Day 8 - The drive to Yellowstone

We had a restful night, woke early, had a hotel breakfast, packed the car, said goodbye to the parents and hit the road at about 9:30am.  There were several routes to choose from to get to Yellowstone but in the end we decided to take i80 to 287.  This route takes us through some of the original trails used by settlers and we ended up crossing the continental divide six times.

upside: 

• slightly shorter distance
• suppose to be a super scenic drive

downside:

• no cell/internet coverage (we are used to this by now anyway)
• road construction or accident could back up traffic forever
• slower speed limit

Bomb shelter or picnic table?

The long road to Yellowstone

The journey was interesting and scenic but in a different way.  Instead of majestic mountains and lakes there were arid plains and hills.   At one point we saw a flame in the distance and came upon a Sinclair Oil refinery which was unexpected.  Then we saw a really sad looking golf course outside of Rawlins.  Picture a golf course in the desert without irrigation.  It's one large sand trap.

Car top carrier at Sweetwater reststop
Part of the Oregon Trail

We stopped at a rest area that had picnic tables under what looked like mini bomb shelters.  I can only think they were built that way for protection from the brief thunder and lightning storms that frequent the area.  One of which we experienced while eating lunch.

hmm, it's three years old.

The fact that this certificate even exists is a statement on the state of our environment.

Car top carrier shot

Just before the Tetons, we stopped for gas in the little town of Dubois, WY.  It wasn't hard picking a gas station as only one of them had the World's largest Jackalope exhibit.  They also had good ice cream.

Indeed. I have never seen
 a bigger Jackalope

getting close to the Tetons

We did encounter some road construction where the two lanes were shut down to one for several miles.  The construction crew was using a token passing method of traffic control.  We happened to be the last car through and the flagman gave us a wooden stake to hand to the flagman at the other end.  Crude but effective.  Later on we had several miles of dirt road and eventually the scenery changed again to mountains and trees.  We had entered the Tetons.   We bought a National Park yearly pass and drove the scenic route through the Tetons into Yellowstone.

Yellowstone - the Walt Disney World of the National Park Service.  The success of the park is obvious by the sheer quantity of visitors and the fact that we were greeted with this notice: 

We were lucky to get a camping spot for two nights.  The signs at the entrance indicated all sites as full.  We found our camping spot - small and very close to other sites but with enough cover that you weren't staring at your neighbors as you ate at the picnic table.  The 10x14' tent fit fine and we set off to find some dinner at the Grant Village lake house restaurant.  The food and the scenery was good and priced at about what you would expect for a park concession.

At the lakehouse restaurant

Went to bed early to the sound of cars, car doors, and people talking while wondering if the bears would find us because we brought water bottles into the tent. :)