Spring in Yellowstone NP

Yellowstone was quite different this year than in previous years.  First, spring was evident everywhere--it was sunny and very warm, unlike the changeable, sometimes freezing weather of past years.  All the trees were budding, the grass was lush and the streams and rivers overflowing with mountain snow runoff.  The valleys and meadows were significantly flooded.   This changed animal behavior greatly, as they hate "underwater grazing".  They banded together in smaller pasturing areas and ate available grass like crazy.  

They landed in the campground one morning and we couldn't even go outside to our car or let Cassie out for her morning walkies until they cleared out. 

Here's Frank patiently explaining to Cassie why she has to wait to take a wizzie.  After that, the poor park employees (aka Slave Labor) had a major bison pie-poking job to do!

We joined in a grizzly bear vigil where a kill had been sighted and a grizzly had been seen.  

All the "long lensers" were there; the telescopes and extreme nature photogs gathered in the twilight to catch the appearance of the grizzly coming to the kill site.  It was rumored that the female grizzly had a den nearby and hungry cubs to feed.  She never showed up while we were there and we saw only a black bear. 

One of the reasons we love to come visit at this time of year is due to bison calving.  Here's the cutest thing ever--this little bison calf looking straight at me and "vogue-ing for the camera!

The baby bison are such a delight to watch.  We spent hours parked or perched on a boulder just watching the little guys chase each other and try to engage mom in head-butt play.  

The other reason this is the best time to visit is because there are relatively few cars on the road and it is easy to get around and pull over at will to watch impromptu mealtimes. 

Cassie enjoyed our outings and was excited but quiet while we passed the huge bison on the road.

Coyotes were bold and came right up to cars to beg for food.  This one was quite a handsome fella.

Elk with radio collars frequently congregated on the road.

Saw the usual black bears, which often had their cubs with them right by the road.  No grizzly bear sightings on this 
trip!

This is a BearJam near a kill site; it was rumored to have attracted bears there to feed so folks staked out the area to await the arrival of bears.

We visited the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and I got an unusual shot of the Canyon Falls with a crow sitting on the fence.  The crow allowed me to approach within 2 feet.

On one stop, we let Cassie out to sniff the snow.   Instead, she immersed herself in it and rolled around scratching her back, much to my dismay since I would have to have a cold wet dog in my lap for the remainder of the drive.

On our last night, Frank made us a campfire and we toasted to a wonderful Yellowstone experience. 


We had a great visit and left yesterday to restock and clean up the rig.  Enroute we shopped at Super Walmart and are now in a Passport campground with full services and free wifi.  Frank is doing laundry and fixing a few things and I am  steam cleaning the carpet.  We might stay an extra day so I can watch the American Idol finale as our next stop was scheduled to be a boondock in a narrow mountain pass where one can get no TV reception at all.

Next extended play stop is on Friday--Crescent Bar, WA where we will play with our pals, Rick and Carol and their dog, Karma.

Wyoming, Approaching Yellowstone NP

Holy Howitzer!

We stopped at a Passport CG just outside Yellowstone NP to "clean up" and get ready for a week of boondocking.  It was in a gorgeous mountain setting and deer were everywhere.  

This is a strange structure that was perched on a hill above our campground and I thought it might have something to do with alien communication or a secret government operation.

Cassie and  Frank romped (well...Cassie romped!) in the lush grassy open area.  


While mingling in the campground, we were advised by a neighbor that there might be a delay going into the park.  His neighbor's son worked for the Park Service and told him that a LIVE 55 lb howitzer shell had been found on the highway; apparently, wayward shells fired during avalanche control and road construction had landed on the road Holy Howitzer!.  Many campers decided to take the 150-mile detour to the north entrance, but we decided to wait it out since we had never entered the park via the East Entrance and were told it was a awesome drive!

We were stopped just short of the East Gate into the park and were told that the Bomb Squad had been called in from Idaho to remove the deadly missle that morning and were "working on it".  

While waiting, a moose crossed the road right in front of us and I ran down the mountain to the stream where it was headed to watch for a photo opportunity.  Meanwhile, Frank made breakfast and got the satellite TV working.  We watched TV, ate breakfast and before we knew it, they opened the road!  

We soon learned why all those bombs were scattered on the roads.  The old road had been completely blown off the mountain and part of the mountain had been smashed.  In place of the old road was a packed gravel trail, heavy road equipment and tanned, hearty-looking young mountain men.

As we ascended to a higher elevation, the route became snowy and beautiful.

Upon arrival in West Yellowstone and before checking into our campground, our first chore was to complete the processing of our homeowners insurance.  We had finally received an Efax but needed an office services facility to print out, complete yet another application and fax back.  West Yellowstone is not exactly rolling in non-tourist businesses.  

Our first stop was to the Visitor Center where they identified two possible places to try and also invited us to use their free wifi!  We were wifi-hungry so we enjoyed a beautiful quiet setting surrounded by the heads of dead animals and cavorted through cyberspace. 

The first place we tried, a Quik Print office, printed 7 pages from my flash drive, allowed us to use their office space to fill out our papers and faxed all 7 pages back for under $6.  Here is Frank grinning at Mission Accomplished!

We celebrated at Bullwinkles, home of great burgers and Moose Drool beer (my SECOND moose of the day!) and went back to the Visitor Center to wifi again before going into the park where no internet is possible.  

On the way back into the park, I got one of the silliest photos ever of an elk--it stuck its tongue out at me and I got to giggling so bad I could hardly steady the camera.

Finally, we got settled into our spot--the Ranger let Frank pick out the one we wanted even though we had reserved one supposedly big enough for the Muthaship.  But, we knew from past experience that you could catch the satellite signal on the edge of the hillside! And, Frank does need his Sat TV...

Cody, Wyoming "Mustang Luv"

We had no idea where we would stay after Douglas as we needed to be somewhere 3 nights to adjust to our reservations at Yellowstone.  Luckily, Passport America had two participating campgrounds near Cody. 

One of the campgrounds could not be reached and the other one would only permit two nights at the discounted rate.  I politely declined their "all or nothing" policy and we refused to stay there.   It is off-season here and no reason that an owner in their right mind should not deviate from a restrictive policy.  

So, they lost ALL our business and we stayed at Buffalo Bill State Park, a gorgeous park sandwiched between two mountain ranges fronting on a large reservoir. 

Even though we had no services, we got water and decided to boondock there.  

Were we glad!  This is probably the most gorgeous place we have ever been in!  And--we caught a free wifi signal from a homeowner somewhere up the mountain, which I am now using to send this email.

We took our wine down to the water and Cassie helped herself.

 
We stayed 2 nights and, while here, I saw an ad for tours to go the McCullough Peak Wild Horse Range to view mustangs.  We decided to go without paying the ridiculous tour fee.  

After getting some local info on where to go, we found the unmarked barbed wire enclosure.  I got out to swing it back to get inside; the wire was there to keep the mustangs IN.  Once inside, I closed it back up and we headed down the dirt road.  Entering this way felt mildly criminal-like.

We happened to spot a large herd right away and slowly and cautiously stopped and watched and photographed wild horses for over an hour.  

It was on BLM land and very inaccessible except to 4-wheel drive vehicles or one like ours--one that has been everywhere and survived a million booboos!   I guess that's the benefit of paying for a tour--not tearing up your own vehicle!  The rental companies forbid you to come here.

The mustangs were feeling frisky; this one was poaching some territory and got chased by the boss horse, literally hanging his head down in defeat!

These guys were feeling their oats and engaging in some x-rated action.

Later that day, we had a special Mother's Day Buffet at Irma's Hotel, a Cody landmark and Home of the Best Prime Beef in the area, as claimed by billboards along the route.  We tied on the feedbag and had our fill of excellent prime beef and all the fixin's.

We left at dawn for an early start.  

Today, we head for Yellowstone and will use the full-service RV park to clean up from our sloppy boondocking ways.  

Hopefully, we will still be able to conduct business with our homeowners insurance agency, whom we have been warning for weeks that we are entering remote and not-easily accessed communications.  They have dawdled and missed promised deadlines and our insurance is cancelled on June 1st.  It is very difficult to conduct business while "on the road" especially in the mountains where cell phone service is spotty.

On Tuesday, we'll boondock in Yellowstone for 6 days.  I am hoping for some more spring-like weather.  It was 39 degrees this morning!

Douglas, Wyoming-Home of the Jackalope

Douglas, WY doesn't have much, but the KOA there was participating in the Camp Free at KOA Day nationwide, so we had scheduled our stop there. 

As you may know, the majority of seasoned RV'ers would never stay at a KOA because they are always overpriced (KOA=Keep On Adding), but FREE is GOOD!  

I must say I have a bias against KOA but this one was incredible.  They had a Giant Jackalope to greet their visitors... 

...a very homey campstore

...and a LIVE jackalope visited our campsite!  (Not really you know how I love to Photoshop!)

They did everything right and even had a CLEAN enclosed dog exercise area with poo bags and disposal can.  

They threw a party complete with chili, cornbread, hotdogs and s'mores.

The campfire was complete with dogs and singing cowboys. 

(Another photoshop)

The kids had remote control cars to play with, buckets of colors to tie-dye t-shirts, croquet and pingpong.  

A local mobile expresso cart was there to serve caffeine.  

We enjoyed our stay there immensely and stayed an extra day, paying an exhorbitant $31 (but with a free night in the mix, it worked).

Next stop--somewhere "near" Yellowstone NP.