Tiffin Rally with the Tangas

11 June      Gros Ventre Campground - Rock Springs, WY       191 miles   4 hours

We had a very nice, scenic drive to Sweetwater  Events Center in Rock Springs, Wyoming. We'll be here for a week for the Tiffin Rally. This is Tiffins 50th Anniversary so looking forward to a good time. We'll be meeting our friends Mark & Julia who also owns a Tiffin. 

The rally costs $449, and we had to pay $70 for 2 extra nights with full hook ups. Sweetwater Events Center is huge! They hold a lot of different events here. The campground itself is nothing special. All dirt and gravel, neighbors are pretty close, but hey, we're friends with our neighbors so not bad at all. 

Kind of tight

12 June  Flaming Gorge Scenic Byway

   The rally doesn't start until Monday so we had a free day to do some exploring. One of the nations designated All-American Roads, the Flaming Gorge Scenic Byway is a 150-mile drive starting in Rock Springs and ending in Green River. 

Flaming Gorge is located in the Green River Basin of Wyoming and in the canyons, parks, and highlands of the eastern Uinta Mountains of Utah & Colorado. It was on May 26, 1869 that Major John Wesley Powell named the Flaming Gorge after he and his men saw the sun reflecting off of the red  rocks.

The area contains 207,363 acres of land and water, almost equally divided between Utah and Wyoming. 

Flaming Gorge Dam

13-17 June   Tiffin Rally  Celebrating 50 Years  Roughing It Smoothly

We spent the week attending seminars, enjoying entertainment in the evenings, checking out new RVs, and hanging out with friends. It was very windy most days and sometimes very cold but we still managed to have a good time.

Meeting Bob & Judy Tiffin was a big deal. We got him to sign our cabinet door.

Julia loves to cook so we were getting very spoiled with some ono food!

18 June    Rock Springs, Wyoming - Hermosa, SD     468 miles    9 hours 30 minutes

We left extra early this morning because the winds are supposed to be pretty bad. We're staying 3 nights at Southern Hills RV Park. They give a Passport America discount for 1 night so we paid $116.64 for the 3 nights. Our friends Mark & Julia are here also. We'll be hanging out for the next few days.

Parked next to each other at Southern Hills RV Park

 

They drink everyday

Even in the rain

19 June     Mt Rushmore & Custer Park

Our drive to Mt Rushmore was absolutely beautiful. We traveled on the scenic Iron Mountain Road. With the beauty of the mountains and valleys as its backdrop, this road was specifically designed with a tremendous amount of curves in order to limit the speed of travelers to 35 miles per hour so that we could enjoy the beauty of the black hills. What makes this road so unique and memorable is the architectural features found along this road. These features include wooden structures, called pigtail bridges, and one lane tunnels that were built to showcase Mt Rushmore. These tunnels frame Mt Rushmore National Memorial like a picture frame and are a spectacular site. 

Peering out into the surrounding beauty of the Black Hills National Forest are four 60-foot U.S. Presidents that stand for the hope and spirit of our nation. Known to millions around the world as Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln are forever engraved into our skyline as they rest above a sea of towering ponderosa pines.

Mt Rushmore is a national treasure. Pictures of this monument does not do it justice, its just breathtaking to see this in person.  The avenue of flags have plaques for all 50 states and when they were established, which was pretty cool. We walked the paths which have interesting information about the monument and different views. 

 

Recognized as one of the best wildlife destinations in the world, Custer State Park spans 71,000 acres and is one of the largest state parks in the nation. 

We had a very nice lunch at Sylvan Lake Lodge. Even tried alligator and rabbit sausage. Joe and Mark had bison burgers, everything was very good. We continued our journey through Custer Park on Needles Highway. It's a spectacular drive through pine and spruce forests, meadows surrounded by birch and aspen,  and rugged granite mountains. The roads name comes from the needle-like granite formations which seem to pierce the horizon along the highway. Such a spectacular drive, especially going through the Needle Eye Tunnel, probably the narrowest tunnel we've been through. Lots of places to pull off the road and get out to enjoy the views. 

The 18-mile Wildlife Loop took us through the open grasslands and pine-speckled hills that much of the wildlife call home. By the time we made this drive it was the middle of the day, so not too many animals. We did  manage to see some bison, pronghorn and deer.

20 June   Badlands & Wall Drug 

Arriving at Badlands National Park felt like we landed on another planet. Vast and endlessly beautiful, this rugged terrain is as colorful as it is desolate - unleashing geologic formations and fossils. Badlands is a natural wonder. We drove along the 39-mile Badlands Loop Road, epic views around every bend. 

We also checked out the boondocking area that overlooks Badlands. Lots of trailers and RVs out there camping for free. We were thinking about bringing our RVs out there and camping overnight but decided it wasn't for us. The road in was pretty bumpy and its always very windy.  

Everybody needs to go to Wall Drug at least once. For us, I think this is our third visit. Home to the beloved Wall Drug Store, the city of Wall offers all of the expected and plenty more of the unexpected. Like it or love it, Wall Drug Store should be on every bucket list.

The restaurant in Wall Drug was very busy, Joe and I have eaten here before and its not that  great. We went outside and found Badlands Saloon & Grill. We picked a very good spot for lunch. Everything was delicious, the portions were very large, and the prices were good. We'll definitely visit again if we're in the area. 

21 Jun  Mark & Julia left this morning. They have a very long drive to Tennessee. We've enjoyed the last ten days with them. It's fun to have travel partners to hang out with and explore new places together. Julia is a wonderful cook and she has spoiled us with her home cooked meals. 

Can't wait for our next adventure with the Tangas! 

Yellowstone & Grand Tetons National Park

 29 May     Idaho Falls, ID - West Yellowstone, MT              123 miles     2 hours   

We have arrived in West Yellowstone and very excited to be here! This year marks the 150th Year Anniversary for Yellowstone National Park. Our last trip to Yellowstone was 13 years ago. On that trip we just passed through. We saw Old Faithful and a couple of other things but didn't get the chance to really explore. On this trip we're at Yellowstone for 9 days. 

We're staying about 20 minutes from Yellowstone National Park at Yellowstone Holiday RV Campground in Montana. We'll be here for 4 nights, they offer a Good Sam discount $82.62 per night. Kind of pricey but all the parks in this area is. This campground is right on Hebgen Lake, it's absolutely beautiful. 

Today has been very cold and rainy, the high was 48 degrees and more rain expected. Hopefully it's warmer tomorrow, we're not used to this cold weather!

What a difference a day makes! We woke up this morning and everything is covered in snow. It's very cold but very beautiful. 

Our view of Hebgen Lake

For our Yellowstone and Teton visit, I purchased an audio tour from Gypsy Guide for $15. It's like a tour guide in your car. Narrated driving tours that automatically play stories, local tips, and directions, based on your location. No cell or wifi signal required. Just download the app, hook it up to your bluetooth and enjoy the tour. 

We highly recommend this audio tour for anyone making this trip to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons. 

31 May       Today we spent the day exploring the Mid and Upper Geyser Basin area, also the Old Faithful Village. The Upper Geyser Basin, home of Old Faithful, hosts the greatest concentration of active geysers on Earth.

One of the many hot springs

Old Faithful    

Most of this area has boardwalks to see the geysers. There are signs all over to stay on the boardwalks. There have been a lot of injuries and even deaths to ignorant people who wander off the boardwalks to try and get closer to the geysers.

There has also been injuries to people getting too close to the wildlife in this park. Especially the bison. We have witnessed this....people are stupid! There are warnings all over for bears too. It's recommended to always carry bear spray.

 01 June       Yesterday we overdid it so today we cut it a little short and explored the Norris Geyser Basin Area today. I say cut it a little short but it was still about 6 hours of exploring. It's still very cold during the day but we're making the best of it. So much to see......

02 June     West Yellowstone, MT - Fishing Bridge RV Park, WY     70 miles  

Today we moved to a campground inside the park. Fishing Bridge RV Park is the only campground in Yellowstone with full hookups. A little pricey at $95 per night but worth it. We're here for 5 nights. There's a lot of bear warnings at this campground. Never leave any food or anything with odors out because it will attract bears. This campground does not allow tent camping, only hard sided trailers or RV's because of the bear activity in the area. 

03 June     We explored Mammoth Hot Springs today. This park is huge, so even though we're camping inside the park, it still took over an hour to get there. Mammoth Hot Springs terraces are like living sculptures, shaped by the volume of the water, slope of the ground, and objects in the waters path. Travertine builds up rapidly here and causes the features to change quickly and constantly. 

04 June     The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone was spectacular. The Upper and Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River add to its grandeur. 

There are a lot of hikes in this area but Joe and I caught some kind of bug. Both of us not feeling great so we just drove to the lookouts and did very little hiking today. It's been very cold and rainy these past few days so that doesn't help but we're still managing to enjoy the park. 

Old Faithful may be more famous, but the Grand Prismatic Hot Spring is the most photographed thermal feature in Yellowstone. That's because of its crazy bright colors and enormous size. Its massive expanse stretches approximately 200 feet across. The high temperature of its water -160 fahrenheit-ensures that the spring is often cloaked in steam. 

Grand Prismatic at ground level

We walked around the Midway Geyser Basin and checked out the Grand Prismatic Hot Spring, that was at ground level. Then couple of days later we hiked the Fairy Falls Trail to get an aerial type view. It wasn't a very clear day and the colors weren't that brilliant but it was still pretty nice. 

  There were some bison on the trail and some people were getting too close.....again.

06 June      We drove out to Yellowstone Lake and West Thumb Basin today to do more exploring.  Yellowstone Lake is the largest high-elevation lake (above 7,000 feet) in North America. The lake is covered by ice from December to May or June. 

 

West Thumb Basins boiling springs sits on the shore of Yellowstone Lake. 

Its June and there's still ice on the lake

During our time here it snowed on us twice. The temperature dipped below 30 at night and a lot of times mid 40's during the day. A little too cold for us. We still managed to see most of the sights but not able to do any hard hikes. Lots of walking though. Plenty short walks on the boardwalks to see the different geysers and hot springs. Even though the weather was cold and we got sick, we still enjoyed our stay at Yellowstone. 

Ready to hit the road

Black  bear

Woke up to all this snow

07 June     Fishing Bridge RV Park - Grand Tetons National Park      99 miles   3 hours

Few landscapes in the world are as striking and memorable as that of Grand Tetons National Park. Rising abruptly from the valley floor, the Teton range offers a testament to the power and complexity of nature. The mountains, valleys, lakes, rivers, and skies are home to diverse and abundant plants and animals. 

We have arrived at Grand Tetons National Park. We're staying at Gros Ventre Campground located inside the park. Its dry camping, so no hookups. Staying for 4 nights, $47 per night. This campground is huge, over 300 sites with different loops. 

Our campsite at Gros Ventre Campground

08 June       Phelps Lake is the southern-most of a string of gem-like lakes nestled at the base of the Teton peaks. It sits at the mouth of the impressive towering granite walls of Death Canyon. 

The trail begins on the sagebrush flats, rises gently along scenic Lake Creek through mixed forest, and ends at the south shore of Phelps Lake. 

09 June      We drove out to Colter Bay Village located in the northern part of the park. Enjoyed a hike on a trail that connects both Swan Lake and Heron Pond. The level trail follows Colter Bay shoreline with views of Jackson Lake and the Teton Range. 

Today, two picturesque barns highlight Mormon Row. Settlers John and Thomas Alma Moulton built these barns on adjacent homesteads. Photographers from around the world stop by the Moulton barns to capture this iconic historic structure with the Teton Range in the background. 

10 June       Jenny lake lies at the base of the Cathedral Group which includes The Grand and other highest Teton peaks. The cool inviting forest, the shining lake, soaring peaks overhead, and the promise of Cascade Canyon makes this the most superb of all Teton experiences. 

We got an early start to beat the crowds and took the boat shuttle across the lake to start our day. Hidden Falls is 200 feet high and is invisible until a sudden turn in the trail.         

Hidden Falls

Jenny Lake

Rocky trail

Inspiration Point is breathtaking although the climb left us breathless. The trail to Inspiration Point is a steady climb and the footing occasionally rough. We normally avoid hikes with all these switchbacks and elevation but we powered through and so glad we did. 

Inspiration Point

Cascade Canyon

 We continued on to the start of Cascade Canyon with the Grand Teton soaring a mile over our heads. It is one of the most spectacular canyons in the Teton Range. We didn't go too far in but sill enjoyable.

  

Schwabacher's Landing is a spot on the Snake River where the terrain flattens out and allows easy access to the river. When the wind is calm, the pond reflects the central Teton Range framed by spruce and cottonwood trees.

The reflection of the Teton Mountains in the still, flat water of the Snake River is majestic, making this a prime spot for photos. 

A curious bear

We've enjoyed the warmer weather here at Grand Tetons National Park. A little chilly in the mornings but it warms up pretty nicely. We had a couple of days in the mid 70's. We managed to do some hiking everyday, it's so beautiful here. This park is not as big as Yellowstone so we could cover the whole park in one day. I would stay longer next time, just so we can do more hiking and take our time finding animals in the early morning and late afternoons.