The Nation's Most Visited National Park...YELLOWSTONE

Our 11th stop was in the town of Gardiner, MT.  Gardiner is the north entry into Yellowstone National Park.  We stayed at the Rocky Mountain RV Park (9/21 - 9/24).  Upon check in we were informed that a grizzly bear had been spotted near the campground and to take "proper precautions"(uhhh...like be prepared to die? How fun.).  Also the fall is rutting time for the elk and we were told that the elk come into our campground at night as well.  This was our first back-in campsite and Boji backed us in perfectly!!  He has become very adept hauling and maneuvering our trailer.

Neither one of us had ever been to Yellowstone before and it is easy to see why this park is the most visited of all the National Parks.  According to park statistics, Yellowstone gets about 3 million visitors a year.  Even in September, the campgrounds within the park boundaries were all full and reservations are a must.  We chose to stay outside the park because our RV park was at a lower altitude than inside the park.  Lower altitude = a little warmer temperatures.  We are diligent in checking the weather everyday and chance of snow and low temperatures factor into the routes we'll take and where we will stay. 

 

The town of Gardiner and that beautiful Montana sky!

The North entrance into Yellowstone has this fabulous stone archway called the Roosevelt Arch, we drove under that arch as we entered the park.

The things we were hoping to experience in the park was the wildlife - bear, elk, bison/buffalo, mountain goats and sheep.  We saw a lot of bison and elk but no bear or goats.

Elk in Mammoth Hot Springs

I guess the Old Faithful geyser is probably Yellowstone's most famous attraction.  Our timing was impeccable...we walked up to the geyser about a minute before it erupted and caught the whole show along with several hundred other visitors.  A very memorable experience!

 

 

The crowd watching Old Faithful erupting.

 

 

This trip has given Boj a great opportunity to learn how to use his new iPhone.  For those of you who have one, it can reverse for easy self-portrait like the one of us above.  It can also switch to video mode so you can shoot video if you so choose.  The next place we visited in Yellowstone was called the Grand Canyon of  Yellowstone.  As you'll be able to see, it was breath-taking.

 



Boj was so moved by the beauty of this place that he decided to shoot a video of the canyon.  I hope you enjoy it.

 

 

 

Boji now realizes he still has some challenges mastering his iPhone, especially remembering to switch the self-portrait view back to regular view. 


 

 Before leaving beautiful Yellowstone, Boji wanted to experience the hot springs.  There was a public section of the Yellowstone River where the boiling water from the underground hot springs flowed into the cold water of the river.  This area was called "Boiling River,"  We hiked about a mile from the parking area and found a section with comfortable hot tub temperatures.

 

 



 

 

 

Some people may think that RVing is just like camping.  Yes, it can be if you choose that experience.  There are several types of campgrounds you can choose to stay in.  Most of the campgrounds inside state parks and national parks offer "dry camping".  Dry camping offers no hookups such as water, electricity or sewer.  This experience would be similar to tent camping.  Dry camping tends to be less expensive and you can even camp in BLM (Bureau of Land Management) areas for free or very little.  We've learned that many Casinos offer free overnight stays, in hopes you  gamble and for a "desperate" overnight stay - some WalMart parking lots.  Being "newbies" we decided to stay in RV resorts which offer pull-through sites and full hookups including WiFi, cable TV and laundry facilities.  Stays in these parks range in cost from $25 - $50 per night.  How do we find these places to stay?  Just like the AAA tour book, there are campground directories for North America.  We look at our road atlas and then use the directory to see what parks are in the area we'll be visiting.  Most have websites, so at night while hooked up to WiFi or even off the iPhone we can see pictures of their facilities and discover what's close by.  We've only had a couple "duds," so far the majority have been really nice.  At this point in our journey we have really enjoyed this experience.  We can take our home with us instead of staying in motels/hotels.  We have our comfortable bed every night, we can control what we eat and how it is prepared.  We are in the company of fellow travelers from all over the U.S. and Canada.  We've even met some Swiss tourists renting a motorhome to travel around the U.S.

We have always enjoyed people watching in airports.  We must now admit that "rig" and people watching in RV parks is really interesting.  You have all sorts of people who stays in these parks.  Some have modest travel trailers, while others bring in $200,000 motor homes, and 5th wheels.  We enjoy seeing if they have pets (we figure 95% do travel with their dogs or cats), what type of vehicle pulls their rig and how they set it up.  We've picked up some interesting tips watching others set up camp.

Next stop...Cody, Wyoming - Thermopolis, Wyoming and then into Utah.