Yellowstone: Part 2 (plus a bonus National Park!)

As easy as it was to take the toad into Yellowstone, it was just as hard taking Kevin. Poor Kevin is awkward, big, and just plain clumsy. We packed her up, wished Rob’s sister and her family goodbye and made our way back through the park on our way to DuBois, Wyoming. Route 89 runs right through Yellowstone and then into Grand Teton National Park.

We focused on seeing the geothermal sites and made good time as we headed to the southern entrance of the park. Due to our enormous size and toad, we rarely were able to get out of the car, but we still saw some incredible sights! Also… a few more buffalo!

All these mini-geothermal features were leading up to the main event – a stop at Old Faithful. With the swarms of crowds at Yellowstone on a Saturday, we decided to park outside the Old Faithful Visitor Center, leave Kevin, disconnect the toad and drive in. Turns out, there was plenty of RV parking, but sometimes it just feels good to whip around in a little vehicle. Driving an RV is convenient in so many ways, but often an inconvenience to others, especially in high-volume areas. You block traffic, you go slow, you need a LOT of room to make turns.

Luckily, when we arrived at Old Faithful, we only needed to wait ten minutes for the geyser to begin letting out a little steam, gearing up for a full eruption. The crowds “oohed” and “ahhed” as water burst from the earth and spouted into the air. for a good two and a half minutes. Steam blew over out heads and dissipated into the air. Honestly, Rob and I both looked at one another and shrugged out shoulders. Is it bad to say we were underwhelmed by Old Faithful. I feel like a bad American. I suppose the “wow factor” of Old Faithful is not the size of the eruption, but rather the regularity and frequency with which it erupts. Every 60-90 minutes, 3,700 – 8,400 gallons of boiling water are shot into the air, but Old Faithful is not the largest geyser in the park. I’m not exactly sure what I expected, but I was definitely a bigger fan of other sites in the park.

Somewhere between Old Faithful and the Southern Entrance to Yellowstone, Marlie began reading maps. She followed the park map right out of Yellowstone and into Grand Teton National Park. Knowing we did not have a lot of time to spend stopping in Grand Teton, we limited ourselves to a few select vistas to snap a few pictures. My camera does not do it justice. It is the most beautiful place I have ever laid eyes on. While most of the views on this trip has been jaw-droppingly stunning, the Grand Tetons are without comparison.

It is no wonder that the Grand Tetons is my father’s favorite place in the U.S. He strongly encouraged us to visit because of its mesmerizing beauty and grandeur. Of course, he was right. We were impressed – mostly the adults, as most of the kids were napping on this portion of the route. I get it. I wasn’t wowed by landscapes as a kid either, but the immenseness of the Grand Teton mountains and the forests is unquestionably impressive. To say we were awestruck is an understatement. Rob said he just never got tired of seeing the landscapes, that it was as if his eyes were hungry and couldn’t get enough. I concur.

One lesson we learned on our visits to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons is that if we want to see more, we need to move less. Yes, we saw some fascinating wildlife, but we could have seen more, should have seen more. In trying to see it all, we didn’t see enough. Rob and I have accepted this trip as a “fact-finding” mission and WHEN we return, we will intentionally carve out time for quiet hikes, stillness in the woods, just to observe all the phenomenal creatures in the parks.

Moran Junction was a bittersweet arrival. At 5:45 PM on June 26, 2021, we turned east out of Grand Tetons and headed toward DuBois, WY, our next destination. Although we are excited for the next leg of this adventure, we have officially turned back home. *Sigh*. There is still so much more to see, do, hear, smell, and taste. I’m not quite ready to be done, so I plan to savor each and every moment.

With just a few hours to DuBois, WY, we drove quietly through the varied landscapes – eyes peeled for grizzlies. No such luck. But, we did pass the continental divide four times. If you have heard of this term, but are unsure of what it means, you are not alone. The continental divide is the boundary between the two main watersheds on the continent. Basically, whichever side you are on, determines the way the rivers flow.

Arriving in a new place every night can be exhausting. You don’t know the area, the campgrounds are all slightly different, and sometimes you are just plain travel-tired. It was a frozen pizza and scoopy dip kind of night spent entirely inside the RV with an early bedtime for all. Even with the exhaustion setting in, when you arrive at your campground and this is the view, it’s sort of makes it all better. Look at the colors on those hills – breathtaking! Resting up for tomorrow’s dinosaur dig out in Thermopolis!

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.”

~Henry Miller