(Lisa) We woke up, ate some cereal, packed up the camper and left the beautiful KOA about 10:15. We drove into W. Yellowstone and I bought a few groceries at the store titled “Supermarket.” Drove through Yellowstone-said goodbye-and right into Grand Teton National Park. Stopped for a picnic at Lewis Lake and then for some photos at Lewis Falls. Found Coulter Bay Campground about 2:00. We’re in sight #2. We got the camper set up and bear-proofed and explored the area. WOW (again) at the most amazing view from about ¼ mile from our campground. The Grand Teton Mountains are right there on Lake Jackson. Talk about breath taking! (We’ll post pics of this tomorrow) Ate some Trader Joes ravioli and a great salad.
Right now we are sitting outside the laundromat where the wifi signal is strong. That is why we are able to post photos. After we finish here, we are going to sit in our chairs on the lake’s edge and watch the sun set behind the mountains. Ahhhhhhhh. We are going to try and get to sleep early so we can get up early and venture out. This national park is spectacular. Oh, we saw some elk today but no other critters. Another day in paradise.
BE SURE AND LOOK AT THE 2 POSTS BEFORE THIS ONE...THEY ARE STRICTLY PHOTOS!!
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Pistols and Holsters
(Lisa) Last day at the KOA….this morning Paul went to the coffee stand and got a coffee for him and a chai tea for me! This is quite a great campground. They have a store with homemade fudge! We already bought and ate some peanut butter/chocolate fudge and last night we bought some raspberry/chocolate fudge. Paul may even go buy another flavor tonight…who knows? We’re on a 25 year anniversary vacation! Oh, back to the morning…we had a big breakfast and headed out to see a few more geyser spots. We went to Midway Geyser Basin and saw the Excelsior Geyser which was amazing but to top that was the Grand Prismatic Spring. Wow. If we can post pics, then we’ll try to get that one showing. Afterwards we went to Biscuit Basin where some German guy walked off the boardwalk and took a picture of a geyser that erupts every 7-10 minutes. WHAT??? This other guy was yelling at him to get back on the boardwalk-he ignored him. Literally he was about 45 seconds away from being burned b/c the geyser went off. It was really bizarre. No Park Ranger in sight.
We then zipped into Old Faithful to shop around. Saw it erupt-again! Next was the Black Sand Basin and then we headed back to West Yellowstone. We enjoyed a yummy pizza at the Wild West Pizzaria. It was funny b/c the bathrooms were labeled pistols and holsters-you figure out which was which. The pizza was a great treat, then we walked around and bought some touristy stuff that I love! For the first time, on the way back to the KOA, it rained on us. We have been chilling in the camper-had a good rainstorm and started packing up a little.
We saw the same wiley coyote we saw yesterday. He was carrying a TNT box with ACME on the side. We think we saw a roadrunner just ahead of him. There were lots of elk hanging out at the same spot on the Madison River. There was even a tiny island in the middle where about 6 of them were chillin’. Didn’t see a moose yet. Those moose are not very friendly, they stay hiding. I refuse to buy any Yellowstone shirt or anything with a moose on it until we actually see one. Taking a stand!
(Paul) Too bad that nice cowboy saved that dumb German dude from burning his veenersnitzel to a crisp. Would have made a nice picture. Seriously! He was 30 yards off the boardwalk standing over a geyser that goes off every 7-10 minutes with 20 foot bursts of 300 degree water. And he was standing down wind. What a doofus! There’s like warning signs everywhere in 5 different languages (German being one of them).
Today was basically a chillin’ in Y’stone day. Finished up some loose ends and I can’t believe we didn’t have the Grand Prismatic Spring and Excelsior Geyser on the must see list. These along with the Brink of Upper Falls and Artist’s Point were colossal, majestic and grand in scale, color and sound.
Then it was to the nick-nack shops. Holy cow! Lisa is as picky about t-shirts as I am hats. Likes this color but not what’s printed on the shirt. Like’s what’s on this shirt but not the color. In a land of 100,000 made ready t-shirts we had to have one special printed onto the perfect color shirt for Lisa. Throw me to the momma grizzly. The process of finding Lisa the perfect t-shirt was more painful than any hike I’ve ever been on.
P.S. – Unlike my beautiful spouse I paid homage to the e-moose-ive one. Only 200 moose roam YS as compared to 3000 buffalo. I have a pre-printed YS t-shirt with a moose on it. That’s right! A moose. Holding onto hope of a sighting in the Grand Teton’s. It will happen.
We then zipped into Old Faithful to shop around. Saw it erupt-again! Next was the Black Sand Basin and then we headed back to West Yellowstone. We enjoyed a yummy pizza at the Wild West Pizzaria. It was funny b/c the bathrooms were labeled pistols and holsters-you figure out which was which. The pizza was a great treat, then we walked around and bought some touristy stuff that I love! For the first time, on the way back to the KOA, it rained on us. We have been chilling in the camper-had a good rainstorm and started packing up a little.
We saw the same wiley coyote we saw yesterday. He was carrying a TNT box with ACME on the side. We think we saw a roadrunner just ahead of him. There were lots of elk hanging out at the same spot on the Madison River. There was even a tiny island in the middle where about 6 of them were chillin’. Didn’t see a moose yet. Those moose are not very friendly, they stay hiding. I refuse to buy any Yellowstone shirt or anything with a moose on it until we actually see one. Taking a stand!
(Paul) Too bad that nice cowboy saved that dumb German dude from burning his veenersnitzel to a crisp. Would have made a nice picture. Seriously! He was 30 yards off the boardwalk standing over a geyser that goes off every 7-10 minutes with 20 foot bursts of 300 degree water. And he was standing down wind. What a doofus! There’s like warning signs everywhere in 5 different languages (German being one of them).
Today was basically a chillin’ in Y’stone day. Finished up some loose ends and I can’t believe we didn’t have the Grand Prismatic Spring and Excelsior Geyser on the must see list. These along with the Brink of Upper Falls and Artist’s Point were colossal, majestic and grand in scale, color and sound.
Then it was to the nick-nack shops. Holy cow! Lisa is as picky about t-shirts as I am hats. Likes this color but not what’s printed on the shirt. Like’s what’s on this shirt but not the color. In a land of 100,000 made ready t-shirts we had to have one special printed onto the perfect color shirt for Lisa. Throw me to the momma grizzly. The process of finding Lisa the perfect t-shirt was more painful than any hike I’ve ever been on.
P.S. – Unlike my beautiful spouse I paid homage to the e-moose-ive one. Only 200 moose roam YS as compared to 3000 buffalo. I have a pre-printed YS t-shirt with a moose on it. That’s right! A moose. Holding onto hope of a sighting in the Grand Teton’s. It will happen.
We're Talking Bear Necessities, the Simple Bear Necessities....
(Paul) Today was another beauty. The weather was perfect. Blue skies with cotton ball clouds. Driving into the park this morning we saw a coyote right off the bat. It was just running down the side of the road, panting, kinda thin and looking a bit distressed in my opinion. Then it was on to the Norris Geyser Basin. It lived up to it’s gassy, sulphuric, bubbly, steamy reputation. We also saw several springs and pools.
Then it was on to Mammoth Springs (picking up where we left off the other day) – you remember “tiny hurting pieces”? Sadly on this day Mother Nature chose to show us Mammoth Dry Springs. Still a beautiful scene but it wasn’t the same without the flowing, hissing water. Oh, and on the way here we saw another coyote but this one was bigger and healthier. Got some pic’s but he was a good 400+ yards away so it tested the limits of my photo gear.
No worries though… on to the Black Tail Plateau. It was a scenic 6-mile, 4-wheel drive through the highlands of northeast Yellowstone. Lots of wildflowers and another buffalo. But this dude was a handsome boy. He’d shed all of his winter coat and was a dark, dark, brown. I was putting along at no more than 10mph and he had his eye on me from maybe 50 yards away. He looked confident… almost cocky. I have to admit that my first thought was “If he charges, I’m gunning it outta here. No way I’m letting him dent up my sweet pick ‘em up truck.” But we played it cool and he strolled across the road in front of us at 30-35 yards. He was all puffy chested and I read his mind when he paused and locked eyes with me. He said, “That’s right city boy. Stay in your little red wagon while I stroll over here.” It’s killing me we can’t get pictures posted.
Next was Tower Falls. I like waterfalls. I want one. From there it was time to head back to base camp but we hit another bear jam. But something was different about this one. There was a big yellow Yellowstone tour bus, and amongst the hoards of people with their camera’s there were two photographers with 2 foot long lenses and 5 foot tripods. You don’t see this kinda equipment for elk so we bolted from the truck and were about 100 yards away from a momma grizzly and her two cubs. Got about a dozen pic’s, in good sun, and then momma started coming up the mountainside right in the direction of us “intrusive humans”. The Ranger demanded everyone get BACK IN YOUR CARS AND LEAVE NOW! So we did. Then Lisa remembered that the Canyon general store had… yep, “two cherry slushies to go please!”
It really is killing me we can’t post pictures. We’ve taken over 600 to date.
Week One has been a string of blessings. Looking forward to another day in Yellowstone and then heading down to Grand Teton on Sunday.
(Lisa) It was another great day but Paul failed to mention that it was hot today. Like 90 degrees hot. For this area, it was toasty. All the sights have been amazing. It’s hard to comprehend that we are sitting on a volcano. But when you walk around smelly pools of bubbly water, you remember! And it seems like every time we walked around the pools of bubbles, the wind would shift and blow that rotten egg smell right in our face! Blah. Tomorrow is our last day here and then we have to pack everything up and move. We plan to have a light day of just a few sights, shop a little in town and eat dinner there. Oh, today we had pancakes for breakfast and tacos for dinner. I like to throw in our meals so I can remember what worked and what didn’t. And for the record, during the grizzly bear and cubs sighting I, too, learned something new about Paul.
Then it was on to Mammoth Springs (picking up where we left off the other day) – you remember “tiny hurting pieces”? Sadly on this day Mother Nature chose to show us Mammoth Dry Springs. Still a beautiful scene but it wasn’t the same without the flowing, hissing water. Oh, and on the way here we saw another coyote but this one was bigger and healthier. Got some pic’s but he was a good 400+ yards away so it tested the limits of my photo gear.
No worries though… on to the Black Tail Plateau. It was a scenic 6-mile, 4-wheel drive through the highlands of northeast Yellowstone. Lots of wildflowers and another buffalo. But this dude was a handsome boy. He’d shed all of his winter coat and was a dark, dark, brown. I was putting along at no more than 10mph and he had his eye on me from maybe 50 yards away. He looked confident… almost cocky. I have to admit that my first thought was “If he charges, I’m gunning it outta here. No way I’m letting him dent up my sweet pick ‘em up truck.” But we played it cool and he strolled across the road in front of us at 30-35 yards. He was all puffy chested and I read his mind when he paused and locked eyes with me. He said, “That’s right city boy. Stay in your little red wagon while I stroll over here.” It’s killing me we can’t get pictures posted.
Next was Tower Falls. I like waterfalls. I want one. From there it was time to head back to base camp but we hit another bear jam. But something was different about this one. There was a big yellow Yellowstone tour bus, and amongst the hoards of people with their camera’s there were two photographers with 2 foot long lenses and 5 foot tripods. You don’t see this kinda equipment for elk so we bolted from the truck and were about 100 yards away from a momma grizzly and her two cubs. Got about a dozen pic’s, in good sun, and then momma started coming up the mountainside right in the direction of us “intrusive humans”. The Ranger demanded everyone get BACK IN YOUR CARS AND LEAVE NOW! So we did. Then Lisa remembered that the Canyon general store had… yep, “two cherry slushies to go please!”
It really is killing me we can’t post pictures. We’ve taken over 600 to date.
Week One has been a string of blessings. Looking forward to another day in Yellowstone and then heading down to Grand Teton on Sunday.
(Lisa) It was another great day but Paul failed to mention that it was hot today. Like 90 degrees hot. For this area, it was toasty. All the sights have been amazing. It’s hard to comprehend that we are sitting on a volcano. But when you walk around smelly pools of bubbly water, you remember! And it seems like every time we walked around the pools of bubbles, the wind would shift and blow that rotten egg smell right in our face! Blah. Tomorrow is our last day here and then we have to pack everything up and move. We plan to have a light day of just a few sights, shop a little in town and eat dinner there. Oh, today we had pancakes for breakfast and tacos for dinner. I like to throw in our meals so I can remember what worked and what didn’t. And for the record, during the grizzly bear and cubs sighting I, too, learned something new about Paul.
Friday, July 16, 2010
A Zoo Without Bars
(Lisa) We left the camper after a breakfast burrito meal about 9:30. Headed toward the Canyon area. Surprisingly we did not have to wait but a couple of minutes at the construction zone on the way to Norris. It was another gorgeous day, brilliant blue skies and temps in the 60’s-will be in the 70’s in the afternoon. If I haven’t mentioned it before, the SIRIUS radio that I gave Paul for Christmas for his truck is awesome. We have listened to all kinds of music consistently since KY, no commercials, no losing a signal. We have especially enjoyed listening to jazz as we toddle through the park. It really has been wonderful
Anyways, we drove all over the Canyon area after stopping in the visitors center and wandered through the store. Then….WOW….the upper and lower falls were beautiful. We did a major hike down to stand in a viewing spot for the lower falls and huff and puffed our way back up. But it was worth it b/c every single view was amazing. Artist Point was breathtaking. We had a picnic there sitting on our ice chest!
After the Canyon, we drove through Hayden Valley and saw lots of buffalo. We stopped at Mud Volcano which had some really fun bubbly pots and pools. But one of the coolest things was a buffalo just wandered up the trail right at us. He stopped and ate some grass. He totally ignored us! We enjoyed the drive by Yellowstone Lake and stopped to soak in the view. Then we headed to West Thumb where the geysers and hot springs were right next to the lake. In West Thumb an elk was just walking around. It was a big day for animal sightings. We stopped at Grant Village at the visitor center where we watched a film about the 1988 fires.
Thanks to Cathleen’s advice, we brought our dinner food with us and had a picnic on the Continental Divide. We grilled hamburgers but it was a tiny bit eery b/c we were the only people in the picnic area. Nevertheless, it was delicious! We had just left the picnic area and got about a mile down the road when there was a giant bear jam. We jumped out and spent at least 10 minutes watching a big ole brown bear just eat and eat in a meadow. It was too awesome! I’m telling you what, it was like we were in a zoo today without the bars!
So now it’s like 8:00 and we decided to stop again at Old Faithful where we saw the eruption at 8:45-the lighting was amazing! Took some great photos and enjoyed the front row seat. So, it was a full day-we got back to the camper about 9:45. Whew-we’re tired but really enjoyed everything we did. About to take a shower and go to bed. Will post this in the morning and (hopefully) get some pics uploaded. For some reason the slow connection is not letting us do that.
(Paul) WOW whata great day. The Brink of Upper Falls was an insane view. Discovered my iPhone has video so been getting some great moving pic’s along with the stills. Fantastic close ups today of open range buffalo and a black bear that was truly enjoying being a bear. We closed down the park today… it was a great day.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Tiny Hurting Pieces
(Paul) The plan today was to do Mammoth Springs, hike the Beaver Ponds Trail and 4-wheel the Blacktail Plateau. After taking 2.25 hours to arrive at our destination (serious construction work between Madison and Norris) we decided to eat lunch (on the back of the truck again) and then do the hike. That way we could get back in a couple of hours and enjoy the stroll through Mammoth Springs. Well, about a half mile into the hike (and a 1500 foot elevation change… puff, puff) I/we lost the trail. Not sure how it happened… one minute it’s there… the next it’s POOF gone! So I meandered around awhile trying to find it again. I went this way and Lisa went that way (after a nice sit). I told her I’d found the trail… actually found some people that were on the trail. Lisa decided to continue her search in her area. After a few reminders that I’d found the trail she decided to join me. At this stage I could read her mind… “this isn’t very much fun”. So I told her I sprang my ankle, had another stroke and that maybe we should just head back to the truck. She basically responds with, “horse hockey, let’s keep going, we’re almost to the top”. Oooooo-Kayyyyyy! About 45 minutes later we made it to the top (I won’t detail the range of ages that passed us during this time). It was about then that I heard her say, “this isn’t very much fun”. Hmmm, where have I heard that before? Things got better though. We walked through fields of vibrant wildflowers, the sky was a paralyzing blue and the hike finally started going downhill (really, the slope… not the mood). It was at about mile 4 (or so) that I was reminded of one of my wife’s finer qualities. She’s as flat-footed as Daisy Duck. But we made it back. A nice Park Ranger with a similar condition highly recommended we pick up a pair of those cushion insoles. So we did. At the local Super Market (the place had 4 isles… very impressive). That’s right! The super market. Never made it to Mammoth Springs or Blacktail Plateau but there’s always tomorrow.
PS – Sorry about the Wifi quality here and our inability to post pic’s. We will try again when we get to our next destination in Grand Teton. Otherwise, for our devoted followers, we will post some pictures when we arrive at a Marriott on our way home. God Bless.
(Lisa) Happy Birthday to my sister, Barbara. She is old. My feet feel like they did after the wedding –like someone has taken an axe to them and cut them into tiny hurting pieces. My flat feet prevent me from hiking more than about 4 miles. So, I overdid it today but will soak them tonight and then try again tomorrow. We did drive about 2 hours to get back from this area today b/c of road construction and a car accident (not us) and elk. OH YEA….we saw a bear again today on the side of the road….finally got some pictures this time. Maybe we can get them posted? AND…we had a great dinner of steak, potatoes and salad. Another great day of vacation:)
PS – Sorry about the Wifi quality here and our inability to post pic’s. We will try again when we get to our next destination in Grand Teton. Otherwise, for our devoted followers, we will post some pictures when we arrive at a Marriott on our way home. God Bless.
(Lisa) Happy Birthday to my sister, Barbara. She is old. My feet feel like they did after the wedding –like someone has taken an axe to them and cut them into tiny hurting pieces. My flat feet prevent me from hiking more than about 4 miles. So, I overdid it today but will soak them tonight and then try again tomorrow. We did drive about 2 hours to get back from this area today b/c of road construction and a car accident (not us) and elk. OH YEA….we saw a bear again today on the side of the road….finally got some pictures this time. Maybe we can get them posted? AND…we had a great dinner of steak, potatoes and salad. Another great day of vacation:)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)