallen off the wall! More of the 10 lbs in a 5 lbs sack issue. Luckily for us we were parked next to a Home Depot style store and one 2x4 and several new screws later we are back in business. Thank God I brought my tool box.
The cats, Spencer and Stella, are really getting into the RV lifestyle. Spencer now sits in the windshield to my left as we leave the parks. Once he approves of my route he walks across the dash and sits with either Abby or I depending on where the sun shines. Stella is now our unofficial "hood ornament" on the dash while underway.
IT'S A SMALL WORLD
When we entered Teton NP, I signed up for as Abby calls it, "the old farts pass". When I passed the park ranger my drivers license, she saw the Woodlands address and said "I live in Tomball". She also used to teach in the Aldine school district where Abby used to teach. She and her husband have a RV and they work in the National Parks in the summer to get out of the Houston heat.
When we were walking over to the hardware store we saw a RV just like ours. Turns out the owners used to live in Kingwood and are still members of the Kingwood Country Club. They are "work camping" here at Yellowstone.
Tomorrow we are headed to Great Falls, Montana.
TRIP STATS: 1701 miles driven. 3200 miles to go.
