The Grand Tetons

Heading into the Tetons it is easy to understand where the word "Grand" came from the mountains are majestic...even if covered with the smoky haze of wildfires.

The first evening we stopped at Colter Bay.  Nan and I had tracked down another of the traveling WomenRV'ers as she was visiting Yellowstone at the same time.  Ernie and Lori and her sister Ellie and her husband were staying at the Lodge and Sheila drove up to find us and we had dinner together at the lodge.

The Sultan being the gentleman he is took our picture as we waited for our reservations. Nan, Sheila, Lori's sister Ellie and her husband, myself and Lori.

Lori and Ernie otherwise known around campfires as "The Sultan."...

Lori and Ellie..and yes they are sisters aren't they.

And the sunset outside the lodge as we were waiting for supper.   There were several photographic moments when cameras were passed and one or two of us would scamper out take some pictures with multiple cameras and then slide back into our seats. Ramsey, the waiter, was very understanding.  He was also understanding when we asked him to bring some extra spoons.  There were multiple soup tastings and dinner samplings going on.  

Sunset on the Grand Tetons...

The next morning the effects of the wildfires were still very apparent.

Mr. Moose... we met as we drove around to our sites at the RV park just north of Jackson.  Mrs. Moose was too shy and stayed behind the bushes and the trees out of camera range.

Nan had already discovered the road and the section of houses called Mormon Row so when we were driving back into Jackson to see the town she directed me to the area.     Sheila had mentioned that her grandfather's house was pink stucko. And Merry had talked about the barns.  The Park has bought up all the property except on lot along the road.   Yes, it was a dirt road but after driving to Alaska, we can drive on most anything.  

One of the old homesteads.

 

Sheila's grandpa's homestead.  She told us that the small cabin on the left was originally for her parents to use in the early years but they thought it was too close and built their own homestead down the road past the pink house. 

This was the barn on the home place.

And through what is left of the fencing you can see a herd of Buffalo.  Well, we also had to watch where we were walking....the buffalo like to graze up around the house and barn.

Nan out watching where she was walking.

The view of the back side of the barn.

From the tour of the homesteads we drove on into town and Sheila met us for a couple of hours of wandering through the Art Festival in town.

We managed to get through the afternoon without purchasing any bling.  We did feel the need to try some Huckleberry milk shakes though.  

One of the archways into a park.

That night Nan and I drive back into town and met Sheila and her mother Shirley and one of her grandsons and his friend and enjoyed a Chuckwagon Dinner with country music.  You will have to check out Nan's blog for those pictures since my camera forgot to come out of the rig that evening.

In the morning the smoke had cleared a little on the mountains as we made our way north to pick up our route to the east.

Some fall colors in the park...

And we were out of the park and making our way towards South Dakota and our next explorations.

West Yellowstone and Beyond

After leaving Idaho behind Nan and I drove across the western part of Montana and on to Yellowstone National Park.  In West Yellowstone we met some very nice people....like Sheila (from the WomenRV Forum)and her daughter Merry who drove in to meet us for brunch and also some cranky folks like the old...not so gentleman...who yelled at Nan for her dogs using the grass beside the visitors center.....

First came our changing views of the road side vistas as we neared the park.    Sage among the rocks....I was looking for the mountain lions....

Yes, I like rocks...

Our mini get together in West Yellowstone for brunch.  Me, Sheila, Nan and Sheila's daughter Merry.

"Nan, the waiter was hoping that you would look up..."

 "Alrighty, then, I think we got this!"

From Merry's report, her dad, Larry, had always warned her about those WomenRV'ers that her mom hung around with chatted with on the forum....She had to come an see if she needed to protect her mom from the crazy RV women or the axe murders.  She must have been somewhat relieved because Sheila met up with us the next day in the Tetons without her...

After brunch we headed into Yellowstone.

Rivers and old fires....

Some deposits from hot springs and geysers along the road.

 The smoke from wildfires.   The drives through both Yellowstone and the Tetons were masked by smoke in many places.

Buffalo out in the basin.  There was no place to pull the RV off the road as the overlook was filed with cars...but that was okay....there were more buffalo to come.

Like right down the road.  Guess who has the right of way?

And if you are in doubt, just ask him....

At the end of the day...Nan and I got separated. My phone did not have service and our Walkie Talkies were not working. I found a vacancy in the Fishing Bridge campground....and who was following didn't see the turn off to the campground.   She did find a place to stay but the extra miles were tiresome. She did she a lot of wildlife in the late evening though.

As I drive out of the camp ground early I caught morning sun on the river.  Not too far out on loop around the part I picked up a signal again and found out that Nan had had to drive back towards West Yellowstone. Since we both knew that we were planning to meet up with Lori and Ernie in the Tetons I figured that she would have to drive past Old Faithful.  I was up early so that I could be parked in the lot at Old Faithful.  

Then as I drove I met with another group of Buffalo.  Look, there is a traffic jam going on ahead. Think I should slow down.

Well, on second thought....now I better just put it in park and wait.

"That is right, lady!" "You just park it and we will tell you when we are done here...."

So on by they went....

Morning reflected in the lake.

Just to put another picture to those reports of wildfires in Yellowstone....

So I found Old Faithful.

Just in time for the next viewing.....

And not to sound disrespectful of the old girl but I found the walk around all the other geysers even more fascinating. They cam in all sorts of colors and sizes.  Some spouted  flumes and others just bubbled away.   But first there was the creek to cross.

I used my best "Fine Arts Behavior" and stayed on the boardwalks as directed.

So, if I come in the winter, this might be a nice place to stay.

On to the Tetons and another mini get together....

...and yes, Nan and I caught up with each other in the parking lot. We both got to see Old Faithful. When I got back from my walk around the boardwalk I saw her rig and drove over to be close to it and left a message on her windshield (just in case she still didn't have cell service) to know that I was here.  It worked!