Sat 7-20: Geysers in action

The plan was to travel to see Old Faithful today.  Well, the day got off to an early start as Will became our own natural geyser at 5 am – a victim of the ugly norovirus that is plaguing Yellowstone National Park this summer.   Based on the warning signs in every bathroom, and a warning from friends who had already been here this summer, I thought that it might just be a matter of time until one in our family caught it.  No worries, I had already stocked up on Gatorade, Pepto Bismol, and Tums!  We drove to the Visitor Center at Old Faithful, and parked the RV.  Will and I stayed back so he could rest and recover while the others headed out on a hike up to a great vantage point to see Old Faithful go off.    With a  little TLC, I had Will back up and we headed to the viewing area to watch the geyser with the crowds.  It teased the crowd with some small bursts, and lots of steam, before putting on its show.  We all agreed that it was worth the wait.  Anna said that it was “big, huge, and beautiful”. 

After the geyser show, we met up with the rest of our crew to take a tour of Old Faithful Inn.  Wilderness Lodge at Walt Disney World in Florida is based on this architecturally beautiful, old-time inn.  The 45 minute tour was probably the best free thing that we have done here, except for hiking.  Our tour guide took us back in time to visit a guest room circa 1904.  She also did a great job of describing the history, including the fact that the first floor of the inn was constructed of 10,000 trees. 

 

Tonight we will be taking a sunset cruise on Yellowstone Lake right from the marina at our campground.  Should be fun!

 

Caution: Hot!

 

Yesterday we got to do some pretty amazing things at both Teton National Park and then later at Yellowstone National Park. In the early morning, the whole family got up and dressed (very warmly because the mornings here are about forty degrees) and headed out to the marina in Teton. Boarding a motorboat, we went on a half hour narrated boat cruise and had breakfast out on Elk Island. After breakfast we took a short hike, climbed back on the boat for an interesting narrative, and prepared to leave for Yellowstone as soon as we got back. As you can imagine, there is a certain level of difficulty involved in the Dionne family leaving a campsite so we all had to pitch in to throw groceries wherever they fit, run the trash and recycle out, pack up the twenty pairs of shoes, and there was always someone yelling something along the lines of, “Dad! I don’t think you can drive with the awning out”. So with some minor delays, we were on our way to Yellowstone. We arrived and had a quick lunch in the parking lot and then we decided to go on a small hike in the West Thumb Geothermal Geyser Park. It was very hot and the pretty blue pools looked so cool and refreshing that I almost wanted to jump right in. Of course, had I done that, I’d have no skin left and I would be dead. Unfortunately we didn’t see any animals near the features but the Ranger talk made up for it. My favorite parts to see were the Cones and the Painters Pots. The Cones looked like moon craters with colored water in them and people used to catch a fish and dip it in the Fishing Cone to cook it! There was even a footprint from the early 1900s to prove it. The painters pots were really pretty colored pools of mineral water and I loved seeing all of them. After returning to roast hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire, we read Swiss Family Robinson and snuggled into bed.

 

Happy Birthday!

        

  Today was my birthday. We went on a 5 mile hike. Before that we had pancakes for breakfast and my dad made me a giant “cake”. On the hike we saw a doe deer with her fawn and a raven. We also saw a trumpeter swan in Swan Lake and a heron in Heron Pond. We also thought that we saw bear claw marks on trees and then realized that they were made by porcupines climbing up. We had to be careful, because although they are good climbers they have been known to fall out of trees. Anna had a little trouble during the hike. (Well, more than a little.) We had forgotten the spray fan that mists and fans. Luckily, we had quench gum that kept her going.

       After the hike we went swimming on the beach. It was the same beach that we went on yesterday. It was about 70 degrees in the water. Mom, Dad, and Anna went to a bear talk while Emma, Jack, and I stayed on the beach reading until 4:30 when the talk was over. We went down to the marina and met up with the other three. Then Dad, Emma, Jack and I tried to rent a boat. It turned out that outside of the cove the wind was blowing at 25 miles an hour. The wind was making 3 ft. white caps.  Mom claimed that it wasn’t something my dad couldn’t handle. Captain Stubing was a captain after all. We called mom and didn’t get an answer when we realized that she must have had the other walkie-

talkie off so we went into the grocery store. 

 We bought some ice cream to celebrate my birthday. (July is national ice cream month according to Hagen Daaz.) We got back to the R.V. when Dad remembered that mom had the keys. We needed to get into the R.V. because we had melting ice cream. I knew how urgent this situation was so I started thinking of another way in. I walked around the R.V. and saw an open window. I remembered that our friends got into their R.V. by going in through the window. You guessed it. We sent Jack through and got the ice cream into the freezer. My birthday was spectacular! J

 

PS- We are heading into Yellowstone tomorrow.  We have heard cell reception is so-so, but there is no data coverage so we may not be able to post for a few days.  Will update you when we can.

                    

Tuesday (the rest of the story) and Wedneday

Before we went to town yesterday we went horseback riding.   Jack rode Jill;  Will rode Lincoln;  Emma rode Apple Jack; I rode Big Dan.  My favorite part was when we went down a hill. Big Dan trotted up every mini hill.  Emma’s horse gassed a lot.  Mom’s horse liked to stop and eat the tasty tall grass. It was so much fun!

 

July 16^th:

Today we left our friends as they headed towards Park City and we headed the North end of Teton National Park.  We arrived at Colter Bay RV park and campground around Noon.  It is a very large site directly on Jackson Lake, the largest lake in the Grand Teton National Park.  We decided not to hike today but instead, to check out the park amenities and then head to the beach to swim and plan the next few days.  While this beach did not offer soft sand, the lake temperature was perfect and the view…well…heavenly is the only word that comes close.

 

Jackson Hole Fun

(this is jack)

Yesterday, after horse back riding, we walked around Jackson Hole with our friends the Policellis.

We stumbled across "the new west knife works", CAUTION EXTREMELY SHARP. We walked in and the two friendly workers let us try anything from the handcrafted double-headed axes, to switch blade stilettos (a thin bladed knife). As we poked around the guys working the place brought out 3 tomahawks and a bunch of throwing knives. they encouraged us to try them in the alley adjacent to the shop. Naturally, we accepted their generous offer. In the alley, they had set up a massive tree trunk to throw at. We tried the tomahawks first and LOVED them. Anna tried the throwing knives and will and I went with both. As we tried out our new talents, the guy watching us told us to not  kill each other and walked in to the shop, leaving a 7,8,10, and a 13 year old, throwing weapons in an alley. It was so much fun, no waiver to sign, just the Wyoming way of, you hurt yourself doing something dumb, its not our fault. I liked that policy quite a bit. Of course we loved throwing so much, Will and I each bought a "hawk" and shipped it home. Where else but Jackson Hole, Wyoming could kids have as much fun as that?

Teton Village

Spent the afternoon of the 14th in Teton Village.  What a cool place.  Skiing looks like it is not for the faint of heart.  Took the tram to the top- 10,000+ ft.

Finished the day with dinner and s'mores around the campfire.

Today, we headed to Jenny Lake in Grand Teton National Park.  We took the ferry across the lake and hiked from there.  Some amazing views in the shadow of the 'Grand Teton' standing over 13,000 feet high.

Some of us continued hiking through Cascade Canyon and were treated to a spectacular sight...

After hiking down, we took a very refreshing swim in Lake Jenny and then headed to Jackson Hole for a Covered Wagon dinner show.   An amazing miracle happened on the covered wagon ride up through the canyon.  Aidan, the 7 year old son of the friends we are traveling with, had an asthma attack from the dust and horses.  None of us had an inhaler with us and he was starting to struggle to breathe.  Wouldn't you know, a doctor was sitting across from him and noticed that he was struggling.  He 'just happened' to have an inhaler on him and gave it to his parents along with instructions to help get him breathing normally.  A big Thanks to God for sending him our way!
Aidan was back on his feet and playing with the rest of the gang within 30 minutes.

 

A perfect end to a perfect day!

Day 1 and 2

The flight out of Long Beach was great.  What a great little airport.  I am sure it beats flying in and out of LAX.  We arrived in Salt Lake on time at 10:50am.  The RV company picked us up, and after a brief overview of the rig, we were on our way to the Walmart Super Center!  A few hours and 2 carts later, we had our supplies...at least enough for a few days:).  The drive to Jackson Hole Campground was about 220 miles.  The smoothies we grabbed after loading up the RV would hold the kids over for lunch, but there was no way we would make another 190 miles without dinner.  So, we stopped about halfway (  in Idaho) for dinner in Pocatello.  Google said they had 40 restaurants to choose from.  We picked one and headed for it.   A quick stop for wine hooked us up with a nice woman who recommended a different restaurant with great food AND a big parking lot- a key feature with a 31' vehicle. 

We took a 'short cut' through the 'Teton Pass'.  It was a winding, 2 lane road with a 55Mph speed limit and up to 10% grades up and then down.  We started into this around 9:30 PM as it was getting dark.  I thought it was kind of fun, but Deb- not so much- as she clung to the handles and seat.  She was happy when we finally made it down into Jackson Hole at 10:30.  By 11:15, the kids were tucked in and Deb and I were sitting out in our brand new Walmart chairs, wine in hand, staring at the dark sky sparkling with a million stars.

Sunday morning, we had a lazy start.  Most everyone slept in to almost 9.  The rest (me) got up and sat out in the sun, enjoying the morning and the views of the spectacular scenery.  We are expecting to meet up with our friends the Policellis sometime today.  They are some friends that we have camped with many times over the past years and about 6 months ago we found out they were going to be in the area at the same time we were.  So we planned to meet up in Jackson and explore the Tetons together.  They arrived at 11:30.  Yeah!  We were making plans over lunch when Elizabeth was looking for something and accidentally set off their bear spray.  Bummer.  Luckily it was the less potent version and was not a direct hit.  They are off 'airing out' their RV.   As soon as they get back, we are off to the Teton Village and the Aerial Tram up to 10,450 feet.