Day 6: Grand Tetons, The Grand Meltdown

We didn't give ourselves much time to spend in Grand Teton NP, so we got up early again. Our plan was to drive to the southern end of the park and work our way north back towards our campground, then spend the evening packing up. We weren't more than two miles south of our campground before entering GTNP before we saw a couple of cars pulled over in the early morning fog. Paul pulled over and we started scanning the hillside. Bear! Right near the road, sauntering through the brush was a scruffy-looking Black Bear. Paul had been hoping to spot a bear the whole time we were in Yellowstone, and had conceded that maybe we wouldn't see a bear this trip, and here was one and we didn't even need our binoculars to see this one. He walked along the road for a bit, then started down a gully and back up the hillside and was gone behind the trees. That was a great start to the day!

Good Morning Mr. Bear!

We continued to drive south, but unfortunately with the fog, you couldn't really see the mountains. We hoped it would clear soon. At the very south end of the park, we stopped at the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center, which looked fairly new. It had some great exhibits and was virtually empty when we arrived. Lucia had fun with the dioramas and we watched a video about the Tetons. Luckily we were ready to leave around the time that a large group of seniors with southern accents descended upon the gift store and bathrooms.

Mt. Moran in the morning

The only moose we saw on this trip

Craig Thomas Discovery Center

We had planned to stop at Jenny Lake for lunch. It was really busy, and we had to park far away. We stopped at the visitor center to check things out and that is when the Grant Meltdown started. Lucia was running all over the place, and not listening to us. She kept hiding in the clothing racks, and generally disturbing the other people in the area. When Paul scolded her and she hit him, he took her outside for a time out. Even with the time out, we could tell that Lucia was not going to cooperate. We decided that it was too crowded, and we would move on and maybe find a quieter picnic spot. We got in the car and Lucia was now mad that we were getting back in the car. Can you blame her? She has been in the car all day every day for almost a week now. Paul and I were feeling slightly guilty. Then in her frustration she threw her water bottle from her cup holder onto the floor. I picked it up and put it in the front seat with me. She wanted it back and told us so with her screaming. I told her she needed to ask nicely and she could have it back. Then, she lost it. For the next 30 minutes she screamed "I want my water cup!" Over and over and over. She was beyond reason. She finally fell asleep and we made the decision to just drive back to camp. We got to the cabin, rolled the windows down in the car and let her sleep a little while longer. When she woke up, she remembered exactly what she was mad about, and resumed her screaming. Paul was over at the main office and I was running out of ideas to get her to calm down. Paul walked in, and asked her to say, "Please can I have my water cup" calmly. And she said it. We were all fine after that, but we let her just chill out in the cabin and read books while Paul and I packed our things. Hopefully we can go back to the Tetons when the kids are older and actually do some hiking around. Tomorrow is a new day.

The Grand Tetons

The Grand Meltdown

Day 5: Yellowstone 2.0

Our new strategy had us waking up at 5:30AM, getting the car packed, making coffee and breakfast - all in the dark, while Lucia slept. We put her in the car, straight from bed, still in her pajamas, in the hopes that she would sleep a little while longer, as we made the drive back to the Hayden Valley. Our plan paid off, and not long after passing Fishing Bridge on our way towards the valley, there was a herd of bison on the side of the road! We watched them safely from our car as they ate their breakfast. They are really huge up close. We drove on a little ways further and another two bison crossed the road right in front of us. On our drive that morning we also spotted some elk and trumpeter swans.

First light in Yellowstone NP

Early morning on Yellowstone Lake

Bison!

So excited to see bison that I honked the horn with my butt!

Raven in Hayden Valley

After making our way through the valley at a leisurely pace we headed west from Canyon Village toward the Norris geyser basin. What we thought would be a boardwalk stroll through the geysers similar to the West Thumb basin we did yesterday, we obviously didn't read the sign close enough, and it turned out to be 2 miles in the blazing mid-morning sun with lunch-time quick approaching. There were some neat thermal features in the basin, and it wasn't crowded at all. We saw Steamboat Geyser which recently made headlines with the first eruption in 8 years. We had just hoped to be making better progress towards Old Faithful at this point.

Norris geyser basin

Colorful bacteria!

Water break

Ask Paul if you really want to know about the black algae

After our longer-than-expected hike we continued to head south towards Old Faithful. We didn't have the heart to pull Lucia out of the car at all of the stops along the way, but we did make an exception for the Grand Prismatic hot spring, which was well-worth the stop. Paul got some great photos, but even these don't do the colors justice.

Grand Prismatic

Apparently these are bacteria - Ask Paul

As we approached the Old Faithful area, we weren't prepared for how much more crowded and busy the Old Faithful area was going to be, compared to the other areas we had stopped so far. We managed to find a parking spot right in front of the visitor center and walked towards Old Faithful and the crowd gathered. Within just a few minutes, Old Faithful went off. It was cool to see, but at this point we were all starving and a little crabby. We quickly grabbed our picnic supplies from the car and found a spot for lunch. After lunch we went back to the visitor center and wandered through the exhibits. As we left Yellowstone for the day and headed back to our camp, it started pouring rain. Paul made a quick dinner on the camp stove and we ate dinner in the comfort of our little cabin. We ate dinner on the floor since we couldn't reach our camp chairs in the moving truck. But the floor was clean because we could reach our broom and dustpan. Funny how things work out!

Just in time for Old Faithful

Our little cabin abode

Our plan is to spend tomorrow in the Tetons, get packed up, and head out very early Sunday morning in order to make it straight through to South Dakota.

Day 4: Yellowstone - West Thumb Geyser Basin

We slept in and got a late start to the day. Paul made breakfast, we got the car organized for day trips, packed lunch/snacks and hit the road back up to Yellowstone around 10AM. From where we were staying at Flagg Ranch it took about 40 minutes to get back to the junction at West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake and the thermal springs there. Our first look at the hot springs, geysers and other thermal activity was amazing! I love the geology and Paul loves the microbiology, so we were both geeking out big time. It was just a boardwalk loop around the basin and along the lake. Lucia rode on Paul's shoulders most of the way, which was a good vantage point for using her binoculars. Every time we came upon another feature, she would look through her binoculars and exclaim, "Hmmm...Interesting!" The people around us all giggled. After exploring the West Thumb Basin, we had lunch. We headed north through the Hayden Valley towards the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Lucia fell asleep, so Paul and I took turns getting out of the car at different vantage points of the canyon. At first, I wasn't impressed, until I got out, looked over the edge and saw how deep the canyon really was. I have never been to the Grand Canyon, but I thought this was pretty spectacular. Lots of osprey nests precariously perched. We made a stop at Canyon Village then turned back around towards camp. We got our first glimpses of bison on our way back through the valley. We also saw a pelican and a bald eagle. On our drive back we decided that if we wanted a good chance to see wildlife, we would need to get up early the next morning. We got back to our campsite around 5PM for dinner.

Daily "Lucia in the car" photo

Looking for geysers

Thermal springs in West Thumb Basin

Thermal springs flowing into Yellowstone Lake

Excited to be exploring!

First glimpse of the canyon

Lucia face-to-face with Yellowstone wildlife (in the gift shop)

Archeologist in training

Day 3: Yellowstone!

The morning was beautiful in comparison to how the weather was when we went to bed last night. The mountains surrounding the campsite were all aglow with the sunrise light. I knew that I wasn't going to see mountains like these for awhile once we get to Maryland, so I was really taking them in.

It was only a 3.5 hour drive from Lewis & Clark Caverns to our cabin outside of Yellowstone, so we took the morning to check out the caves at the park. For a nominal fee you can join a ranger led tour through the caverns. It was a 2 hour tour, and we took the chance that between the two of us, we could hold, carry or guide Lucia through the caves. We all needed some exercise after all the driving. You basically hike a trail straight up to the top cave entrance. Lucia rode on Paul's shoulders for that part. Then you start to descend into the different rooms of the cave through series of tunnels and steps. Oftentimes ducking and squeezing to fit. Lucia loved it, despite it being quite dark and cold! The caves are wired with electricity so there is some dim lighting, but she loved that she was "just the right size" to fit all the places in the caves and she didn't have to duck like the rest of us. She thought that was hilarious. She held on the handrails and climbed either up or down the 600+ steps all by herself. The whole way. By the end the other tour members were commenting that they couldn't believe how good she as doing, not only in not being fussy but just that she kept going, like a little energizer bunny. Of course our hope was that it meant she would nap well in the car.

We arrived at the West Entrance to Yellowstone around 3pm.

On our way up to the cave entrance

Inside the cave

Cool cave formations

Our camper cabin at Flagg Ranch, Yellowstone

Lucia got a pair of binoculars for our Yellowstone explorations

Day 2: Montana

We left Moscow a little before 8 AM after breakfast, again provided by our wonderful hosts. We had a long day ahead of us. And we weren't sure how long it would take Paul to drive the truck through the mountains. We decided that it would be best to stick to the interstate even if it was longer distance-wise. We headed north and stopped in Coeur d'Alene for a quick break. I lost Paul pretty quickly through the mountains, but met up for a lunch stop in Missoula. I abhor McDonald's food, but clean bathrooms, free wifi and truck parking is a good marketing strategy.

Another day on the road

From there is was pretty smooth sailing to our turnoff to our campsite, just outside of Butte at Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park. Lots of campsites to choose from, we picked one close to the bathrooms and the playground. Win-win. Lucia had the playground to herself while Paul set up camp. Not long after we started cooking dinner, it started raining. All the RVers retreated to their vehicles and we were standing out in the rain trying to make our dinner. Luckily it was still pretty warm, despite the rain. We ended up scrambling to throw the stove in the trunk and we ate our dinner in the discomfort of our car. The rain let up enough for us to clean up and get read for bed. We climbed into our tent and listened to it rain most of the night. We were starting to wonder what we had gotten ourselves into.

Setting up camp BEFORE the thunderstorm

Girl in a landscape

Day 1: Moscow, ID

9/2/14: Still remember that pang of sadness when we crossed the Columbia River into Washington. But one of the things I remember most about the trip overall was how well Lucia traveled. She had movies, snacks, toys and books, never got fussy, was happy for the stretch breaks but wow, I love that kid!

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We spent Sunday night at my Mom's house. We had our tearful goodbyes and hit the road around 8:00 AM, heading east.

Us and our stuff, code name "Big Bird"

Since it was Labor Day there was no traffic downtown or on 84, so we got out of town quickly. We had our first stop for gas for Paul in Arlington. Lucia was happy with her movies so we just kept going.

She loves her Little Bear!

We crossed into Washington, leaving Oregon behind with little fanfare. Our two-way radios were really handy since Paul was driving much slower than I was, getting used to the truck. Every once in awhile I would stop,when we had a turn to another highway, and wait for him. It was a pretty good system. We made good time and got to our friend's house around 3pm, in Moscow, ID. Carter is Paul's friend from grad school in Wisconsin, his wife Laura is finishing her PhD at Idaho, and they have a 15 month old so , Noah. It was fun to visit for a few hours and have dinner. Laura made an amazing pear tart for dessert. We had real beds to sleep in and no packing up camp in the morning. It was great. Not really any pictures from this day except a farewell photo of Paul and Carter with the kids. They are moving to Indiana next year, so hopefully we will see them again!

Carter & Noah, Paul & Lucia

Moving Day!

8/31/14: A year ago this weekend we were packing up our lives in Salem, OR getting ready for this "Eastern Shore Adventure".  Since I am feeling a little nostalgic I thought it would be fun to re-share my blog posts from the trip. Maybe I'll end with a reflection on the past year...and what a year its been!

P.S. I still can't believe everything we got to fit in that truck. Still sad for a few of the things we had to leave behind :(

Enjoy!

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After a week of non-stop packing, cleaning, trips to Goodwill, trips to the dump, trips to Lowe's and lots of pizza, the day has finally arrived. Thanks to help from my sisters, Dad and two nice boys from England we successfully got all of our stuff to fit in the 16ft truck and the house cleaned. We will be with family in Portland for the next 36 hours, then it's off to Moscow, ID to stay with friends for the first leg of our trip. We are excited and ready for this big adventure! Lucia was happily distracted by Grammy up in Portland.