We had another decently early morning as we waited at Jackson Lodge for our float trip to start. The lodge’s huge gathering room is stunning, complete with ginormous windows framing The Grand Tetons. The kids and I had some coffee while we waited.
We shared a van of about 10 people and were put into groups for the rafts. Sharing the float was a lovely family of 4 from Massachusetts and a couple of friends on vacation together.
When B found out that there was no white water on this trip
Our brave river guide
Our guide was hilarious and knowledgeable about the Snake River and wildlife around there. We spotted Eagles and Osprey. Bison and at the very end a moose! That was on my bucket list and he was just lazing by the river.
To my kids dismay, it was quite the peaceful trip. Not fast moving white water. I’m pretty sure they felt gypped because when they heard “we’re going on the river,” to them it meant “we’re going white water rafting.”
We all had fun though, met some sweet people and saw beautiful scenery and wildlife.
Still staying at Colter Bay, we drove north to Yellowstone’s South Entrance. For the area we were in, that was really the only campground with full hookups that could accommodate our 41 ft rig and had room. We toyed with the idea of driving the RV to Cody and finding a campground around there, but we weren’t comfortable driving the RV on some of those roads in Yellowstone and weren’t completely sure the road to there would be okay for something that big.
Really, we got to explore much of Yellowstone starting at the South Entrance and driving around. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t that excited about seeing Old Faithful. But when we got there, the area is pretty impressive. The Old Faithful Inn was huge. And made out of logs. We didn’t have to wait long for the geyser to do it’s thing and had front row seats. There are actually 300-500 geysers in the area, this one just being more consistent in its geysering. Amazingly, Yellowstone is home to half of the world’s total geysers.
Fun fact: Geysers occur in just 5 countries: The US, Russia, Chile, New Zealand & Iceland.
As we drove around all of the reminders that you are on a massive caldera is a little sobering. The area is full of steaming (smelly) vents, boiling water, bubbling clay and acidic pools. So crazy.
Periodically there will be people stopped on the road or slowing way down and you learn pretty quick there is probably an animal of some sort within eyesight. We were able to see majestic elk, plenty of bison and another bear.
It was actually pretty funny, we saw TONS of people stopped and we were all looking craning our necks to see what was going on. They had people with huge cameras camped out on the side of the road even. So we finally see what they are looking at: this small speck of brown on a hill far away. We finally realized it was a Grizzly Bear. At this point, we had already been up close and personal with 2. 1 driving and she was by the road bending a small tree in half and the 2nd, meandering right next to us while we were at the end of our hike.
At this point, we are good for seeing bears. The park rangers assured us when explaining how to use the bear spray that bear sightings were rare in that area. Little did they know..
After a rainy drive across the bottom of Wyoming (I-80 was windy y’all) we landed at the Rock Springs KOA in Rock Springs, (go figure) Wyoming.
The sun was actually out and had cleared up for the last 30 mins or so of our drive, but as we were setting up our site, there was a storm brewing! Huge drops of rain started to fall and the wind picked up as soon as we were finishing up the hoses. As we ran inside the sky let loose. We now can use the term “gully-washer” legitimately. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard that term outside of an old western, but I’m bringing it back y’all…
Anyhoo, for the next 15 whole minutes it poured, wind was howling and lightning was flashing. One bolt in particular hit somewhere close and we learned afterward hit a camper at the other end of our row. No fire and everyone was okay thankfully! But goodness! Storms can sure come up quick in Wyoming! But as soon as it started, it was over and the sun was back out.
Since we were ahead of our schedule by a day arriving in the Grand Tetons, we decided to stay an extra day and take a day trip around Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area. It was pretty from the pictures we had seen online while looking it up, but we were so not prepared for the massiveness (is that a word? I dunno..) of the “Gorge.”
You could see forever. So far it got hazy. Or it may have been residual smoke from the fires, but still quite amazing. The drive went through the bottom corner of Wyoming and down into Utah. The start of the trip we were at the top and while you couldn’t see the actual Flaming Gorge with water part until you got into Utah, the Wyoming side you could just see forever.
As we eventually made our way “down” we came into the small valley town of Manila, UT. Its picturesque and the people were friendly giving us tips on the rest of the drive. Our best views were yet to come as we rounded each corner and it was breathtaking view after view.
At the top, there was the Visitor Center where the kids and I got out to walk and take some pictures.
Not far from the Visitor Center they had a lodge that had a little gift shop and restaurant attached. I believe there were cabins to rent as well. It was so perfectly picturesque. Huge evergreen trees lining the landscape. Lush green grass with a pond and a smaller pond that people could sit around. A bird feeder that you could watch so many different types of birds come and snack. It was like watching a live postcard from the large window in the restaurant.
We went for a walk down to the dock after lunch to stretch our legs before the rest of the journey back.
It was quite the unexpected surprise with this day trip. Neither I nor Jeremy had heard of Flaming Gorge and I’m so glad we took the time to go. We can’t wait for more pleasant surprises along the way to see places that aren’t the usual stopping points.
