Lake Tyee for the summer

Today we made the final drive back to where it all began – Lake Tyee, Concrete, WA.

For new (or forgetful) readers, on July 1, 07, we moved out of our Olympia house and drove to ID to pick up our trailer, On July 17, we moved to Lake Tyee, where we spent the summer, with Bruce still working and Jenna dispensing with our remaining possessions. On September 14, we hit the road. The circle is now complete.

Round trip mileage over nine months, departing from Lake Tyee = 12,500 miles. Which included a 2,200 mile detour to Kansas for RV repairs.

We said we looked forward to three months in one place. Now we know why.

Bruce

PS On the way to Concrete, we stopped for one more RV fix – a new furnace. Can’t go too far between repairs.

Return to Olympia

We spent five days in Olympia, our home for about 15 years prior to our transition to the nomadic life. Visiting good friends, seeing good doctors and dentists and veterinarians. But no internet service, thus the delay in this posting.

And had a lucky find too. Camping World, without which the RV community would be a poorer, and richer, is offering a Sleep Number bed at a sale price. Oh heaven! Of all the possessions we sold when we were downsizing, none pulled at our hamstrings more than our old Sleep Number bed. We kept it till the day we moved out, when our buyer arrived to carry it away.

Our new RV bed was a mediocre replacement. Now, one year later, almost to the day, we see a Sleep Number bed in our grasp. Joy fills our tiny dwelling!

Bruce

Yellowstone Day 7 – Mammoth Hot Springs

Snowed this AM – told you.

We set out for the Mammoth Hot Springs, 88 miles away, as soon as the roads cleared. We made pretty good time until we hit an “animal jam;” i.e. tourists blocking the road to look at wildlife. One dozen cars stopped blocking in both directions to take pictures of a beaver up on a rock. A beaver! Musta all been New Yorkers who watch music videos instead of Animal Planet. So, more hot springs up there, tho completely different from the bubbly kind.







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Does that last one remind you of Monet?

Finally, on our way back home, one of the locals bid us a fond farewell.


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Bruce

Yellowstone Day 6 - SNOW!

Six days at Yellowstone. Six days of snow. BTW, it's early June in the northern hemisphere, in case you're one of our Venusian readers, whose seasons vary from our own.

Oh yeah, this winter ends seven years of drought. (Irony alert.)

Three inches last night and it hasn't stopped all day. So we've stayed in, cooking and cleaning, all day.

More snow tonight.

Rain tomorrow. (Betcha it snows.)

Good news! Clear skies and 50 degrees on Friday.

We leave on Friday. (Emphasis added for more Irony.)

Nice weather on Saturday too. (Oh, forget it.)

Bruce (source of Irony)

Yellowstone Day 5

Today started out cold, wet, and windy. So we delayed our departure. Eventually we returned to that beautiful waterfall, took a few pictures, and moved onto the Visitors Center at Canyon Village.

There we learned more than we wanted to know about the Supervolcano that is Yellowstone. How the next eruption will doom all life on the planet. Consider that scientists rated one of three past eruptions of this volcano as 1,000 times the power and ash of Mt. St. Helens. It covered most of the western US and threw enough ash into the atmosphere to darken the skies for years. Uh oh.

Could happen soon, tho soon in geological time gives one some comfort. I suspect that we humans will cheat the volcano by destroying ourselves beforehand. Consider the international popularity of Hannah Montana. (Heck, just look at the length of this Wiki entry.)

Moving on, we traveled north a bit to the highest point in the park, as well as the highest snow walls we have seen yet. It was a beautiful view, but once again the weather looked ominous. So we returned to our home and prepared to go out to dinner with friends Gene and Joyce.

Two more days in the Park.

Yellowstone Day 4 – Old Faithful, More Hot Springs and an Incredible Waterfall

Today we went all out. We hopped a tour bus for a day of Yellowstone sightseeing. Well, really, a day to see just a small portion of this 2.2 million acre national park.















Our tour took us back to Old Faithful, where we looked again at bubbles and steam emitting from holes in the ground. Then on to another area with a different type of hot spring – paint pots. So called because the bubbling mud in these holes looks like paint in pots. OK.










Finally we drove over to the Canyon area, what they call the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. And saw an incredible panorama of alternating canyon walls leading up to a 300 foot waterfall. Even this picture cannot capture the beauty. We plan to return for more time just gazing at this scene.


















Sorry, but no menacing wildlife today. Tho I did see two Ospreys. But too high up to endanger my life. And they only eat fish. Maybe next time I'll eat tuna for lunch.

Bruce

Yellowstone Day 3 - Sulphur And Bubble And Bears, Oh My!

Today we spent time at another hot springs, this one called Mud Volcano Thermal Area. Large and small bubbling sulphurous pools all about. Notice that the superheated water has burned Bruce's feet clean off! And so soon after getting a new knee too!!

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We even saw some buffalo lounging near one of the steam holes, apparently taking the waters. No wonder they look so big and healthy! (You can double click on any of these photos for a bigger version.)
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We had hoped to continue up to Mammouth Hot Springs. But concerns about the snow on the route up, coupled with our late departure, drove us back.

To the Lake Lodge for a microbrew in their spacious sitting room. Yeah, this is living.

Then we saw a bear on our way from the Lake Lodge. Kewl!
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You may say, “Gee, Bruce must have a good telephoto lens to get that close up shot.”

Well, no, actually.

Bruce was crouched behind a car with another idiot taking pictures. He was the bigger idiot tho, since the bear would have scratched up his car when we piled into it. I shouldn't say that tho, since he did offer the back seat in the event I needed it.

Really, it was the bear’s fault for moving closer. Then a Park Ranger suddenly appeared and was not amused. He didn’t exactly use the word “idiots.” He should have tho.

Aaaah, nature. What new adventures await us?

Bruce

Yellowstone National Park Day 2

After waiting for the snow to cease and the temperature to rise above freezing, we ventured out to the Old Faithful area of the park. Saw the obligatory, albeit impressive, hourly geyser.
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We also saw a large field of smaller, bubbling springs above Old Faithful. Colorful and varied edging surrounded these hot fissures in the ground, as well as equally intricate streams from their activity.
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While viewing the hot springs, the weather shifted from sun to snow and back to sun again. Never hit 40 degrees either. But we are hardy stock...with hot tea.

Bruce

Reply to Rickster

Reader Rickster sent a comment asking for info on the Yellowstone Park. Since he did not include his email, I'll answer here.

We are staying at the Fishing Bridge RV Park in the center of Yellowstone National Park. Nice place with nice sites, to the extent I've seen it. The snow has been pouring down since our arrival, so we haven't yet explored the rv park or the Park yet.

Now $40/nite seems a mite high. But with a fantastic park this big, this central location is invaluable. And they offer a lot of services on site, like propane, which we will likely use up with the temps in the 20s at night.

Oh yes. If you're not Rickster, please do not read this posting! It's not meant for you!! And don't touch that Wet Paint sign either.

Bruce

Yellowstone National Park – it’s snowing in June!

We’ve just arrived at the campground in Yellowstone NP. Snow and sleet and 36 degrees to greet us on our first day. As well as Gene and Joyce with a much warmer welcome.

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So far, we’ve seen walls of snow in the south part of the park, as well as Yellowstone Lake, a pretty large body of water. Snow hit the Park very hard this year, and the Park Service has just recently cleared the roads.

More to come for sure.

Bruce

Grand Tetons National Park

End of day two at Grand Tetons NP. More superlatives for this natural wonderland of snow covered mountains lined up west of the Jackson Hole valley.




















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And large and small mammals wandering about. In our two days here, we’ve seen moose, buffalo, elk, wolves, a coyote, prong horn antelope, as well as western tanagers, scrub jays, great blue herons, hawks, and osprey (on the way to the park).

Tomorrow we move to Yellowstone National Park, just 50 miles north. Our friend Gene secured us a site at the nicest RV park for four nights. Not bad on short notice, considering they were completely booked. It’s who you know, i.e. Gene is the manager at that park.

After Yellowstone, we expect to return to these Tetons for three more nights before resuming our 900 mile journey to Olympia and Lake Tyee. At this point, we plan to arrive in Oly on the evening of Friday, June 20. We’ll stay there for about five days before finishing our trek with a final day’s drive to Lake Tyee.

Bruce