Saturday, June 29th- Leaving Grand Teton- heading to Yellowstone

We relaxed in the morning and got ourselves all packed up.  I took Rhoda for a run for a few miles in the park.  We ran on a lakefront trail out to a point and then sat there and watched some boats go by for a bit.  It was beautiful.  We got back to the camper and I got a shower and took the kids over to a gift shop--they were dying to look at souvenirs.  When we got back, we pulled the camper out of the spot and checked out.  We went down to the education center there at the Colter Bay area and spent some time in there.  It was really nice. 

Before I went into the education center another Airstreamer stopped by and we talked for a bit  He talked about how he had some major trouble with this tires popping and causing major damage to his camper.  He was a lawyer and said he had sent a letter to Goodyear and they paid for the damages to his camper as a result of two tire failures.  He highly suggested getting rid of the Trailer tires in favor of Light Truck tires- that he claims are more reliable.  He also said that he changed to a 16” wheel at the recommendation of an AS dealer technician in Ohio that he had gone to.  That’s not the first time I have heard of trailer owners switching to LT tires.  I had seen some of that in the Airstream forums before.  He also had one of those wireless tire pressure monitoring systems installed.  They are $275 and come with 4 wireless sensors that you put in the trailer tires.  There is a small display that you put up on your dash that displays the tire pressure and temperature- to help you avoid having a catastrophic blowout at 65 mph- like I did.  – Hey, the repair job turned out pretty well… but I’ll have to admit that I do look at my tires all the time, hoping and praying that I won’t have another issue with them.  I might follow that guy’s advice and switch to the LT trucks for durability.  I need to do more homework on the rim size change though.  I’m not sure if that’s a requirement or not.  LT tires should come in a 15” size- I think.  I’ll do my homework later- but that makes sense.- OK enough Technical stuff.

We had a great day!  We drove through some beautiful country on our way up to the Fishing Bridge campground in Yellowstone park.  There is so much wildlife to see here.  We saw deer, elk, and buffalo- lots and lots of them today.  We went to a few different gift shops today too.  We got the kids some different souvenirs in some of the shops.  We got the boys some hiking staffs.  They are pretty neat.  They have different pins that you can tack into the staffs from the different parks.  We have Grand Teton and Yellowstone covered so far.  It was a neat idea.. and the boys are really excited about it.  LeAnn got a journal and some different stickers from the parks.  She also got some different earrings that are really nice.  Traci and I got some Christmas ornaments from the parks.  

Takeaways from the day:

It was great to see how excited the kids and Traci get seeing the wildlife!

God’s creation is amazing- the Parks are beautiful!

I am so thankful for the foresight of our forefathers to preserve these parks—we live in a beautiful country!

Large groups of people trampling over each other to take pictures of wildlife- is not fun.. J

I’m so glad we did this trip with our family!

Kids in the visitors center at Grand Teton NP

Showing off his fancy boots.

LeAnn's new earrings- bear..

and Moose..

Off to see a waterfall...

Friday, June 28th- To Grand Teton we will go!

Traci did some grocery shopping in the morning to be sure we had plenty to eat in the parks for the coming days.  I’m glad she did.  Even though there are a lot of shops in the park, the prices are pretty high for most things.  I walked down the neighboring Starbucks and got a coffee while the kids drank hot chocolate before we got on the road- Great start to the day!- all decked out in our cowboy boots J

We started driving north on 191 up into the mountains.  For the most part, we took our time on the road.  The mountains got bigger and bigger.  We stopped quite a few times to take family pictures.  It was such a beautiful day.  There were a lot of wildflowers out as well.  We really had a great time together seeing all of the beautiful sites.  The mountains are huge and shaped different than any other mountains we have seen in the US.  It was beautiful.

We spent the night at a full service hookup park inside Grand Teton NP- Colter Bay campground.  It was a really nice campground.  Grand Teton had gone with a different privatized campground company.  The other national parks have privatized the management of the campgrounds through a different company, but you can call one phone number to make your reservations with most of the different parks through the same number.  Grand Teton is different.  They went with a different company.  It was a really nice campground through.  We had not stayed at too many parks that have the sewer hookup at the campsites before.  I wish I had saved the sewer pipe support system that was crammed into the camper when we bought it.  I could have used it.  Instead, there was a collection of rocks there that previous campers had used to build a ramp to the drain.  After a little time, it worked fine… I might have to pick one of them up whenever I get to an RV shop- outside of the parks.  Colter Bay was a great place to camp.  The waterfront views of the Teton Mountains were breathtaking. 

Oh, I almost forgot- good news!-  The housing people on JBLM called and they have a house for us.  We are excited about it.  The house is brand new, never lived in.  The house is within 1 mile of my work, so I should be able to ride my bike or walk to work.  The house is good sized and also has a garage.  So, we are excited about that.  We had debated trying to live in the camper for a while longer when we got to JBLM, but this seemed like a great opportunity.

Campsite in Grand Teton NP at Colter Bay

The kids thought these were a hit... they had never seen pay phones before... has it been that long??  they serve a purpose in the park system though- where there is little if any service..

John Colter- Private on the Lewis and Clark Expedition... 

Relaxing...

Thursday, June 27th- Driving North

We got up in the morning and got things around for our trip up to the parks.  Traci had gotten a lot of laundry done during our visit- so she was busy re-packing things into their organized spots. I made a trip over town to get fuel and stopped at perhaps the nicest Ace Hardware store I have ever been in.  This hardware store sold guns, Stihl chainsaws, Craftsman and Dewalt tools, agriculture and hardware stuff… It was a great store… So If you’re ever in Eaton, CO- check it out!  When we got things all taken care of, we got on the road.  We weren’t in a terrible hurry to get out of town.  It was nice spending time with friends.

We headed north out of town and hit Cheyenne, WY.  They had a Chipotle, so we stopped for some Burritos.  They were great!  I should mention that Rhoda has been a champ on the road with us.  Every time we head into somewhere that doesn’t want us to take our dog, we take her out and put her in the camper.  We open the windows and turn on the fan, and she takes a nap.  As long as she is with us, she is always well behaved- Traci even says so… ha!  After we got everyone back in the truck, we spotted a Boot Barn there in Cheyenne.  We thought- wouldn’t it be fun to all get cowboy boots in Cheyenne, WY?  So, we headed over and got everyone all set up.  Let me tell you… Traci is looking great in some cowgirl boots! J   Jacob insisted on getting RED… bright RED cowboy boots.  He is so funny about them.  He wanted “pointy” boots… so that’s what he got- red “pointy” boots.  He is too cute.

After everyone was outfitted, we got back in the Truck and headed north.  The mountains gradually build in Wyoming.  The rolling hills turn into bigger hills slowly.  Before you know it, you’re surrounded by the Rockies… It is really beautiful!  We drove until about 11:30 and stopped at a Walmart parking lot in Rock Springs, WY for the night.  It was a crowded parking lot.  When we got there, there have been 25 different RVs in the parking lot.  The Allstays App we have on our phones says that you have to ask the Walmart staff for permission to spend the night there, so I went in to see if it would be ok if we joined the band of Gypsies outside.  The manager on duty said that it wouldn’t be a problem, so We repositioned the camper and got some sleep.  

Jacob and his Red Boots

Walmart (the next morning)

Wednesday, June 26th- Visiting with the Biggers

We spent some time relaxing around their house in the morning.  Their kids had different sporting events to go to, so we spent some time relaxing.  Jacob, Rhoda, and I made our trip to Longmont for the power cord we needed for our trip.  We had the chance to eat at a great Tex-Mex place in town before we headed to a baseball game for the evening.  It was a lot of fun.  The game was down in Greeley, CO- not too far away.  They had a really nice sports complex there for the kids to play ball at.  Elijah hit some balls in their indoor batting cages.  It was a lot of fun!

It was very encouraging to see our friends the Biggers.  They are really enjoying a wonderful life there in Eaton.  Eaton is a bit of a drive to work, but it is a great small town.  Eaton is largely a farming community.  The schools are small with 200-300 in a graduating class each year.  It is just a wonderful community.  We really enjoyed having the time to visit with the Biggers.