Day 77 (8-16-12 - Another day of Tourism at Yellowstone)

There was nothing hot about Mammoth Hot Springs last night.  We all huddled together to stay warm.  Fernie got under the covers and layed on Lauren trying to stay warm.

The sun was shining and it warmed up quickly.  We had a beautiful day with the temperatures in the 70's.  We are going to miss this wonderful weather when we head further South starting tomorrow.

We enjoyed our walk at the Norris Geyser Basin.  We stopped at Gibbon River and had lunch.

We went to Old Faithful three years ago and decided that we wanted to go back.  There was so much traffic today, that we never found a parking spot.  We decided we had already been there and done that and left.  We are spoiled and easily tire around a bunch of tourist.

We took a ride through Firehole Canyon.  It was beautiful, but again there was too much traffic and people for us.

We enjoyed the views of Gibbon Falls on the way back to camp. 

After we got back, we hiked to the Gardiner River across from the campground.  The trail was strenously up the hill and harzardous down the slippery rocky trail.  We are relieved that we  made it to the river and back without injury.

We have enjoyed our 2nd visit to Yellowstone.  The views, the geysers, the waterfalls, and the wildlife are what makes this place special to us.

The fitbit count for today is 5 miles and 49 flights of stairs.

We grilled sausage on the fire pit tonight.  This will probably be our last campfire this summer.

We hear the Lawn Fairy has struck again.  Thanks again, Lawn Fairy!!

Pictures   https://goo.gl/photos/Xd8cxMoJSBjwtaL97

Day 76 (8-15-12 - Another Day at Yellowstone)

We woke up to the sound of elk this morning.  We looked outside and a herd of elk were walking around at our campsite.  It was a good thing they came by and woke us up at 8:00 a.m.

We cooked a nice breakfast and went to Mammoth Hot Springs and walked on the boardwalk around the springs. Walking on the board walk over the hot springs on this cool morning was nice.

We took a ride to the  Northeast Entrance of Yellowstone NP to Cooke City.  We saw herds of buffalo in Lamar Valley.  They were everywhere. We stopped several times to wait for buffalo to get out of the road.

We ate a picnic lunch at Soda Butte Creek on the way back to Mammoth Hot Springs.  We stopped at Wraith Falls and Undine Falls.  Undine Falls was much more impressive than Wraith Falls.  

The weather was nice today with the temperatures in the 70's.  It was a gorgeous day to see the pretty sights of Yellowstone, then the temperatures dropped.

We came back and waited for the wind to die down before we built a fire.  It finally died down, but was still blowing cold wind when we built a fire.  We cooked potatoes and steaks on the fire pit.  it was so cold that we pulled out our heavy, rain proof, wind proof, hooded jackets.

Tonight, Lauren finally told me how glad he is that he has his heavy jacket.  When we were packing to leave on this trip in May, I insisted that we bring our windproof, waterpoof, camouflage jackets. Lauren assured me that they would not be needed.

By the way, we were cold with the campfire and the jackets.  We were glad when the food was done and we could go inside.

When we were in Alaska, we wore these jackets almost every day.  Every time we turned around, a man was holllering, "I can't see you. "  It went right over my head. After a few times of hearing this, I asked Lauren, "Why is he always hollering this at us?"  Lauren explained that it was because we were in camouflage.  I think he needs to get a life.

We have traveled every entrance of Yellowstone NP and love each and every one.  We consider our time in Yellowstone NP as being on a different planet.

Pictures  https://goo.gl/photos/v6qg6YadDR6VrRFP6

Day 75 (8-14-12 - Yellowstone National Park)

We traveled 60 miles to Yellowstone National Park.  Yellowstone NP is one of our favorite places.  We had a nice, pretty ride into Mammoth Hot Springs Campground.


We rode the motorcycle through here three years ago. We loved the area and wanted to come back. This is the first time this trip that we really miss our motorcycle.

It is a gorgeous day, but a little warmer than we are used to.  The wind is howling.  The howling wind, we are used to.

We took a short ride looking around today.  We took several walks in and around the campground. We have spent most of the day relaxing.  We have been traveling pretty hard for the last two days and it is time to take a break.

We are watching herds of elk from our campsite.  On one of our walks in the campground today, we had to go a different route so we would not cross between a momma and baby elk.  We, (or rather me),  did not want to upset momma.


We built a fire and cooked pork chops and Olathe Sweet Corn.  Our nice neighbors in Seattle gave us a couple of ears of OlatheSweet  Corn as we were leaving Seattle.  We ate this corn for the first time last year in New Mexico.  This is our favorite corn.

After stepping on Ferny's paw and making her holler and me jump.  I had to bribe her with her favorite treat to get her to come out from under the couch.  She had her comfort food and came outside while we cooked.  She was as carefree as a cat could be. I hope she don't get fat from all this comfort food. I need to be more careful.

We are without hookups and are utilizing the battery power to have lights. Guess it is time to call it a night.

Pics:  https://goo.gl/photos/ee84AXXmyp6hAwhQ7

Day 74 (8-13-12 - From Osburn, Id. to Livingston, Mt.)

We had a nice ride for 333 miles to Livingston, Montana.  We are at Livingston RV Park.  It is a nice park with full hookups.  It is a good place to rest until  tomorrow when we head to Yellowstone National Park. 

We plan to stay a few days in Yellowstone at Mammoth Springs Campground.  We went to Yellowstone a few years ago and loved this area.  We wanted to go back, do some hiking, and explore the sights.  While we are here, we are going to check out the possibility of working here next year.

We are not sure if we will have cell phone or mifi coverage. 

            

Pictures  https://goo.gl/photos/rZQcuEdVwPcdRWREA

Day 73 (8-12-12 - Spokane, Wa. to Osborn, Id)

We had a nice drive today. We enjoyed the scenery from Seattle, Wa. to Osburn, Id.  We stopped a few times to take a break and enjoy the scenery and to stock up at Walmart in Spokane, Wa.  We covered 332 miles and it was a lot easier than a lot of days when we covered half that many miles in Canada or Alaska.  Thank goodness to be in the Lower 48's with interstates.

We have a nice campsite at Blue Ancor RV Park.  It is shady, quiet, and has full hookups, including cable TV.  When we got here, I heard a noise and thought it was static on the radio.  I realized that the noise was coming from the camper next to us.  It was the a/c.  It didn't take me long to remember where the a/c switch was in our camper.  It was hot. This is the first time we have had the a/c on in our camper since 6-4-12. 

I did the laundry and cooked some hamburgers.  It is 8:30 pm and it is dark.  This is the first time that I have seen darkness before going to bed in weeks.  I bet I sleep good tonight.

Pictures  https://goo.gl/photos/LvKQoyY9TpC4zMjK9

Day 72 (8-11-12 - Seattle)

Space Needle

We took the bus downtown today to see the sights.  It was a gorgeous day.

We went to Pike's Fish Market and watched the guys throw fish. It was hilarious.

We ate lunch at the Tom Douglas rub with love Shack.  We had fabulous BBQ chicken and pork sandwiches outside while watching the people walk by on the street.

We took a walk to the Space Needle.  We had to wait an hour  to go up.  It was worth the wait, the views were breathtaking. 

When we left the Space Needle, we took the Monorail back.   It was my first mono rail ride.  It was short and sweet.   It that took us 20 minutes to walk up to the space needle.  It took over an hour to wait for our turn to go up in the space needle.  It took only 2 minutes to travel on the Monorail back down to the street where we started walking.  I loved it.

We stopped at Hard Rock Cafe and went to the terrace bar and had a beer.  We had another gorgeous view of the city from the rooftop.

Our trip to Seattle was very enjoyable.  I was really amused at all of us waiting for the okay to walk signal and everbody walking across the road together.  The song, Walk this way, kept playing through my head.

We are not sure it was worth all the hassels of yesterday, but we are glad we made it to Seattle. 

We are exhausted and won't be sleepless in Seattle tonight.

Young Rabbit Eating Clover At Our Campsite

Pictures    https://goo.gl/photos/uAGt6Saj7YSzBXWz9

Day 71 (8-10-12 - Back to the USA or a better name, Suprise, Suprise!!)

The scenery changed quickly after leaving Clinton, BC.  All the sudden, the landscape changed from meadows and forrest to desert.  We were pleasantly suprised. 

This was a day of suprises.  We kept getting one suprise after another.

We drove a little further and drove through Frasier Canyon for miles.  We had curves, uphills, downhills, switchbacks, and tunnels as we drove above and through the canyon.   The scenery was gorgeous.  We were suprised when we realized that we had been on the road for 2 hours.  Yesterday the scenery was serene. Today,  the scenery changed.  All the sudden, the drive was exciting.  A nice suprise.

The truck trip odometer turned over at 10,000 miles today in Yale, BC at 11:35 am. We have quite a few miles before we get back to Crossroads.

We got to the border at Sumas, Wa. in 4 hours.  We sat in traffic for an hour to get to a customs officer.  As we were approaching, we heard one officer say to another, "I got this."  Another suprise was in the making.

After answering every question honestly, we were told to pull over and go inside.  We had to fill out a form with our signature, again we answered every question honestly.  We were told to have a seat.  At that time, I asked, may I please go to the bathroom.  He allowed it.  He had to go back to the desk to open the restroom door for me. Another suprise, that I could not just walk into the restroom without the officer's okay.  Thirty minutes later, after checking our camper and truck, we were cleared.  For a while, it looked like we were going to be deported to Canada.  It is amazing that we saw only one other vehicle tag from the USA in this hour of waiting to go through customs and suprise, this happened. 

I started calling campgrounds to find a place for the night shortly after entering the good ole' USA.  .  No luck.  We even tried to park overnight  at Walmart, it was  not allowed.  After about 120 more miles, 30 calls, 5 pm traffic in Seattle,  and being totally wore out, we found a campground. 

We are staying at Snoqualmie River RV Park in Fall City, Wa.  Our campsite in on the river.  It is a fantastic campground.  We are planning to stay here at least a couple of days and rest up from this
9 1/2 hour travel day where we covered 323 hard tiring miles.

We saw 3 deer and a coyote on the ride here. 

After crossing the border between the USA and Canada 6 times during the last 71 days,  I am suprised that today was this big of a hastle.  As I said , "Suprise, Suprise!!"

Pictures  https://goo.gl/photos/t1S1qnBEgndyQhrN6