Road Trip 2010 Blog 3

Blog Week 3 July 4^th 2010

On July 3^rd, in Teton Village, the local ski resort, there was a free concert by a local musician, and fireworks. We didn’t expect too much from the fireworks, but we were quite wrong. They put on a beautiful display for us, with the beauty of the Tetons behind us, and the sound of the explosions echoing off the mountains. It was truly memorable.

On the fourth, the city of Jackson puts on an annual concert called Music in the Hole. It was a huge gathering of young and old alike for four hours of music. Then we all moved across town to watch the fireworks at the other ski resort in town. Again, much more than we expected!!

Left Jackson Hole and headed for Yellowstone. We have waited all our lives for this visit. For some reason, neither Normie nor I have ever been. So this was our chance to mark this one off of our bucket lists. Drove all day, until we got to the first campground in Yellowstone. As you all know, we don’t make reservations. Why? Because we never know where we will be on what date. So reservations would only be cancelled or missed. Serendipity. Upon arrival, we noted the line of at least 20 people and rv’s waiting for check-in. oops. Normie got out to get into that line while I pulled the rv into the only available parking spot that I was sure to fit while waiting for her. I was blocking the road, so I began to park in that tight-fit spot. Apparently those who don’t know that I can park my trailer with very little clearance, have a tendency to panic while watching me move my rig. Well, this time it worked to our advantage! A lady from the office came running out in a panic to tell me that I was going to hit the Prevost bus that was four inches away! Pleeeeeze! I had four inches! She asked if we had a reservation, no. Oh, then you won’t get in here! Now you are blocking the driveway! Let me check Fishing Bridge Campground to see if I can get you in there. DON’T MOVE!!!, , , (pause 5 minutes) OK. Good news, we are holding a site for you there. Now you can back out and clear our driveway!! Serendipity. Come to find out that the entire park was full with either reservations or “first come, first served” campers.

Five full days of exploring Yellowstone were incredible. We saw pretty much everything. Old Faithful and surrounds. Buffalo galore. Bears. . . black and grizzly! Elk, deer, muskrat and more. Suffice it to say, we were totally satisfied with our visit. Too much to put into a blog, and would probably bore you to death. Unless we had been attacked by a bison. But alas, we were not. No moose to be had. We heard there were wolves, but did not see any either.

Leaving Yellowstone, we were stopped by a construction crew. We figured it was due to road construction. Partially right. The 20 minute delay was caused by a rogue buffalo blocking the road! He couldn’t go down into the river as there were concrete barriers from the construction. And he couldn’t go uphill because it was a rock face mountain. So they had to herd him out! We were the first vehicle in line, so we got a full view of this buffalo running down the narrow two-lane mountain road with a construction truck closely behind with lights flashing! I had my camera on video, leaning out of my window, until the bison made eye contact and basically gave me a look that said, “don’t mess with me, I am in no mood!” He came within a couple of feet of my window as he passed. Very cool.

On the way to Salmon, Idaho, we had some time to kill, so we took the scenic byway. We had seen signs telling about the Nez Perce Historic Byway. It was paved, so we thought, this should be nice. About 20 miles in, we joked about running out of road and ending up in dirt for a hundred miles. Well, about two minutes later. . . . Serendipity. Dirt road. For the next 30 miles, we were just like the Nez Perce Tribe, only rolling. They dragged their belongings behind them and walked. And we had nobody chasing us. They were being chased off of their own land by the American Cavalry. Chief Joseph was a peace loving chief, so he chose to flee and keep his tribe together. That wasn’t good enough for the new “owners” of the land, they wanted him corralled and put on a reservation, or dead. Okay, so we weren’t like them at all. However, we encountered a raging wind and rain storm that had me quite concerned that we would be blown over at any moment. It was truly a violent prairie wind and rain blowing across, not down. All I could picture was how I was going to roll my 35 ft. fifth wheel back onto its wheels when this was all over. Whew, we survived. Okay, too dramatic? Had to feel like we were Natives somehow, fighting Mother Nature for our very lives.

Arrived safely at Marc & Jan’s home in Elk Bend, Idaho. Civilization at last. Or is it?

Road Trip 2010 Bog 2

Blog 2 Week 2

Went on Alpine Coaster in Park City. If you haven’t seen videos of it, you are in for a treat. We first saw the coaster in a new weekly show called “Bert the Conquerer”. You must record it! Anyway, we knew, after seeing Bert ride the Coaster, that we had to make a side trip to Park City, Utah to ride this ride. So, instead of Salt Lake City, we turned northeast and came here. It was totally worth the detour. The Coaster sits on rails just like the Matterhorn ride at Disneyland. We were told that it takes 2 minutes to get down the mountain if you don’t use the brakes. The young man at the ride assured us that the ride does not require us to brake at any time, and that we were perfectly safe going all the way without them. In fact, it would be more fun!! Now to talk Normie into agreeing! She agreed that we don’t have brake control on the Matterhorn or Space Mountain, so why not here? Yeah!!!! This ride was off the hook!! There should be one at every ski resort in the nation! The reason for the two videos, is that while turning a hairy curve, holding the camera with my right hand, my finger touched the “off” button!!! Crap!! Now I had to look at the camera, while screaming, and trying to enjoy the ride, in order to get back into video mode! Yeah, fun stuff. Succeeded, don’t know how much was missed, but didn’t want to spend another $40 so you guys could see the un-cut version. So, sorry!! Flashback to our ski lift ride in New Hampshire to see Fall colors, (camera mishap, videod in black and white!!). Suffice it to say we were still shaking as we got off the ride. . (click here for our 2 videos Alpine Coaster Videos ).

After the rides, we toured Park City, old town look and feel, but typical touristy type shops.

We did make it to the Olympic Training Center, the site of the 2002 Winter Olympics. At least we made it to the front gate. The park had closed 20 minutes earlier. We considered a “National Lampoon” moment at the gates of Wally World. Well, I considered it! But I didn’t have a BB-gun. And the Moose out front didn’t tell us!!

We left Park City to get to Yellowstone the same day. Got to an exit with a sign saying, “Jackson” to the right. Well, we have never been to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, so why not see it and the Grand Tetons first? Serendipity. Talked to a guy at the truck stop next to the exit, and he said that the road was a more beautiful drive than the 15 Fwy route we were on, but would take longer if we had the time. If we had the time? We have nothing BUT time!! He was right, it was a beautiful drive thru the pass to Jackson. Upon arriving in Jackson, we started making phone calls to RV parks to find a spot for the night. Our first call to the Virginian RV Park in town, resulted in a chuckle from the proprietor. Apparently we were unaware that this was 4^th of July week!! Well, yeah, we were unaware. Anyway, he laughed and said that he was fully booked for the week, and so was every other park in the area. I made the mistake of asking how much it would be if he DID have a spot. He said, $68 a nite!!!! Hahahahaha, joke was on him!! I would have never spent $68 a nite. Sucker!!!! He did advise us that the National Forest had campgrounds for dry camping. Since we are totally self-contained, we opted to try this choice. Headed south out of town the way we had come in, since we had already seen several campground opportunities. Got about 10 miles out of town, when the red “battery warning” light on the truck dash lit up. Oh, yeah, serendipity. What now? Well, stop in as soon as you can, because you will soon have no power to your brakes, truck and trailer. Did I mention that we are about 25,000 pounds moving down the road at 65 mph at dusk, almost dark? (Another flashback, Chicago, 2007, see blog). Serendipity or Déjà vu? OK, so we made it to a campground. Right on the Snake River. Beautiful spot! Yep, Serendipity!!!!! And only $15 a night. Hehehehe. We will deal with the truck tomorrow.

Turns out that the burning smell we smelled was not the truck in front of us. It was us! The alternator had burned up. Decided to take our chances and drive back into Jackson Hole to find a mechanic that wouldn’t try to steal our entire retirement fund out from under us. Did I mention that there is no cell phone service in the National Forest area? Couldn’t have even called for a tow truck. After a couple of calls when we got into town the next day, found a guy that answered his phone by simply saying, “Diesel”. That was music to my ears. I already knew this was going to be our mechanic. After discussing the problem, he told me to come on in and he would have a look at it. Turns out, he was only a block away. When we got there, he waved us into the garage/barn workshop. They must have had 20 vehicles needing repairs, but he put a mechanic on ours while we were sitting in the truck! Immediately they agreed it was the alternator. At that moment, the parts delivery truck pulled up with our new alternator. I was amazed. Dave, the boss, said that he ordered it when we were on the phone with him so he would be ready for us. How awesome is that??!!?! We were out of there in 45 minutes and they only charged us what we would have paid in So Cal. God Bless real, honest, red-blooded Americans! Sometimes you have to leave home to remember that there are still people out there who are not trying to take your money. If you are ever stranded in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, go to Auto & Diesel Repair, and ask for Dave. You won’t be sorry.

The Grand Tetons were aptly named. Not only do they resemble “tetons”, but they are truly grand! The first glimpse of them takes your breath away and has you reaching for your camera. Why?, Because you can’t believe that there is something as majestic as this park available for us to get to and visit! A must see if you ever get the chance. Pics will be posted for those of you living vicariously thru this blog.

There are several lakes at the foot of these mountains, and we have had the pleasure of visiting Jenny Lake so far. It is the one you see when you see ads for the park. We have had a bike ride along one shore and a hike to the far side of the lake along the other shore to see the waterfalls. Simply beautiful.

We have been on a quest to see moose for three years now. Ever since our failed attempts in New Hampshire and Maine in 2007. Well, we have seen three so far. All at a distance of at least 200 feet, but moose nonetheless. I am happy, Norma considers that too far to be satisfactory. I think she wants us to have to run from one chasing us in order to qualify as a sighting. We have heard of bear sightings, but none by us, yet. We hope to experience that too.

The week has been wonderful in spite of the minor setbacks. By the way, did I mention that we got a speeding ticket driving into town? Happy 4^th!!!! Miss you all.