Remember how I said Rosie likes to look like a dead goat? I'm sure people driving by were concerned about this:
By the time we pulled out of the casino it was around 1pm, with a four hour drive to the park. The views along the way were fantastic and we were in great spirits despite the fact that we couldn't take grand pictures to share with you. The hope was that we could slip into the park after closing time and skip paying the $25 entrance fee. Arriving at Grand Tetons around 5:30 we were pleased to see that the station was already closed, so we drove around in Grand Tetons for a while enjoying the views. We didn't get to see much of it before dark, but it was enough to make us happy. The campground inside the park was $45 a night, and all the dispersed camping in the area had multiple warnings against soft-side campers and tents because of the proliferation of grizzly bears. Sure enough, we saw a grizzly bear on our way out of the park! My camera in the iPod was only capable of capturing the scene as a tiny black dot-blob far off in the distance.
See the black dot in the very center of the photo at the edge of the water?
That's a grizzly bear.
There he is, swimming away.
Sometimes I wonder what other people see when we're at the gas station. Dan took this picture at a rest area in Grand Tetons.
On our way out of the park we saw this sign.
And then we saw a lot of elk, but no moose.
Sunset over the peaks.
Love that glow.
Along the way we had to go over a mountain pass. The grade was 10% and our four cylinder was chugging up the mountain at a top speed of 20mph. About eight miles up the 30-mile pass we came across a line of parked cars in the road with their hazards blinking. Just around the curve and out of sight was some kind of crash causing billowing clouds of glowing smoke. Shortly emergency vehicles came whizzing by. After a five minute wait a man came along to tell us they were closing the pass and we would have to turn around. We forgot to ask him what happened, but as we were turning around (luckily the road was wide enough for a U-turn) there was a loud explosion. I think the accident was possibly a transfer truck whose brakes went out coming down the mountain. We were only an hour away from our destination, and we had to find a different route.
Eight miles back down the pass and we were in Jackson again. We stopped for directions and were assured that the way around the mountain, although twice the distance, would be the same amount of time due to higher speed limits. I contacted the Jolly RV park and let the owner know not to wait up on us. The new route took us three and a half hours, and there were no options for camping along the way. Bartleby cried loudly and incessantly, and after twelve hours of torture I finally put in earplugs and slept for the last two hours. Dan was going loopy by time we arrived around 11pm, but we got set up without a hitch and enjoyed electricity and our warm little heater.
A traintrack ran by the site.
Cabins at Jolly's RV Park.
I really liked it there.
The place was lovely, with quaint little cabins, a nice outdoor patio and picnic table, wifi, a laundry room, and hot showers. The family who owns it lives in an old farmhouse at the front of the property and told me that they had stayed here once before. When they heard the old lady who owned it passed away, they sold their house in Utah, bought the property, and ran it just the way it had been for years in the past. We stayed two nights and I did four or five loads of laundry and took care of lots of online business. The little girls that lived in the house loved playing with Rosie, and the dogs got some much needed running time in the large yard.
It was Halloween, and we got costumes for the animals. Rosie was Blue from Blue's Clues. She's a bit too pudgy for the denim jacket, though!
Surprisingly she paid no mind to the headband.
Yellowstone was about two hours away, and we planned to arrive after five so that maybe we could get in there for free as well. No dice. The gates at Yellowstone only close for a short time really late at night. We drove up to the station, asked the ticket lady if we could turn around, and went back to Island Park about twenty miles away to find a free campsite. The road for supposed campsites didn't seem to really have any (it was dark though) so we pulled off on a side road entrance to an ATV trail with woods surrounding us. Planning to go early in the morning, and also because of the threat of bears, we slept in the car for the night. The stars were phenomenal, but it was so cold we didn't stand around long to see them.
Six thirty saw us on our way to Yellowstone. We watched the sun rise over the mountains and hoped that we could get to the gate before seven and maybe then there wouldn't be anybody to take money. Incorrect. We paid the $25 to a man who absolutely refused to acknowledge that I existed and was communicating with him, but who also called Dan "sir" about ten times in a thirty-second conversation. Yellowstone was quite foggy and frosty upon our arrival, but we did see a bear and a buffalo almost immediately.
On the way to Yellowstone at 6:30am
The drive into the park was foggy and frosty.
In the middle of the picture is a grizzly bear.
You have to look through the trees.
Those dots are a herd of buffalo. I miss my camera.
Our plan was to see Old Faithful first and then leave the park for breakfast and do the rest later in the day. On the way to the geyser we saw a buffalo in the road and I rolled the window down to take a picture. Normally Frankenstein has no interest in going outside, but this time she had an inclination to skydive out the window. Dan stopped the car in a turnout and I ran for the cat. Frankenstein ran for the buffalo. The buffalo paused to decide to run away or run AT US. Luckily he decided to run away, otherwise I wouldn't be here right now. The darn cat ran across the road and into a culvert. Dan had the forethought to grab a canister of food and shake it at the other end of the culvert; the traditional Frankenstein magnet. We threw her back in the cage, privileges restricted for the day.
"Dan! A buffalo!"
"Roll down the window!"
"There it goes!"
And there she went.
"FRANKENSTEIN!!!"
It was pretty cold at Old Faithful, but the cold helped stave off the crowds. When we arrived there were only ten or twenty people standing around waiting for her to blow. There wasn't a time listed and the visitor center didn't open til 9am so we just waited outside. My dad discovered that he could see us on the online live webcam if we stood in the right place.
It took some directions over the phone to get in the right spot for the webcam.
After half an hour she went, we took a couple pictures, and walked over to the webcam so that my dad could take a screenshot of us with the geyser in the background. It would have been more impressive in the summer; the cold air created so much steam that the actual spout wasn't very visible.
We entertained ourselves while waiting by wondering how this lonely frozen french fry got there.
Pre-eruption.
Not yet!
Whoosh!
On our way back to the park entrance we visited a few more geysers and walked two miles or so on a boardwalk with a large geyser collection. It was very smelly from all the sulfur, and the names of the geysers were more interesting than the actual geysers. My favorite was a tiny one that spat out thin dancing little streams of water. There were a lot of emerald- and teal-colored pools from the unique bacteria and algae that blossom in the warm, mineral-rich water. By the end of the walk my knee had had enough, and I began my characteristic hobble back to the car.
Chemical composition and micro organisms give the water its unique hue.
Steamboat Geyser.
Pretty but STINKY!
It looks so inviting. But don't touch! It's hot!
This was my favorite of all the geyser colors.
We drove back toward the entrance, and I began to hear a wobbley-thump noise repeating outside the window. I asked Dan to stop and check the tires. He pulled over and went around the car and camper but didn't see anything wrong. Unconvinced, I got out and had him drive forward slowly while I stood beside the camper. Sure enough, the sound was coming from the driver's side wheel. I looked and saw that we were missing one lug nut and the other three were close to flying away. The holes on the wheel for the bolts were eaten away, and the wheel was ruined. Dan jacked up the camper to change to the spare, but the leaf springs kept stretching down so much that the axle wouldn't lift and allow the wheel to come off the ground. Finally he worked it out and got the wheel off the hub. The bolts that hold the wheel were almost completely worn in half. Dan put the new wheel on and we continued on our way.
Rosie entertains herself while Dan changes the tire.
He kept busting his knuckles on the pavement.
A quick breakfast at the Hungry Bear Diner outside the park, and we reentered to do the top loop and exit the North Entrance. We saw lots of buffalo, pronghorns, mountain goats, birds, and elk. I was sleepy and lame, so we didn't do much walking of hiking but just stuck to the main drive. The scenery wasn't really awe-inspiring, but seeing all the wildlife was the best part. Near the end of the drive we passed through a small town-like place and the elk were EVERYWHERE! Each building cast a large shadow where 20-40 elk were collected taking a rest and enjoying the shade. The dogs went nuts and began screaming and barking. I remembered not to open the window for pictures, lest we lose a trip companion.
Buffalo napping four feet from the road.
Looks cuddly. Wouldn't chance it.
We kept seeing lots of these birds. Apparently it's a magpie.
Elk getting some sun.
Elk everywhere!
They were all trying to find shade.
The dogs were losing their minds by this point.
"Just stopping by to drop off my mail."
Pronghorns.
A few minutes later we exited the park at the North entrance in Montana, and were searching for a place that might sell lug nuts. No such place existed, so onwards we went to a place about 40 miles down the road where we could hopefully find one. We stopped three times along the way to reassess and tighten the lug nuts, and my dad informed us that our problems were due to putting them on backwards. The sun was setting and I heard the thumping again, so we pulled off the road onto a gravel turnout. The spare wheel was ruined too. It quickly became dark and we had nowhere to stay and no way to get there anyhow. I hadn't eaten since breakfast, and also hadn't had enough water. Dan kept busting his knuckles on the ground fighting with the lug nuts. Soon I was close to either fainting or throwing up, a situation which happens to me often if I don't frequently eat, get dehydrated, or overheat. Dan took care of me and got me water and bread, put the lug nuts on as tight as they could go, and we got back on the road for another ten miles which would take us to the nearest truck stop. The wheel noise got exponentially worse as we drove along, and by the last mile we were certain it would just fall off.
We slept in the car again that night at the truck stop. Rosie had an upset stomach and wasn't looking so hot, so I got some Pepto pills from the truck stop and crushed them up for her. She did not appreciate it. It must have worked, though, because we didn't have any sick goat problems that night. There was a shop called Ken's Repair in the parking lot, and we couldn't really shop around for the best deal so we pulled over there in the morning for repair. The mechanic couldn't get the lug nuts off since the bolts were stripped so he removed the whole hub. It took about ten minutes, and he informed us that our wheel as well as our hub was ruined due to us putting on the lug nuts backwards. We went to a tire place and got new wheels for $62 and a welding shop for a different hub. They had a used one for $17 that would work if the mechanic would knock out the old bearings and replace them with the bearings from the hub we ruined. We got back to our mechanic at 11:45. He said he'd replace the bearings, go to lunch at twelve, and put our wheel back on after lunch. Three hours later (long lunch!) a different guy comes out to reinstall the hub and new wheel. Grand total there's no way they worked more than 45 minutes. The bill? One and a half hours labor at $80 an hour.
The lug holes were eaten away by the lugs.
The lugs were worn down by the wobbling wheel.
Putting on lug nuts backwards costs $200, y'all. Just so you know.
It was already late afternoon, but we went on toward our next destination: Kamiah, Idaho. There was supposedly a free city RV park with electricity for $5. It was about an hour out of our way to Seattle, but the guarantee of a place to pop up was the major draw. We got there at 11pm and it was closed for construction. I should have guessed. Not wanting the miss the scenery of the drive into Washington, we stayed another night in the car. The next morning brought a beautiful drive along the Lewis and Clark scenic byway. Dan had us stop at an Indian casino for cheap cigarettes, and they were SO cheap that we ended up with five pack. $2 a pack is much better than his usual $12 in NYC. I can't figure out how anyone can afford cigarettes in the first place.
Washington has amber waves of grain and rolling hills with lush brown fluffy looking dirt. Eventually the rolling hills flattened out and we could see for miles. At about three hours to Seattle I contacted my cousin Robin who goes to grad school at University of Washington. She invited us to stay with her, animals and all. Especially the animals, actually. Robin always grew up with a few black dogs at a time and many other animals, and she hated that she couldn't have any in Seattle so far. The animals definitely had lots of pent-up energy from spending four days in a car, and Robin and her fiancee Will were more than happy to help them express that energy. Poor Rosie is camped out in the mud room in her crate, made even unhappier because she accidentally jumped into the algae covered fountain assuming it was a tiny Rosie-sized lawn.
The best "State sign" picture I've taken.
Driving through Washington state.
More windmills!
I loved the scenery.
Lewis and Clark walked these hills on their way to the Pacific Ocean.
The scenic byway we took followed their route.
View of the ferris wheel from inside the Pike Street Market. The heart was scratched on the window.
Sleeping in a bed was a much-coveted experience, although it's been odd to be in an actual house. We watched TV for much of a day and used the computer online late into the night. I got a headache from so much screen-staring since now I usually only see a computer screen a few minutes a day or less. A movie that I was an extra in when I lived in Wilmington finally came out last week, so we watched it and kept a sharp eye out for the .5 seconds that I appeared as a stand in for a main-character's dead body. It's a horror movie (although not very scary at all) about an Amish community. The three times I appeared on screen I shouted, "That's me!" Not a very good movie, but also not terrible. It's called The Devil's Hand if you're interested in looking it up.
Seattle's main tourist attractions are the Pike Street Market and the World's Fair Grounds with the space needle and the monorail. We took the dogs and goat, intending to ride the monorail with them since it's pet friendly, but only managed to walk around the market. Rosie stayed in the car because she was acting really odd about me touching her legs and I didn't want to walk her around without a diaper. The market was closing as we arrived, and we didn't get to see the famous "flying fish" from when the fish-sellers are throwing them around. The dogs had a nice walk, though, and everyone loved seeing them. Seattle is extraordinarily dog-friendly, and every person we met acted as if they were the first and cutest dogs they had ever seen.
Driving in Seattle was actually much nicer than even driving in Statesville. Everyone here seems to use their turn signals, wait for pedestrians, and allow vehicles to merge. We didn't see any crazy drivers, and the streets are arranged in a well-thought-out system other than sometimes not being able to see around parked cars. Even as narrow and steep as a lot of the roads were I had no problem towing the camper even in the busy downtown area at 5 and 6pm. The city is very eco-conscious, green, and has tons of local food. There was no smell of pollution, and I didn't see any litter anywhere. There is a large homeless population, but we were never asked for money. The only time I heard a car horn honk was when I was standing by the street waiting to cross and a car honked to get my attention that he was stopped for me to cross. All of the things that generally put me of about cities seem to be a non-issue here. I like it a lot.
After the market we met Robin at the dog park. It was dark by then, at 6:30, and most of the dogs had left, so we took Rosie in. The seven or eight dogs left in the park were very interested in chasing her around and sniffing her curiously. Everyone had a good time, and eventually it got too cold to stand around comfortably any more so we loaded up Robin's bike in the car and went home, stopping at a grocery store on the way for flatbread pizza supplies. It was great to spend time with Robin and Will over tortilla flatbread pizzas, and they enjoyed getting in some doggie-time before we left. Now we're packing up and on our way to Portland to see the famous rose gardens, massive bookstore, and whatever else we can get into. Maybe we can stop and ride the monorail before we leave Seattle!
