Wow, 42 degrees this morning.  We slept like logs, until 7 am, late for us.
Driving south on US Highway 20, we turned off onto Idaho Highway 47 towards Big Mesa Falls.  There was little traffic in the national forest.  Big Mesa Falls was packed with young families with LOTS of kids; seems like each family has at least 4 little ones, and they like to whine and cry a lot.  Is there some strong family-based religion that believes in allowing kids a free reign?  Big Mesa Falls was very photogenic, though photos do not do it justice.  Just down the road, Little Mesa Falls was just as dramatic, and much less crowded.
As we drove further southward, the Grand Tetons came into view (from the west side).  We began to see potato farms stretching far and wide.  This area is a huge volcano caldera.  We arrived in Ashton expecting to find some fast food restaurants and a Walmart, but it was a bit too small.  Ashton is the seed potato capital of the world.  Further south we arrived in Rexburg, Idaho, complete with fast food, Walmart, Albertson’s, and a jewelry store.  We got some needed supplies and found some huge Mount Rainier cherries at Albertson’s.  Kay was able to get a battery for her watch at the local jewelry store.
The Grand Tetons were in view most of the way back to Ashton, ID; tough to wake up to every morning.  Driving back to the RV park, we briefly explored the Railroad Ranch—access to fly fishing the Henry’s Fork River—but were not able to see much without a short hike.  After filling up with gasoline—everywhere is a long way out here—we drove back to the RV park, did a 2-mile walk, and had a late dinner.

Being OCD presents a number of problems; everything has to be wrapped up in a nice, neat tidy package. We are almost there! The motor home is clean, including the windows, the car is vacuumed, and everything is stowed. Now we can relax and enjoy the area, maybe.

Today, we are off to West Yellowstone to purchase some new Vibram wading boots, then driving to Tower Junction in Yellowstone National Park, doing all the sites on our right as we go and all the sites on our left as we come back. Sounds like a plan, huh?

In West Yellowstone, we looked for the Blue Ribbon Fly Shop. Craig Matthews owns the shop, and was a previous co-owner of Blue Ribbon Fly Shop in Mountain Home. Craig is an innovative fly tyer and has written several books on fly tying and fly fishing Yellowstone country. I attended a two-day seminar he gave to the Mid-South Fly Fishers in the mid-1990s. We had a difficult time finding the shop, but Kay found the address on the iPhone. Craig was tying as we entered the store and we had a nice conversation with him. With boots purchased, and some flies to replace those left at home, we drove towards the entrance to Yellowstone National Park. Traffic was backed up getting through the gates but we were able to bypass traffic using Kay’s “old folks” National Park passport (I’m finally old enough to get one the day before we leave in late August). Just a short distance into the park, traffic practically came to a standstill; as we made our way forward there were a few cow elks grazing near the road, and tourists had stopped to photograph them. This was to be a pattern for the rest of the day.
Our first stop was at Gibbon Falls, 84 feet high.  With heavy snows and a late melt, the falls was magnificent.  It’s difficult to get a perspective of size with photographs, but there are people standing in the upper left corner.  A new ADA “trail” had been constructed and provided several places at which to photograph the falls.
Artists Paintpot contained small steam vents, geysers, colored pools, and gurgling pots of liquefied earth.  The trail was only 1/3 of a mile long but did rise in elevation a couple hundred feet.  
Lunch was cheese, sausage, apple, and crackers among the trees and mosquitoes in one of many roadside picnic areas.
As we drove further north in the park, we saw many fly fishers fishing the Madison, the Gibbon, and the Gardiner Rivers.

The first bear sighting was between Mammoth Hot Springs and Tower Junction, where park visitors had chased a black bear up a tree.  Kay photographed it, but it was so far away and among the leaves, it was hardly detectable as a bear.  At Petrified Tree, a second bear was in the valley, laying among the wild flowers; it was too far to photograph.  Just past Tower Junction towards Lamar Valley, the 3rd bear was really close to the road, causing a bear jam.  Several rangers were herding park visitors back into their cars.  It’s amazing how stupid people are!  Just a little further east, a couple of bison herds were grazing.  Road construction and time constraints prevented any further exploration of Lamar Valley.  On the return trip to the RV park, a solitary bison was enjoying the peace and serenity of the park.  Undine Falls presented a nice diversion from the crowds and traffic.  We bypassed the 4 mile walking tour of thermal features at Mammoth Hot Springs, but did stop to purchase a season fishing permit.  We also are saving Norris Geyser Basin for another day.
The supermarket in West Yellowstone was crowded, but we picked up a few groceries for the next couple of days.  We were late getting back to the RV, but Kay and the crockpot provided a ready-made dinner waiting for us.  Another try at the satellite failed, so I give up.  It’s time to call for help, or do without.
As an aside, this was my 5th and Kay’s 3rd time to visit Yellowstone National Park.  The park is far more crowded than at any time in previous visits, and animal sightings are fewer.  Park rangers say that the crowds are about normal for this time of year, but that there are fewer animals because of the heavy snowfall and a longer than usual winter.

We finally made it. Yesterday saw us traveling the least number of miles, but the most difficult driving day yet. We crossed the continental divide four times, including one pass that was almost 10,000 feet. We drove through both Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park, arriving at Red Rock RV Park about 2:00 PM. We saw places in Yellowstone National Park that were totally unfamiliar to us, even though we’ve been here several times previously. Also, it was quite interesting to note that we only saw a few elk, and one coyote; it’s the first time we’ve ever driven in the park and not seen a bison. Apparently the wolves are doing their job. We did notice several fly fishers plying the waters in Yellowstone, and we spotted several locations where we want to fish.

The advertisement says that it’s really quiet at Red Rock RV Park, and it really is. The small campground is 5 miles off the main highway, basically in the middle of nowhere. As is the case most of the time, we have one of the smallest RVs. After setting up I fiddled with the satellite dish for couple of hours, with no success. We will either have to make other arrangements or do without TV.

Now that were set up, and “things" are getting put in their place, it feels a bit more like home. It’s still warm here, with highs in the mid 80s. It was light until about 9:30 PM. Internet access is good but only minimal usage is allowed. Fortunately, our cell phones work and we will be able to use them for uploading photographs, etc., and downloading updates.

Regretfully, packing for this trip was not one of my proudest accomplishments; all the flies tied and purchased for this trip are still at home, only one pair of ankle socks was packed, and a card reader for one of the cameras did not come with us (we can make do on the card reader as the printer has one).

Tomorrow, we will grocery shop, do some exploring, and get even more settled in for the rest of summer.

We were up early again after sleeping well.  Rather than make coffee or breakfast, the McDonald’s across the street provided our morning meal.  We were off just past 6:30 AM, crossing into Wyoming, and seeing our first antelope near Cheyenne.  We climbed steadily from about 4700 feet to just over 8750 feet, and crossed the continental divide twice.  The combination of wind and mountains took their toll on stress-free driving today.  However, we really like Wyoming, and the high plains and high desert are addictive.
We arrived at the Twin Pines RV Park just east of Lander, WY, about 1:30 PM, set up “camp”, and left for quick visits to South Pass City and Sinks Canyon State Park.
South Pass City is Wyoming’s second oldest incorporated town, founded at the height of the area’s gold rush in 1868.  It underwent several cycles of boom and bust, but through the efforts of a group of Wyoming’s citizens, is preserved almost exactly as it appeared a century ago.  While it was hot in Lander, about 95 degrees, Kay and I saw several patches of snow still on the mountains at a pretty low level, and the temperature had cooled to 65 degrees in South Pass City.  As a side note, I first saw South Pass City in the early 1990s on a trip following the Oregon Trail, and touring Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks when Jenny was a young girl.  On that trip, her friend Abby accompanied us, and they were put in “jail” in South Park City.  We still have photographs of them being carted off to jail.
Sinks Canyon State Park in situated in a canyon formed by the Popo Agie River, behind me in the photo.  It is unique in that the river flows into a cave—the Sinks where Kay is standing—disappearing completely for a short distance before reappearing in a pool called the Rise, bubbling up through the sand.  The river seemed awfully high; this year there were 38 days of overflow, i.e. days when there was too much water for the underground system to handle, compared to an average of only 16 days.

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Early to bed, early to rise—about 4:30 am—and the strong, hot coffee sure tasted good.  The Midwest is undergoing a heat wave, with triple digits expected for the next several days; a high pressure is sitting right on top of the area.  Consequently, it’s still hot outside even at this time of day.  We decided to depart at 6 am, giving us plenty of daylight to break camp and head out.  As the day broke, I went out to ready the Honda CR-V for towing, and the battery was dead.  I had left it hooked up to the auxiliary brake all night, which in and of itself wasn’t bad, but the ignition was in the “accessory” position, and drew the battery down.  The car wouldn’t start, but nothing a quick charge would not solve—apparently I left the charger at home!  We opted to tow without an auxiliary brake until we could get the car and motorhome situated to employ jumper cables.
Off at last, headed almost due west today.  We drove the first couple of hours with overcast skies and spitting rain, but it worked to cool things off a bit.  The interstate highway, I-80, provided for a nice drive.  Kay took her turn toward the end of the day, crossing into Mountain Time, and just before reaching Sidney, NE.  We found a rest stop with plenty of maneuvering room, unhooked the Honda, and positioned the motorhome to successfully jump start the car. 
Kay drove the car the rest of the way into Sidney, and we set up at Cabela’s RV Park and Campground about 1 pm.  It’s a nice and neat campground, with clean facilities, but the spaces are uphill, and the hook-ups are at the front of the site rather than the back!  Go figure.  By this time of day, the area had begun to heat up, with a high temperature reaching 108; what are we going to have to do to escape this blasted heat?  While the AC cooled the motorhome down, we drove the Honda, charging the battery, got a bite to eat, went to Walmart, then to Cabela’s, then back to the motorhome for a 3-hour nap.  Did we tell you there’s not much to do in Sidney?  After a brief walk around the campground, we retired for the evening.

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It seems like we’ve been packing forever for this particular trip—six weeks at Red Rock RV and Camping Park near Island Park, Idaho.  Island Park is 22 miles west of the West Yellowstone entrance to Yellowstone National Park. Daily temperatures include lows in the low 40s and highs in the high 70s and low 80s. Red Rock RV Park is located within a mile of Henry’s Lake, considered by many to be the top fly fishing lake in the world, and within easy driving distance of many world-famous trout streams such as the Henry’s Fork River, Teton River, Madison River, Firehole River, etc.  This area is known as the Golden triangle of fly fishing. We made reservations several weeks ago as temperatures at home have been in the high 90s since Memorial Day, with several triple digit temperature days.

After following our usual routine for readying for the trip, we awoke early, finished checking off items on the task list, and departed about 7:00 AM. Today was to be our toughest driving day, but for the most part we had a pleasant drive UNTIL last gasoline stop at Rockport, Missouri, near the Iowa border.  We had been noticing farm fields underwater adjacent to I-29 just north of St. Joseph, Missouri, and when we stopped for gasoline we noticed several military vehicles, lots of sandbags, and closure of I 29 North. The Missouri River was in flood stage, and had broken through several levees, flooding houses, businesses, farms, and public infrastructure.  We knew we had to cross the Missouri River somewhere, and about the only route available was a circuitous one, adding about 100 miles and two hours to our already long day.  As we reflected on it, for us this was only a minor inconvenience, but for the folks who live and work here, it is their homes and livelihoods.
We called Victorian Acres RV Park, our planned overnight stay, in Nebraska City, Nebraska, to let them know we’d be late, and to verify our route; they informed us that they had called some people but apparently didn’t get around to calling us and oh well, etc.; this lack of customer service on their part cost us the added time and stress, plus an extra $40 in gasoline.  We could have easily diverted at St. Joseph, Missouri, and made it without any difficulty.  This will probably be our last stop at this particular campground as we have stayed here four times and only two have been moderately pleasant. 

Anyway, we made our planned stop for the day, and were swarmed by flies—everywhere.  Nevertheless, we had great chili cheese dogs and enjoyed a quiet Friday evening in the motorhome. Tomorrow, we drive westward across southern Nebraska to Sydney, home of Cabela’s. Until tomorrow…

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Kay and I decided at the last minute to visit my brother in Brentwood, Tennessee.  For us, this is about a 7 hour drive, first through the Ozarks, then the Mississippi River floodplain, and finally the low hills of middle Tennessee. We departed on Wednesday, June 29, arriving in Brentwood at approximately 4:00 PM. We made an unexpected side trip, almost to Union City, Tennessee, missing our turn at Dyersburg, costing us about 40 minutes.  Ronnie had just finished chemotherapy treatment, but was doing well, all considered. We had a brief visit with Julie, Rick, and their children before going out for some great steaks. Our plans had been to return home on Thursday afternoon late, but we decided to stay another evening and leave early Friday morning—we’re so glad we did. Thursday evening, Ronnie and I experimented with Yahoo! Messenger, using it to do video calling. It worked amazingly well. We had a really good visit, and are so glad we made the trip. We’re looking forward to seeing them again at the Malott family reunion on or about September 2.

Next week, we have a brief trip to Little Rock, then the following week, the good Lord willing, we will be traveling to Island Park, Idaho, to escape this blasted heat. Until then…