Where's Wanda (and John) Now?

We said goodbye to the Teton Mountains on Sunday and to our little spot on the lake then we drove south along the Snake River and over into Idaho along the Palisades Reservoir.  We saw a lot of people out in boats floating down the river or racing across the reservoir and it looked like so much fun.  If you ever have the chance to be in Wyoming make sure you drive down the Snake River.  You won’t want to miss it.

But why did we decide to stop in Pocatello Idaho?  That’s a very good question and only about 4 people at the Brandon Elks Lodge in Florida know the real reason.  We’re looking at you Frank and Linda :-).

We’re only here until tomorrow and then we’re going to a nice RV park about 2 hours away to just relax for the next week.  I think Utah is next and then Colorado but that can change as always.

In the meantime I’d like to say congratulations to my beautiful daughter Leah and her husband Justin on the purchase of their first house!  So proud of you 🙂 Here they are in front of their new home-sweet-home in Aberdeen NJ.  So excited for you both!

John took this awesome night shot down at Mormons Row which is an old Mormon settlement at the foothills of the Teton mountains.  There are a bunch of old houses and barns and structures that are still standing from some of the first Mormon settlers here in Wyoming.

We went just before sunset to set up and it was already a little creepy!  Then the sun went down and the almost full moon came up and cast everything in a weird glow.  It was very dark and there were no other people or lights anywhere near us and I was joking that I could see old ghosts floating around the buildings.  I was thinking about all of the wildlife that could be anywhere around us and then we heard THIS!! It was very close to us….very close!

We both looked at each other and tried to decide how fast we could make it back to the truck 🙂  We looked it up and it sounds like those were coyotes.  No more night shots for me.

Yesterday it rained for a short time at our little lake.  And then this happened.  I’ve never seen a rainbow so bright and I’ve never actually seen the end of the rainbow (and this was a double rainbow too).  But here it is!

Here are more pictures that John took around the area where we’re camping.

And here’s the Old Faithful video from last week.

This is the view inside the historical Old Faithful Lodge.  It was built in 1904 and looks like a Disney hotel but it’s the real thing.

We are relaxing and enjoying ourselves here in these stunning soundings.  Friday morning we drove around the area of Grand Teton and John took these beautiful pictures.  I have a pair of binoculars so my new favorite thing is to stand and examine everything in the landscape as closely as I can while John is shooting away.  It’s nice.  We’re both quiet and taking it all in, in our own way.

In the afternoon we rode north back into Yellowstone and visited Old Faithful.  It looked really cool but all of that steam coming out of the ground was a stark reminder that we are actually on top of a super volcano!  I can’t get the video up now but I’ll try again later.

Yesterday we drove south again to this little RV spot on this gorgeous lake.  Someone pinch me, I think I must be dreaming!  We’re spending the whole week here but the internet connection is really bad so we won’t be posting a lot this week.  We’ll catch up next week with photos and videos.

Here’s our little RV park by the lake.

If you look closely at the photo below you can see Big Guy in the truck in the back window 🙂

We packed up this morning and left our spot in the north part of Yellowstone and drove south into Grand Teton National Park.

We are right on Jackson Lake and the Teton mountain range is just on the other side of the lake and it’s so beautiful!  Here’s a picture of where our RV is parked now and just below it is the view of the lake.  Now THIS is a camping spot!

We were told that there are several bears that visit this park including a mama and her babies so we are being very bear aware!  We are still close enough to Yellowstone to get up into the south part of the park, so we may do Old Faithful tomorrow.  We’ll probably stay here a few days and then continue south, but as always our plans are subject to change so stay tuned 🙂

So we found a RV camping site inside of Yellowstone.  We are at the north end of the park in Mammoth near the hot springs.  We’ve spent the last few days driving around and John has taken some amazing pictures.  Let me tell you, even though the pictures are beautiful, they don’t even come close to the beauty of the real thing.  Both me and John felt overwhelmed with the variety of landscapes here.  One minute we’re looking at steam coming out of white slopes, the next minute we’re looking at a 500,000 year old lava flow, then elk grazing along the road.  The next minute it’s huge waterfalls in a gigantic canyon, or a rushing stream or a still pond that is so clear you can see to the bottom.  Tomorrow we’re going for the granddaddy of Yellowstone – Old Faithful.

This first shot is sunrise this morning – yes we were up before dawn again 🙂 but as you can see it was worth it.

Tomorrow we’re leaving the RV park in Red Lodge and trying something new.  For the first time since we’ve been on the road we don’t have reservations anywhere for next week.  We’re going rogue.   First we’re going to camp at a dry site not too far from here.  It’s in a valley between two mountains and we won’t be able to get online to post any new blogs for a few days, so don’t worry if you don’t hear from us until later next week.  Dry camping means we don’t have any hook ups for water or electricity and there may not be cell service at all either.  After a few days there we’re heading to the north entrance of Yellowstone and we’re going to try to camp IN the park for a week or so.  Wish us luck!

In the meantime, I’ve taken one of my hobbies on the road with me.  I painted this rock that was around the fire pit to welcome future campers 🙂 My first ‘road rock’!

We thought you might like to see the inside of our RV and see some of the modifications that John has done to the outside.

Click on the links below to view the videos.

Inside RV tour

Outside RV tour

Huckleberry anything! Especially this syrup….I could just drink it 🙂 I’m going to have to buy a whole case.  And I’m so glad I made room in the RV for the waffle maker.  You gotta have priorities.

And here’s what I learned today – Yellowstone is a BIG HUGE GIGANTIC park!  We are ‘just on the outside’ of the northeast entrance, sure, but what I didn’t know is that we have to go over a MOUNTAIN first to get to the park entrance.  We almost lost the drone on this first video.  Gotta watch those high altitude winds.

It took a while to get to the park and then another while to get to anything IN the park, but it was all worth it.  Every single time I looked out the window there was a breathtaking and unreal view.

We did see lots of bison and but no bears (I was looking for Yogi or BooBoo – for those of you old enough to remember who they are) and no elks today.

We’re going back on Friday for another round in a different part of the park.  I am humbled by this great and beautiful earth 🙂

While we were driving around today we passed this abandoned coal mine and John couldn’t resist using the drone.  The birds went crazy over the drone! They circled it and followed it and almost crashed into it.  Sad story though.  74 men lost their lives in an explosion in the mine in 1943.