Yellowstone National Park

Saturday October 3 2015

We departed McCammon RV Park and continued our trek north. We traveled about 70 miles on I-15 and then veered northeast for another 100 miles on St 20. Terrain was mostly flat farm land with the occasional small town. It did get hilly and wooded with spruce, fir and pine as we neared Montana and West Yellowstone. 

We are staying at Grizzly RV Resort in the town of West Yellowstone. It is about the nicest RV Park we've ever stayed at and reasonably priced because it is the end of the season. They will close for the winter next week.

I've been reluctant to let go of summer and have been wearing shorts and T shirts this whole trip. A bone chilling combination of rain and cold hit me when I stepped out of the motorhome and I thought, “Oh boy”, I might have made a mistake coming here this late in the season. This was reinforced by the registration clerk who told me to disconnect our water line overnight as freezing weather was expected.

Fuel=Flying J @ McCammon Idaho, 12.4 gallons, $2.74 per gallon, $34.21 Total (67021miles)

Grizzly RV Park, three nights, $120.28

All meals eaten onboard=$0

Sunday October 4 2015

We survived our first night and woke up to a beautiful crisp but dry morning. After breakfast and walking and feeding Maggie we set out on our tour of the National Park. We had main two goals, one to see an eruption of the geyser Old Faithful and to find Millie a buffalo. Old Faithful is a bucket list item and Millie has never seen a buffalo in the wild. 

Right at the edge of town you cross the Wyoming border and at the same time enter Yellowstone National Park. We hadn't driven but about eight miles into the park when we met our first objective. Coming down the road on Millie's side of the car were two giant bison. We stopped the car in the road as they sauntered by, they were about 3 feet from the jeep and seemingly oblivious to our presence. 

A short distance down the road we passed two more buffalo, on the left side of the road this time. They passed us with the same disinterest as the first two. The giant beasts then crossed the road with total disregard for the oncoming traffic. I guess this happens so often in their lives that they know the cars will stop. We saw many more buffalo as we circled the park but none as close as these first two encounters.

We were driving the 100 mile loop of connecting roads that would take us to most of the scenic spots in the park. We stopped at several of the geyser and mud pot fields before arriving at our next objective, old faithful.

We walked straight to the viewing area because we had no idea when the next eruption would be. We struck up a conversation with two men talking mostly about travel and before we knew it was showtime. 

I think old faithful has reached a point in life that it could use a little help, hopefully there is a blue pill for geysers because it obviously had a problem getting it up! The shaft of water that shot up from the ground couldn't have been more than 8 to 10 feet tall. If it wasn't for the column of steam that rose skyward it wouldn't have been much to get excited about. I felt sorry for the hundreds of Chinese tourists who came halfway around the world to see it. Oh, I haven't mentioned the Chinese, they were in the majority on the day we were in the park. Every tour bus we saw held Chinese, as did many smaller van tours, rental cars and RV's. I told Millie they must be coming over to inspect their new possessions. 

We continued our loop tour, stopping at the major points of interest along the way. In addition to the Buffalo on the road we also saw buffalo herds, some elk, a bighorn sheep, and lots of waterfowl. We arrived back at the motorhome at 5pm, took Maggie for a long walk and settled in for the night. It's funny how sitting on your butt in a car all day makes you tired, but whatever, we're done for the day.

Park entry fee= $0 with America the Beautiful pass

Lunch at Old Faithful Lodge=$19.50

Monday October 5 2015

Today we have a simple plan, walk around the town of West Yellowstone, buy the obligatory T Shirt and enjoy a meal at one of the restaurants. But first I had a small repair to do.

I noticed yesterday that water was leaking in one of the storage bins. In addition to some stuff stored in the compartment the water heater, water pump and associated plumbing are also in it. I soon discovered the source of the water, it was coming from the pump. I had to remove the pump to inspect it and saw no obvious problem. I tightened all the screws on the pump body, re installed and tested. The leak was gone. It is 15 years old and I imagine it just loosed up over the years. 

West Yellowstone is a small rustic tourist town just outside the west entrance to the National Park. Along with the park, the town is retreating into winter mode. About half the businesses are closed for the season but we still enjoyed our walk and also our dinner at the Slippery Otter Bar. Back in Grizzly RV Park, which by the way we have decided is the finest RV park we've ever stayed at, we relaxed in the afternoon sun and let Maggie outside off leach for a while. It was a really nice relaxed day.

Lunch at Slippery Otter Bar= $32.00
Sweat Shirts= $50.00