Last week

8/1/23

I had a fever during the night and felt very dizzy. I stayed in bed most of the day while Kathy worked, and all of the kids played outside. It rained lightly on and off all day. In the afternoon everyone piled into vehicles, and we drove to the Jenny Lake visitor’s center of Grand Teton NP. I was feeling better, and we decided to take a boat trip across the lake and then hike back. The small ferry dropped us off at the base of the Tetons, and we hiked up to Hidden Falls. From the falls, we had to hike 2.5 miles back around the lake to get to our vehicles. The views are spectacular, and the trails are lined with beautiful wildflowers. About half way into our hike back, a couple told us that they had just seen a black bear cross the trail with two cubs. As they were telling us about this, I noticed some bushes off to our left were moving. I climbed up onto the trail shoulder, and a very small bear cub head peaked out from the bushes! Carefully, we each lifted our children up so they could each see the baby bear, and then quietly walked away. We did not know where mama bear was, and we didn’t want to upset her. Further along on the trail we encountered a deer that just led us down the path. The deer stopped to eat, and we walked with feet of her, but she didn’t spook. We got back to our vehicles and drove around the Grand Teton NP loop, hoping to see more wildlife, especially a moose. No luck, but we did see some fantastic views of the mountains. Shannon and Margie made dinner for us when we got back to camp. I still wasn’t feeling 100%, and it was much appreciated.

8/2/23

It rained most of the day today. All of us walked down to the nearby river in the afternoon. We had a Marmot join us on the river banks and just hang out while the girls built a dam. Despite our best efforts, we were muddy and soaking wet. A young couple from New Hampshire pulled up near us this evening, and we invited them over for a campfire and drinks.

8/3/23

We headed to the nearest visitors center this morning to dump our tanks. Signal Mountain visitor’s Center, had a dump station, showers, convenience store and lodge. We paid for 7-minute showers (best money I have spent in a while), and then decided to have breakfast at the lodge. The restaurant was right on Jackson Lake, and we had an amazing view of the Tetons as we ate our eggs benedict. We are meeting the other families at some USFS land between Grand Tetons NP and Yellowstone, called Grassy Lake. Grassy Lake Road turns to gravel after a mile, and there are designated campsites scatter for the next 10 miles. Each site has a pit toilet, picnic tables and firepit, all for free. The first site had four camping spots, and three were taken, so we moved on. We drove down this dirt road for almost 10 miles just to find that all of the other sites were taken. We went back to the first site and grabbed it. The site was big enough for us and Margie and Shannon van, but not for Stephen and Melissa’s 5th wheel. They showed up anyways, and our neighbor was ok with us cramming everyone in until the next day when another spot would open. It is a beautiful spot right on the Snake River. The kids put their bathing suits on and rode the small rapids on some floaties we had. Tomorrow, Shannon, Margie and Sequoia are taking Mia with them when they drive into Yellowstone. Kathy has to work, and we didn’t want to fight the crowds in the park, plus it is supposed to rain again.

8/4/23

Mia got up at 6 am so she could accompany the Canadians in the Yellowstone. It was already raining, and just kept going most of the day. At about 11am we received a text from Melissa telling us that there was a moose in front of our camper. We both bolted out into the rain to find a moose and her calf eating about 50 yards in front of us. I got my camera out and stood out there for about 30 minutes watching them. Needless to say, Kathy and were soaked to the bone. Everything we owned was wet after the last 4 days of rain. The rain let up around 2pm, and Kathleen and I went for a hike. We found a trail that led to some hot springs. The trail was closed at the river because of all the rain, but there was a sign on the trail stating that bear attacks have happened in this area. Good thing we were carrying our bear spray. On our walk back, I noticed a road sign that showed our dirt road continued for 47 miles, all the way into Idaho. Someday we might have to come back and drive all the way on it. Shockingly, it started raining again, and we spent the afternoon inside the camper. Mia and her hosts returned around 8 pm from their Yellowstone adventure.

8/5/23

We split from the group this morning. It was very sad, and there were lots of hugs and tears. There are tentative plans to meet in Greece in 2025. We need to get home for Mia’s school orientation. Our niece Danielle lives in Salt Lake City, so we are headed South to see her on the way home. We arrived in Salt Lake City a little early, and found a laundromat. Danielle’s house was only a few blocks from there, and we arrived at 4 pm. Keely, our grand-niece, is so cute. We all went out to dinner at an Afghani restaurant. It was so delicious. We had a Facetime call with Great-grandpa Terry for his Birthday. We didn’t visit with them for too long. They have a lot to do with a new born in the house, and they seem tired too. We found some BLM land right on Utah Lake, and drove down to spend the night.

8/6/23

We stayed at a small BLM reservoir outside of Ely, Nevada on our last trip and liked it so much, that we wanted to stay again. On our drive from Utah, we encountered thousands of Mormon Crickets migrating. They are hug flightless katydids. The road was stained black with their smashed bodies, and in some places in looked like the road was moving, because there were so many of them. They can be a road hazard because their smashed bodies will make the road slick. For lunch, we stopped at another BLM site, and hiked to the top of small mesa. We made it Ilipah Reservoir and Kathleen and Mia changed to go swimming. I stayed behind at the campsite, and they returned fairly quickly. The water was disgusting. Clumps of algae everywhere, and it smelled bad. Completely different then our last stay, two years ago.

8/7/23

We continued our drive on highway 50 through Nevada, and the Mormon Cricket issue persisted. At a gas station in Eureka, NV. we overheard two women who were riding on the back of motorcycles. They were disgusted by the cricket guts stuck to their pants and boots. Eeewwwww! We passed a sign for Dune Mountain Recreation Area, and Mia yelled, “Lets go there”. We pulled off and followed the road to a massive mountain made of sand. It is BLM land, it seems to be used for off-road competitions. It was currently empty. We tried hiking up the dune, but soon realized how high it was, and how hard it is to hike in sand. We had lunch and departed. As one last hurrah for our trip, we decided to visit Virginia City, NV. Kathleen had visited as a child, but I had never been before. While much of the town has been taken over with touristy stores, it still looks like an old West mining town. We attended a gunfight show with lots of audience participation. Mia found a mine tour and convinced me to go with her. Kathy didn’t want to enter a mine shaft. The entire town is littered with hundreds of mineshafts. The tour left from the back of a saloon. We walked several hundred yards into the mountain, and our guide gave us a lot of the town’s history. When we exited the mine, we found Kathy sitting at the bar with ticket lady. We ended up closing down the bar. They closed at 6pm, so it was really only 30 minutes. The entire town shuts down at 6pm. We did find a Mexican restaurant that was still open, and had dinner. The food was not especially good, but our day in Virginia City was. We drove South from there and spent the night outside of Gardnerville, NV on some BLM land overlooking the Sierra mountains.

8/8/23

We drove the rest of the way home this morning. It was pretty uneventful. We did stop at Twin Bridges to check out future hike we want to do. It’s only 4 miles round trip, but very steep and ends at a spectacular waterfall. It is good to be home, but we miss our travel companions.