Yellowstone National Park - May 2025

 

Yellowstone is full of Rivers, Lakes and Waterfalls ...

... Mountains and Valleys ...

...and Thermal Activity.  This my 8th or 9th visit to Yellowstone, Marcia's 4th or 5th.  One can take pictures of the scenery.  Once you have seen Old Faithful shoot off a dozen times, you don't have as much enthusiasm to sit around and wait for it to go off again.  We both agree that the one thing that you can't get enough of is the wild animals.  So over the course of three different trips in the park this visit, we tried to get pictures of different animals.  Below is a pictorial of our visit.

 

BEAR

All the bears we saw were in the general area of where the turnoff to the Lamar Valley was.  Each time there were Park Rangers, once three of them, keeping the traffic moving, and keeping people inside their cars.  Rules are, you must be 100 yards away (or more) from the bears.  Looked like one of them was a Grizzly Bear (4th picture).

 

DEER

This is the only picture we got of any Deer, and I think there are four in the picture.  This was taken on the road to Lamar Valley, about 1-2 miles in from the Loop Road.  (If you have never been to Yellowstone, there are two loops which touch, forming a rough looking number "8", with five other roads connecting into the loops, two on the top loop of the "8" and three on the bottom loop of the "8".)  We "might" have seen deer three or four other times on our whole trip from Florida...what's up with that???

 

ELK  

The Elk we saw was in the Madison River Area.  You need to look close at the first Elk picture, there are three Elk in that picture, two are down in a small stream and you can barely make them out.  We did not see the herd of Elk that are typically found Mammoth Hot Springs area, but we did not go north of the Visitor Center, and they could have been up there.

 

PRONGHORN 

In the bottom picture there is a mother, and two newborns...but the mother is hovering over one of the newborns and you can't see it very well.  The other newborn is attempting to stand.  These Pronghorns were at the start of the Lamar Valley.

 

SANDHILL CRANE

I did not know that there are Sandhill Cranes in Yellowstone.  Our first sighting had the Cranes way out in the meadow...I did not get any good pictures...but later in the same area we found a few much closer.  The Cranes were the Norris area.

 

BUFFALO

  

 

Buffalo can be seen all over the park.  In May most of them are still in the "Herd" that is in Lamar Valley.  But you can also find them along the road, or out in groups of 2-5 Buffalo out in a meadow.  We saw some near Old Faithful, near Madison, near Mammoth ... but most of them were still in the Lamar Valley.  Give them another month or two and they will be clogging up the roadways, bringing traffic to a standstill.  They are a magnificent beast.

I have now been to Yellowstone in May, June, July, August and September.  Each month brings a new view of Yellowstone...as I am sure the views during the other months do too.  

We moved from West Yellowstone to the Bill Frome Memorial RV Park along the western side of Henrys Lake....$15 per night with no utilities.  It was a very peaceful place.  Today we moved to a park we found in 2020, the Juniper Campground near Idaho Falls.  We will be here through Sunday, then back to Salt Lake City, then head back to Sacramento.  

 

Through the Tetons

 

Thursday afternoon and evening we really enjoyed our stay at Bear Lake.  The drive up to the Tetons was very pretty...here are just a few of the sites we saw.

     

This last is the elk arch that crosses the road in Afton, home to the world's largest arch made of elk antlers.  For the first time on our trip from Florida, we lost Internet for a prolong time period...just could not penetrate through the hills as we drove along the small valley roads.

 

Got gas in Jackson, and continued along the Jackson Hole area along Highway 89, which we were on most of the day.  

 

We have driven along the Tetons a number of times...they are always as nice as they were last time.

 And we always see Buffalo along this route.  It was my goal to camp in a dispersed camping area just off the highway along Forest Rd 30310.  We got there, finally found a spot that we could see some of the Tetons, but there was NO INTERNET!  Both our T-Mobile and Verizon Air Cards gave us ZERO Internet!  The decision was made to go north...and after talking to a ranger at the Colter Bay Visitor Center, I put in Henrys Lake into the GPS and continued north...it was going to take another 3 hours, something I was not prepared to do.

Here is a view of Colter Lake and the Tetons...our last view for this trip.

 

Didn't take many pictures once we got into Yellowstone, but had to get this one of some Buffalo.  As we got to West Yellowstone, I saw an RV Park I knew about from our visit back in 2016, The Wagon Wheel, and decided it was best staying in town close to prepared food than going on to the State Park at Henrys Lake, or Bill Frome Memorial County RV Park which is on the other side of the lake where you can dry camp for like $10.

That was Friday, this is Saturday, and you will have to wait to hear and see some of what we saw Saturday in Yellowstone... 

 

Bear Lake Idaho, Visit with Mom Before we Left

 

One of our first clear views as we drove north along Bear Lake, which is in both Utah and Idaho.  The lake is about 20 miles in length, with half in Utah and half in Idaho.  North of the lake by just a hundred feet or so is Mud Lake, which is home to the Bear Lake National Wildlife Refuge.  According to Wikipedia, "White-faced ibis, sandhill cranes, swans, ducks, geese, and shorebirds reside in this wildlife refuge during its summer seasons. Moose can sometimes be found on this refuge, along with wintering mule deer."  Hopefully as we travel north tomorrow we might see some wildlife...

Here is the view from under our awning...

...and a panoramic view from the rear of the Camper Van.

 

This such a pretty lake, with many views of very blue water...much bluer on the south side of the lake than the northern side.  We are just about in the middle of the lake at Mountain Fawn Campground of Bear Lake State Park.  Just here for one night, we have a lake view, electricity and water, and a dump station we can use before we exit the park tomorrow (Friday) morning.

A week before we left Sacramento Area we met my son Michael, wife Anna and nearly 3 year old Addie over at Mom's Assisted Living Home.

 

As you can see, Mom had a wonderful time...too bad the next day she could not remember it without my coaching her.

 Addie and Momma Anna had some fun on the tree swing.

 And Addie got Grandpa to wear her "Heart Hat".  How could I say no....

 

Above is our Lake View, for $44 with senior discount.  They are using a new system which still has a few glitches in it...but a nice lady here at the camp got us, and the lady behind us, checked in.  The new system is suppose to be that it is all done by computer or a phone call...but the phone call did not work, and she walked up to help just as I was getting on the smart phone that we use to operate all the electronics on the Camper Van.

 And just like that, our day has come to an end...tomorrow will bring us to a northern location from where we are at.

 

Where, What, Why

 

 

If I did my math right, that comes to 3.269 per gallon...now WHERE IN CALIFORNIA DID I FIND GAS AT THAT PRICE?????  Well, no where...we are in Nevada, and this is the price I paid at a Maverik gas station in Elko.  We are headed to SLC to see my daughter, staying out front at her aunt's house (my first wife's sister, who despite our split is still my Sister-in-Law).  On Thursday we will leave SLC and head north.  This is the start of our SUMMER VACATION.  (which is the what).  The why....because we can...and because we have not had much vacation time for the past few years.  

Honestly I am beat tonight, and will fill in more of the "where" at a future date.

 

 

Rested, Laundered, Mama

 

After driving some 3,250 miles over 9 days, visiting three groups of people, staying in four Cracker Barrels, one driveway, one rest area, and one free desert campground...needless to say we were just a bit tired.  On a trip like this, the hardest part is typically the Big Cities, and last 200 miles.  Tallahassee, Mobile, Houston, San Antonio, and LOS ANGELES...with the two hard ones being Houston and especially L.A.   Thank goodness, we have had a couple of good nights sleep.  However, I took a nap on Monday and when I awoke, it took a minute or so to know where I was.  I thought I was at a rest area taking a nap.

So Sunday we went over to visit my Granddaughter, who is 2 years 9 months old...and when she calls and says, "I am excited to see you Grandpa"...it makes all those miles worth every inch of them!  After a nice visit, we went to see mom.  I was so relieved that she knew me as soon as she saw me.  She turns 95 in just a couple of weeks, and things in her mind are a bit confused, to say the least.  She thinks my brother Roger is her brother Jimmy, who died in WW2 on a aircraft carrier that was hit by a massive Kamikaze attack. Last year she called me "Al" many times, which is my Dad, who passed on Thanksgiving Day in 2019.  She refers to my Sister Sandy and her Sister Mary...I think you got the point.  But she is, for the most part, pleasant to be around. We saw her again Monday, and will see her again tomorrow.

Today was laundry day...we both have enough clothes for two weeks, but I have found that the laundromat we use here in Sacramento area is not as busy on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.  Today was not exception to that, and I was able to load the washers, get them right into open dryers, and out the door in about 90 minutes.  Went over to a Safeway to stock up on some food and water, and the day was complete.  Did not like hitting the shopping cart in the parking lot of Safeway, but it is nothing that a sticker can't cover up...maybe something like this...

 

 

550 Miles, L.A. Hell, and We Are in Sister's Backyard

Very quiet night at Chiriaco Summit.  Good coffee at the Gas Station before we left this morning at 6:30 am.  The last time I drove through L.A. area was around 1996, give or take a year or two.  As I get older and older the more I don't want to drive through large cities...and you can't get much bigger size ways than L.A,

 

By 9:15 we were on I-5 headed north on the Grapevine.  By the time we got over the pass and at the split for Highway 99 and I-5 traffic thinned out.  Did not have any problems driving through L.A. other than it is long, and traffic was getting worse and worse the further west we traveled.  Gas just as before we hit the Grapevine was $85 for 16 gallons...we just paid $50 for 17 gallons at Quartzsite.  Go figure.

 

Traffic got thick as we got to Tracy area due to San Francisco traffic headed east, but it was not too bad.  Stopped in Lodi for another Van Wash at Blue Beacon...same price as it was in Casa Grande a few days earlier.  So many bugs, especially moths and butterflies splattered all over the window and front of the van.  Made it Sacramento around 5 pm, and had a few splattered bugs after just 40 miles of travel...it is what it is.  Nice to be back in Sacramento...

Florida to California With No Commercial RV Parks

Cracker Barrel was another good dinner Thursday night, and not very many RVs stayed the night.  Other than a couple of ambulance sirens going down the road, it was a quiet night.  Without looking back on our blog, I think this was the fifth Cracker Barrel out of seven nights being on the road.  Back home we have a Cracker Barrel down the street about 4.3 miles from the condo...but we rarely have eaten there.  We save our Cracker Barrel visits for trips.

(Click Logo for Website)

Friday mid-morning we met Laurie at a GOOD restaurant (not that Cracker Barrel is bad...just a good change of pace) called U.S. Egg.  There are five locations in the general Phoenix area, but one was damaged by a fire.  They are owned by these Armenian Brothers, and this is the second time we ate there.  The food is good, portions are large, and staff are GREAT!  After a few hours of visiting, off we went towards California.

In Quartzsite Arizona we stopped for the last of our "less expensive" gas...$3.049 at the Pilot/Flying J.  I expect to pay around $4.50 - $5.00 for gas in California.  We continued on to Chiriaco Summit (General Patton Museum area) and we dry camping at the free campground there.  By-the-way, still a good number of RVs around the Quartzsite area...perhaps 35-40% of normal Wintertime camping.

Saturday we 550 miles to my sister's house (Sandy and Arny), and we plan to leave very early to try and beat any L.A. traffic as we continue along I-10 to highway 57, to I-210 to I-5, which will take us up and into Sacramento.  We have about 200 miles from here to where we no longer have to worry about L.A. traffic...figure if we hit the road by 6:30, we should avoid most traffic problems.  I have driven in L.A. many times, and pretty much refuse to drive it during morning or evening traffic jams...jams which can last ALL DAY.  Thank goodness it is Saturday, or we would be going another way (Sunday would be fine too).

Finally, this is our first trip from Florida to California without staying at a RV Campground.  With our other RVs, I don't think it would be as easy as it is with the Camper Van.  Also, we typically drove 62 mph with the larger motorhomes because the HHR is not suppose to be towed at speeds above 65 mph for prolong periods of time.  With the Van, when it says 80 mph, we can drive 80...although high winds make me bring it down to around 70.  Today is our 8th day on the road...had we not stopped to visit anyone, we could make it from our place to my sisters in 6 to 7 days.