Day 4 - 7/27/12 - Alpine, WY to West Yellowstone, MT

Travel day - Alpine, WY to West Yellowstone, MT -152 miles

Today we head north to our landing spot for Yellowstone National Park. I am incredibly excited since this will be my first visit to the park. Scott’s parents had recently been in the area and recommended an RV park that is about 5 minutes from the West entrance of the park. Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone are close neighbors, sort of like Reno and Sparks; brings to mind the old saying - Reno is so close to hell you can see Sparks. Anyway, Yellowstone sits just north of the Grand Tetons, when you purchase a pass for the Tetons you can use it to enter Yellowstone as well; we decide to go back through the Tetons and travel into Yellowstone to get to  our destination of West Yellowstone in Montana. You can take routes that bypass the parks but we figured we should take in as much as we can.

Final picture at the Tetons

We say our goodbyes to Alpine and travel north again into Jackson Hole. There are tons of Osprey in the area and they can resemble Bald Eagles, they duped me several times. We also spot a few red tail hawks on the way up. Traveling back through the canyon to Jackson Hole I am pretty sure I see the business end of three Elk, Scott did not see them so I think he doubts what I saw. Again who knows it could have been three port-a-potties. Taking the route through the parks, we pass the Tetons again and snap a few more pictures. It’s time for a lunch break and we decided to hit Colter Bay Village for some lunch, it's one of the stops still in the Grand Teton National Parks. Katelyn again makes friends with everyone that passes her by; it can drastically slow down the pace of lunch (or any outing). But really when your kid is as cute as mine what can you expect? Our waitress was from Nevada and actually lived near Quincy, California  for a short period of time (Quincy is pretty close to Reno for the non-Nevada readers). If I am not mistaken Scott was Prom King one year at Quincy High School... Not sure how, since he was not a student there, but I am sure his picture is still up in the VA hall where the dance was held.

It is not uncommon to have traffic pulled over for various wildlife,
this time we were able to watch these horses
 as they were herded to a pasture across the highway

 After lunch I FINALLY get to do some souvenir shopping. I had not gotten a chance to do any real shopping and I was starting to get the jitters. Memories are not enough for me, I need stuff! I could have a 32 minute layover in an airport and I will feel the need to purchase something to memorialize my visit.  When I was a child my grandparents had a home in the Florida Keys, we would visit every year. I know the dread my Mom and Sister felt when I would beg to go to the same gigantic tourist trap souvenir stores every time. I could spend hours going up and down every aisle, several times, searching for that perfect piece of junk to prove I had been to the Keys.  I would bet I am still the only person that purchased the shellacked puffer-fish riding a bicycle. Not much has changed.  I finish up my shopping; Scott can no longer take it and has gone outside for some fresh air. We hit the road again, now stocked with Teton themed trinkets.

So excited to go see the Elk!

The South Entrance of Yellowstone is really not far from Teton National Park and the road up there is very scenic. As we head into Yellowstone, we immediately notice that the forest is obviously still recovering from a huge fire. In 1988 a fire ripped through the area, it was amazing to see how long it takes for it to regrow.  Traveling towards West Yellowstone we get our first official Yellowstone wildlife sighting! There is a decent size group of Elk. We lucked out that there was a great place to pull off with the trailer and snap some pictures.  I was thrilled; it was really beautiful to see. As I stand there watching the Elk I am almost in tears; at this very moment my dear husband says “That is what you ate at Davis and Regina’s house.”

Elk.

Scott - Baby Wearer/ Wildlife Viewer extraordinaire.
   

These two fly fisherman got a very close visit from the
 Elk as they traveled across the river

Look closely, that is the weirdo who walked his cat,
and did so each night. 

Simon and Oliver checking out Montana

The day’s travels finally end when we head in to lovely West Yellowstone, Montana. This city also capitalizes on its mountain town feel; they had the nicest log cabin McDonald’s anyone could ask for. We get settled into the park and need to take the dogs for a nice long walk; Normally I wouldn’t share such an unimportant piece of information, though some may feel most of what I share is unimportant information. But while on our walk there was a guy walking his cat out in the middle of this field = Giant red flag for total weirdo. It’s time to head back to the trailer.