Today was a pretty quiet day. The weather was nice, not real hot but not real cold either – I didn’t check the temperature on the truck so don’t know what we had for a high. Yesterday we actually had a high in the low 60’s in the mid afternoon when we were out of the high elevations.
We went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast then headed to Wal Mart as the truck was in need of an oil change. Of course, I managed to shop while the truck was being done – LOL! After we finally got done at Wal Mart (with our bank account much lighter) we went to Best Buy and I bought a new vacuum as the one I have in the trailer was on its last legs. We stopped at a RV place to get a connection for the new sewer hose John got at Wal Mart, then a stop to give the truck a drink and it was time to head home.
When we got back John hooked us up so we are ready to head out in the morning and I put groceries etc. away and tried out the new vacuum. I also put some capris and shorts into a storage box as I don’t think I will be needing them for quite a while to come, - I would be real happy to be proven wrong but somehow don’t think that will happen.
I didn’t take my camera today so there are no pictures.
We considered going to Glacier National Park, which is directly north of where we are, but it is pretty well closed for the season and the Going-to-the-Sun Road is closed at the top, which would be the nicest part to see, so we decided to forgo that also.
Looking at the weather forecast it looks like it will be a cool, wet weekend at home, so we don’t mind not being there.
John is just going to go out and barbecue burgers for dinner and we are looking forward to a quiet evening. And so ends another great gift of a day and we look forward to another nice day tomorrow.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Today is our daughter Nancy’s birthday – Happy Birthday Nan, hope you had a good day and enjoyed your evening out.
This morning was very cold and cloudy when we got up, we took our time getting away, but were on the road about 9:30. We saw lots of snow on the drive between Gardiner and Interstate 90 and then lots of snow for about 100 miles on the drive west. Fortunately it wasn’t snowing this morning so the roads were dry and good.
Devil's Slide
Snowy Scenery
We debated driving down to West Yellowstone for a couple of days to try to see Old Faithful but decided that it probably wasn’t a great idea with the weather and the forecast for the next while – we really don’t want to drive through snow on the roads – either on the way to West Yellowstone or through the park so guess we will just have to come back again to see Old Faithful. It is a disappointment but hopefully we will be able to return some day.
There are a lot of large ranches here and they appear to be doing another hay cut, there sure is a lot of it stacked up
but I guess they need it with the winters they get here!
We had a good drive to Missoula, MT and decided to stay here for a couple of nights. We are in a really nice park, Jim & Mary’s RV Park and the Good Sam rate is $30/night. The pull through sites are long and wide, the park is very clean and pretty and the wi-fi is great.
We are looking forward to a nice dinner of barbecued chicken and a quiet evening. And so ends another great gift of a day and we look forward to another nice day tomorrow.
This morning was very cold and cloudy when we got up, we took our time getting away, but were on the road about 9:30. We saw lots of snow on the drive between Gardiner and Interstate 90 and then lots of snow for about 100 miles on the drive west. Fortunately it wasn’t snowing this morning so the roads were dry and good.
Devil's Slide
Snowy Scenery
We debated driving down to West Yellowstone for a couple of days to try to see Old Faithful but decided that it probably wasn’t a great idea with the weather and the forecast for the next while – we really don’t want to drive through snow on the roads – either on the way to West Yellowstone or through the park so guess we will just have to come back again to see Old Faithful. It is a disappointment but hopefully we will be able to return some day.
There are a lot of large ranches here and they appear to be doing another hay cut, there sure is a lot of it stacked up
but I guess they need it with the winters they get here!
We had a good drive to Missoula, MT and decided to stay here for a couple of nights. We are in a really nice park, Jim & Mary’s RV Park and the Good Sam rate is $30/night. The pull through sites are long and wide, the park is very clean and pretty and the wi-fi is great.
We are looking forward to a nice dinner of barbecued chicken and a quiet evening. And so ends another great gift of a day and we look forward to another nice day tomorrow.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
As predicted today has been COLD & WET! It just wasn’t a great day to explore as the mountains were covered in fog most of the day so we figured to head out would probably be miserable and snowing at the higher altitudes.
We had a down day and didn’t do too much – some cleaning, sorting of cupboards, drawers etc. and time on the computer getting caught up with all the documents & work sheets I keep on the computer, as well as posting yesterday’s blog which I was too tired to do last night.
The heat pump and little electric heater have been running steadily all day so at least we are cozy and warm. I put some spaghetti sauce in the slow cooker this morning as today seemed like a good day for a “comfort dinner”.
John went out this afternoon and filled the truck and then came back and hooked up so we are ready to head out in the morning. While he was doing that we got a new neighbour and he told John that they had come from West Yellowstone and it had snowed almost all of the way – not pretty but he said it wasn’t sticking to the roads as they are still warm from the warm weather. It’s time to get out of here and head for lower country!! At least it hasn’t snowed here – yet!
I will post the rest of the pictures from yesterday and hopefully tonight we will kick back and enjoy a movie.
Smoke From Fire That is Keeping the Road Closed
Yellowstone River Wending It's Way Through the Park
A Herd of Bisson
Elk Herd & the Big Guy
The Roosevelt Arch at Park Entrance
And so ends another great gift of a day and we look forward to another nice day tomorrow.
We had a down day and didn’t do too much – some cleaning, sorting of cupboards, drawers etc. and time on the computer getting caught up with all the documents & work sheets I keep on the computer, as well as posting yesterday’s blog which I was too tired to do last night.
The heat pump and little electric heater have been running steadily all day so at least we are cozy and warm. I put some spaghetti sauce in the slow cooker this morning as today seemed like a good day for a “comfort dinner”.
John went out this afternoon and filled the truck and then came back and hooked up so we are ready to head out in the morning. While he was doing that we got a new neighbour and he told John that they had come from West Yellowstone and it had snowed almost all of the way – not pretty but he said it wasn’t sticking to the roads as they are still warm from the warm weather. It’s time to get out of here and head for lower country!! At least it hasn’t snowed here – yet!
I will post the rest of the pictures from yesterday and hopefully tonight we will kick back and enjoy a movie.
Smoke From Fire That is Keeping the Road Closed
Yellowstone River Wending It's Way Through the Park
A Herd of Bisson
Elk Herd & the Big Guy
The Roosevelt Arch at Park Entrance
And so ends another great gift of a day and we look forward to another nice day tomorrow.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Today was another absolutely gorgeous day with a bright sunny sky and at the higher altitudes in the park the temperature was in the mid 60’sF (18C) but in the lower elevations I saw a high of 80F (27C) – sure can’t complain about that.
The park consists of two large loops and being at the north entrance to the park we took the top loop then a bit of the far side of the lower loop down to Fishing Bridge. This would be one of the routes to Old Faithful but the road was closed at Fishing Bridge due to the fire. Where we could have picked up the other part of the lower loop at Norris wasn’t in the cards as the road is closed for construction between Norris & Madison, meaning no access to Old Faithful that way. Had we stayed in West Yellowstone, which was my original plan, we would have been able to get to Old Faithful but no where else in the park so either way we would have been beat to see the whole park.
Today’s drive was absolutely beautiful with lots of great scenery and many places to stop. The Lower & Upper Falls were stunning and could only be seen from overlooks along the canyon rim.
The hot springs are fascinating, they just bubble away and at Mud Volcano there was one spring called dinosaur cave because the wind effect makes it sounds like one – neat.
I will let the pictures tell the story.
Mammoth Hot Springs - Lower Terrace
Liberty Cap - A Dormant Hot Spring Cone
Mammoth Hot Springs - Upper Terrace
Roaring Mountain
Upper & Lower Falls
Sulphur Caldron
Mud Volcano
Dinosaur Cave
Tower Fall
There is only one campground left open in the park and it is just outside of Mammoth Hot Springs. We took a drive through and it would be nice there but a bit tight to get the trailer through – we were surprised at how busy it still was. There were many signs in the campground to keep away from the elk, apparently they wander at will through it – we saw many tents and wonder what would keep an elk from walking right through one!
We stopped at the Visitor’s Center at Fishing Bridge to eat our lunch then went inside and looked around. The woman on the desk said that tomorrow was their last day for this year – we found that a lot of the places have already closed for the season. She said that this September has been unusual, as September is usually a cold and snowy month in the park, but this year it has been more like August weather. The fellow here at the campground also said it is the best September they have had in years and they have been really busy.
We were disappointed that we had only seen some bison during the day but when we got back to Mammoth Hot Springs there was a whole herd of elk on one of the main squares – they are the resident elk. There was a 12 point bull in the herd and apparently he isn’t usually there, guess he was visiting his ladies. They had park personnel keeping people back and in groups as he could be dangerous if he decided to charge, the Ranger where we were standing said they are less likely to charge a group than a line of people. Fortunately, he wasn’t eager to do any charging while we were looking at him!!!
When we got back into Gardiner it was after 6 so we stopped at a pizza place for dinner – we had a good pizza and a cold beer. When we got home it was after 7 but still warm out so sat outside for a while and then walked around the park before heading in for the night.
The weather forecast for tomorrow is for very cold temperatures with either rain or snow, sure a difference from today, so we will wait and see what happens. I will save some pictures from today to post tomorrow just in case we don't get out because of the weather.
And so ends another great gift of a day and we look forward to another nice day tomorrow.
The park consists of two large loops and being at the north entrance to the park we took the top loop then a bit of the far side of the lower loop down to Fishing Bridge. This would be one of the routes to Old Faithful but the road was closed at Fishing Bridge due to the fire. Where we could have picked up the other part of the lower loop at Norris wasn’t in the cards as the road is closed for construction between Norris & Madison, meaning no access to Old Faithful that way. Had we stayed in West Yellowstone, which was my original plan, we would have been able to get to Old Faithful but no where else in the park so either way we would have been beat to see the whole park.
Today’s drive was absolutely beautiful with lots of great scenery and many places to stop. The Lower & Upper Falls were stunning and could only be seen from overlooks along the canyon rim.
The hot springs are fascinating, they just bubble away and at Mud Volcano there was one spring called dinosaur cave because the wind effect makes it sounds like one – neat.
I will let the pictures tell the story.
Mammoth Hot Springs - Lower Terrace
Liberty Cap - A Dormant Hot Spring Cone
Mammoth Hot Springs - Upper Terrace
Roaring Mountain
Upper & Lower Falls
Sulphur Caldron
Mud Volcano
Dinosaur Cave
Tower Fall
There is only one campground left open in the park and it is just outside of Mammoth Hot Springs. We took a drive through and it would be nice there but a bit tight to get the trailer through – we were surprised at how busy it still was. There were many signs in the campground to keep away from the elk, apparently they wander at will through it – we saw many tents and wonder what would keep an elk from walking right through one!
We stopped at the Visitor’s Center at Fishing Bridge to eat our lunch then went inside and looked around. The woman on the desk said that tomorrow was their last day for this year – we found that a lot of the places have already closed for the season. She said that this September has been unusual, as September is usually a cold and snowy month in the park, but this year it has been more like August weather. The fellow here at the campground also said it is the best September they have had in years and they have been really busy.
We were disappointed that we had only seen some bison during the day but when we got back to Mammoth Hot Springs there was a whole herd of elk on one of the main squares – they are the resident elk. There was a 12 point bull in the herd and apparently he isn’t usually there, guess he was visiting his ladies. They had park personnel keeping people back and in groups as he could be dangerous if he decided to charge, the Ranger where we were standing said they are less likely to charge a group than a line of people. Fortunately, he wasn’t eager to do any charging while we were looking at him!!!
When we got back into Gardiner it was after 6 so we stopped at a pizza place for dinner – we had a good pizza and a cold beer. When we got home it was after 7 but still warm out so sat outside for a while and then walked around the park before heading in for the night.
The weather forecast for tomorrow is for very cold temperatures with either rain or snow, sure a difference from today, so we will wait and see what happens. I will save some pictures from today to post tomorrow just in case we don't get out because of the weather.
And so ends another great gift of a day and we look forward to another nice day tomorrow.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Boy, last night we were back to frigid temperatures – the low was 30F (-1C) so it was pretty chilly when we got up this morning. When we were ready to leave at 8:30 a.m. it was only 38F (3C) so I thought I was looking quite optimistic in my capris, t-shirt and fleece jacket but then I noticed a lady from a motor home out getting ready to go and she was in shorts and a t-shirt so I figured I wasn’t the only optimist.
It turned into a beautiful day and when we arrived at the park in Gardiner MT the temperature was 83F (28C) so I was glad I had put on the capris and t-shirt, we even had the a/c on in the truck for a couple of hours in the afternoon.
The drive today was pretty with mountains off in the distance and most of the day we followed the Yellowstone River- it is the longest undamned river in the US.
Pictures from Today's Drive
We are now set up at Rocky Mountain Campground
and ready to head into Yellowstone National Park in the morning, hopefully it will be a nice day. There is a portion of road closed until next spring for reconstruction and the road to Old Faithful is closed due to a fire but with luck it will be open tomorrow or the next day – only time will tell I guess, but, we would be really disappointed not to be able to see it. If we can’t get through tomorrow there is still a loop to do that the fellow here at the park said would take us about 6 hours so we are looking forward to a nice day and hopefully lots of wildlife.
After we got set up we went into town and got fuel and a couple of groceries then came back and sat outside enjoying the nice weather with a cold drink.
Dinner is now over, the cleanup is done and it soon will be time to head off to bed, for some reason driving days are always tiring and I don’t even do the driving!! And so ends another great gift of a day and we look forward to another nice day tomorrow.
It turned into a beautiful day and when we arrived at the park in Gardiner MT the temperature was 83F (28C) so I was glad I had put on the capris and t-shirt, we even had the a/c on in the truck for a couple of hours in the afternoon.
The drive today was pretty with mountains off in the distance and most of the day we followed the Yellowstone River- it is the longest undamned river in the US.
Pictures from Today's Drive
We are now set up at Rocky Mountain Campground
and ready to head into Yellowstone National Park in the morning, hopefully it will be a nice day. There is a portion of road closed until next spring for reconstruction and the road to Old Faithful is closed due to a fire but with luck it will be open tomorrow or the next day – only time will tell I guess, but, we would be really disappointed not to be able to see it. If we can’t get through tomorrow there is still a loop to do that the fellow here at the park said would take us about 6 hours so we are looking forward to a nice day and hopefully lots of wildlife.
After we got set up we went into town and got fuel and a couple of groceries then came back and sat outside enjoying the nice weather with a cold drink.
Dinner is now over, the cleanup is done and it soon will be time to head off to bed, for some reason driving days are always tiring and I don’t even do the driving!! And so ends another great gift of a day and we look forward to another nice day tomorrow.
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