Last night was a little rough. I pushed all of us to make it to Salt Lake City. There are no two ways about it-it was a long drive. In my planning I knew that we had to log some serious mileage in order to set us up for a shorter drive into Yellowstone.
Beth and I got up earlier than Tessa and Jonathan and walked over to the covering next to the pool at the SLC KOA (the nicest campground we've stayed in so far) for the pancake and bacon breakfast (at a minimal cost) that the KOA staff cooked up. The coffee had just finished brewing so we quickly poured a cup and placed our order. We met a retired couple who spend half the year in Arizona and half the year on the road in their beautiful 43-foot motorhome they share with their two Schnauzers. The man seems to have been everywhere! When we mentioned the Gulf Coast, he talked specifically about Mobile. We ate breakfast, said our goodbye and headed back to begin to break down our site and move on.
As we were about to pull out we met a man walking his two miniature Schnauzers (not the same guy at breakfast). One of the dogs looked just like our Chipper. I approached the dog and held out my hand so he could get to know me. We struck up a conversation with the nice man from Utah who has traveled a good bit himself. He gave us good insights into what we should do while in Yellowstone. We all had Chipper withdrawals and all at some point mentioned how nice it would be to have a dog again.
-I have to stop here for a moment-
A couple of initial observations: 1st, this type of travel (camping-in a very upscale way) forces us, as a family, to pull together to help with the responsibilities of setting up and striking our residence on wheels and to deal with each other due to living 24/7 in relative close quarters. Secondly, people who travel this way are used to spontaneously meeting fellow travelers and, I have found, are very kind and friendly. There are, naturally, those who are quiet and choose to stay to themselves, and that's ok. These two realities combine to make this a very enjoyable mode for seeing this land. Finally, it seems that there are many from europe and the orient who have come over here, rented a motorhome and hit the trail. So, I guess the same could be done over there. The Europeans seem to have collectively figured out the getaway better than most Americans. I'm going to do some figurin' and drop the European motorhome trip into my Bucket List!
Utah, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. I guess I could have studied the map rather than commit to the Maps app on my iPhone, but I didn't expect to drive through so many states enroute to today's destination. The Idaho countryside was clean and often quaint, in a vast surrounding mountain range kind of way. It left me with the impression of 'leave us alone, we're doing just fine here. You can have your big city busy-ness. We like our clean water and air, our small towns and farms. You are welcome, friend, but we're not going anywhere'.
We purchased a set of portable speakers with which to play our iTunes Yellowstone playlist as we logged the miles. It made the drive pass more quickly and added to our enjoyment of the surroundings on the other side of the glass. Even the Beach Boys seemed appropriate as we drove past small lakes packed with Idahoans taking advantage of the unusually warmer weather.
The drive into the national park via West Yellowstone slowly introduced us to what lies ahead. We are so used to pulling into a Disney park and finding ourselves instantly in the world we came to see. Not so with this locale. Yellowstone is vast covering 3,472 square miles. The park opens slowly reminding its visitors that those who enter here must take their time, relax, don't hurry things. That sort of living is for the outside world! On at least a few occasions we could see a traffic jam ahead which mostly turned out to be Bison sightings including one that walked right past our car. There are so many Bison here and encounters with them, usually at a distance, were so frequent that they became routine but never not captivating.
We finally found the Fishing Bridge RV campsite, pulled in and registered. On the walk to the office, I was struck by the scent of the pines that I had first encountered on my first trip here at the age of five. The staff was efficient though not as outgoing and social as we are used to in the south. We were given our assigned site after signing the waiver acknowledging we were in Grizzly bear country and headed to set up camp. Connecting the water, sewer and power is becoming a quick, systematic event; the boys set up the outside, the girls in. Due to the need for laundry, Beth and Tessa headed over to the laundry facilities while Jonathan found 2 trees for his ENO and I took a shower. It wouldn't get dark til 930 which afforded us plenty of time to explore the surroundings consisting of the General Store and the RV registration center. The late sunset left the impression that it was much earlier than reality. After dinner we talked for awhile then realized that it was 1130! But, then again, what's the rush! We plan. To sleep in then enjoy our locally produced smoked bacon and egg breakfast before heading out to explore Old Faithful.
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