quailchaser
Well-known member
Note: This is a long winded account. For those who don't care to read all of it, here is a summary: Arizona to Yellowstone and back--had fun--no troubles! 
;D
Well, we survived our first extended trip.
First I have to give props to Ron. The Yellowstone/Teton portion of our trip would not have been near as much fun without the rental car. We could have managed without...but, we would not have seen as much. We managed 1300 miles on the rental in 8 days in and around the parks.
We originally had planned 14 days. 4 (2 days in Zion) days up. 8 days in the parks. 2 days back home. We had everything booked and planned so that we left Phoenix on a Monday. On the Friday before, the temp. hit 108 degrees. We packed Friday night and left for Flagstaff on Saturday morning. It's vacation, what's 2 more days!
Flagstaff was way cooler. We stayed at Mormon Lake Lodge RV park. We had a campfire both nights and learned a lot about hooking up and setting up. The kids met some friends and had a ball fishing and riding their bikes. The wife and I enjoyed the cool weather and clean air!
Monday we packed up and headed out for Zion. We bought our $80.00 annual pass and $15.00 tunnel escort. Monday was pretty traffic free through Zion so we got to go through the tunnel all by our lonesome. Pretty cool getting to take both lanes. We camped at the Watchman Campground. We spent the two days hiking all the shorter trails and hanging out in the river. We had a visitor to our campsite one of the nights while hanging cooking marshmallows over the campfire. A little 2-point buck decided to wander through and munch on the local fauna. He hung around for a good 1/2 hour about 10 feet from where we were sitting. The kids and wife were so excited to see wildlife doing their thing so close.
Wednesday, we headed North and stopped in Provo at Lakeside Campground. This was just an overnight stop. We had planned on staying at this same campground on the way home, but had not booked the date. This campground was clean and well maintained. The store and pool were great. The giant mosquitoes and whatever the white plant stuff floating all over were not real pleasant. The white plant stuff reeked havoc with me and my son?s allergies; and the mosquitoes?well you can guess. We decided that we would try to find somewhere else to stay on the way home. We studied the map and made reservations for the trip home at a KOA in Brigham City.
Thursday, we headed up to Idaho Falls and stayed at Snake River RV Park. Another overnight stop. This park had a pool as well. It was not heated and it was smaller. The kids spent about 5 minutes in the pool before deciding it was way to cold. This park had a huge grassy area and we had a ball playing in the open area. The store, bathrooms and laundry facilities were well kept.
Friday, we headed to Jackson Hole to pick up the rental. We took 31 to 22. I don?t think I?ve ever driven that slow on a HWY before. They?re serious when they say 10 % grades. But, despite driving in first gear, we made it to the top. We stopped and got out to take a picture of the ?looking down at Jackson Hole sign? and for the kids to play in the snow. After freezing our finger having snowball fights in JUNE, we loaded up and headed down to Jackson Hole.
We picked up the rental and some supplies and made the trek through the two Parks to our camping spot at Fishing Bridge. The drive in was breathtaking. The Tetons were completely covered in snow. There were snowmelt waterfalls all over the place. We finally got settled in around 7 pm. We had a great spot. We were a little disappointed that there were no fire pits, but we figured we could survive 3 nights with no fire.
We spent the next 3 days driving to the various sites in the West, North, and N. West portions of the Park. My wife was like a kid in a candy store with all the wild life. We saw just about every large animal that resides in Yellowstone in those three days. We saw a baby Moose. Mom was there, but hiding in the brush. We saw Bison up close and personal right next to the road. We saw a little Black Bear that was munching on the flowers right next to the road. We saw Elk hanging out by the river on one of our hikes. We hiked several trails to various waterfalls. We saw a very camera shy Grizzly and her two cubs. I think I have at least 5 rear end shots of the three. Yep, not one face shot. We saw a grey wolf. We saw a coyote hold up on coming traffic as he slowly (very slowly) trotted right down the middle of the lane. We saw two beautiful Bull Elk with huge racks still with the winter fuzz. They looked like statues as they hardly moved. We saw a Prong Horn (Not Antelope?as we found out later). We saw an Osprey hanging in its nest with 3 little offspring. We saw Big Horn Sheep way across one of the canyons. We saw a couple of Beavers. I know I?m forgetting something. The kids and wife were out of their mind excited that we got to see so much in just 3 days. Here is where the rental came in spectacularly handy. It was easy to pull off the street and easy to turn around when we spotted something. We had explored a little over ? the park.
Monday, we moved to Flagg Ranch. We had a campfire pit again! After settling in, we did a ton of bike riding. There is a FS road that leaves from Flagg Ranch and goes into ID. This road was open to the 4th campground along the Snake River. The rest was still closed due to snow. We rode our bikes to the gate and back. Then slept real well that night. We were a little disappointed with our stay at Flagg Ranch. We happened to be there right when the mosquitoes hatched. It wasn?t until after 10pm that they settled down enough for us to be able to sit outside. Not the Ranches fault. The facility was nice, but a tad pricey. It was more per night than any other place we stayed. The laundry facility was tiny and more expensive than places in the park. Their store prices were also higher than those in the park. Despite this, we would still recommend the park for its location.
Tuesday, we headed into Jackson Hole and to do some rafting on the Snake River. We spent the next few days driving around the other roads and seeing the other sites in Yellowstone and the Tetons. We saw a ton more wildlife. We got some face shots of a different Grizzly Mom and cubs. We got to see a Grizzly walk across the road while everyone was stopped taking pictures. We got to see Big Horn Sheep up close on our way back into the park from Cody. Did I mention the mosquitoes? I think it was Thursday when we were heading back to Flagg Ranch from Yellowstone. We heard what sounded like rain on the car. It took us about 15 miles with no water visible to realize it was a rain of mosquitoes. For all the driving, we ended up going out each entrance and checking out the various small towns just outside the park.
Saturday we turned in the rental in Jackson Hole, and took 89 South into Brigham City. This was much nicer than we had anticipated. The KOA we had as reference was the one off I-17 in Phoenix. Not exactly an ideal location for peace and quiet. This facility was quite the opposite. Our spot was large and the facility was far in an area that had little traffic. There was a large open grassy area the kids loved. The pool was clean. The store, restrooms, laundry and grounds were well cared for.
Sunday we headed out to I-15 for the drive to our last overnight stop before heading home. We chose this spot due to its location. A nice little Forest Service Campground that allowed up to 35ft MHs. It?s called Duck Creek Campground in the Dixie National Forrest about 27 miles east of Cedar City, UT and about 11 miles west of US89. Perfect stopping point. The campground is at about 9,500 ft elevation and in the woods. This was our only stop that did not have any hook ups. We rolled in just after a nice thunderstorm. Temps were a bit nippy and it was only about 4pm. We were able to procure dry firewood and had another beautiful evening with a campfire. We had to run the heater and the coach batteries worked flawless. This campground was clean and quiet. The roads were all paved as were the back in spots. We didn?t even have to level the RV.
Monday, we headed home. The RV gave us no troubles the entire trip. The house was just as we left it. We came home with ton of laundry, a bug smeared and dirty RV, and the best vacation memories ever! I could write a book on the things we saw and did. We have over 1600 pictures and a few hours of video.
Next year Yosemite and Redwood!
;DWell, we survived our first extended trip.
First I have to give props to Ron.
The Yellowstone/Teton portion of our trip would not have been near as much fun without the rental car. We could have managed without...but, we would not have seen as much. We managed 1300 miles on the rental in 8 days in and around the parks.We originally had planned 14 days. 4 (2 days in Zion) days up. 8 days in the parks. 2 days back home. We had everything booked and planned so that we left Phoenix on a Monday. On the Friday before, the temp. hit 108 degrees. We packed Friday night and left for Flagstaff on Saturday morning. It's vacation, what's 2 more days!
Flagstaff was way cooler. We stayed at Mormon Lake Lodge RV park. We had a campfire both nights and learned a lot about hooking up and setting up. The kids met some friends and had a ball fishing and riding their bikes. The wife and I enjoyed the cool weather and clean air!
Monday we packed up and headed out for Zion. We bought our $80.00 annual pass and $15.00 tunnel escort. Monday was pretty traffic free through Zion so we got to go through the tunnel all by our lonesome. Pretty cool getting to take both lanes. We camped at the Watchman Campground. We spent the two days hiking all the shorter trails and hanging out in the river. We had a visitor to our campsite one of the nights while hanging cooking marshmallows over the campfire. A little 2-point buck decided to wander through and munch on the local fauna. He hung around for a good 1/2 hour about 10 feet from where we were sitting. The kids and wife were so excited to see wildlife doing their thing so close.
Wednesday, we headed North and stopped in Provo at Lakeside Campground. This was just an overnight stop. We had planned on staying at this same campground on the way home, but had not booked the date. This campground was clean and well maintained. The store and pool were great. The giant mosquitoes and whatever the white plant stuff floating all over were not real pleasant. The white plant stuff reeked havoc with me and my son?s allergies; and the mosquitoes?well you can guess. We decided that we would try to find somewhere else to stay on the way home. We studied the map and made reservations for the trip home at a KOA in Brigham City.
Thursday, we headed up to Idaho Falls and stayed at Snake River RV Park. Another overnight stop. This park had a pool as well. It was not heated and it was smaller. The kids spent about 5 minutes in the pool before deciding it was way to cold. This park had a huge grassy area and we had a ball playing in the open area. The store, bathrooms and laundry facilities were well kept.
Friday, we headed to Jackson Hole to pick up the rental. We took 31 to 22. I don?t think I?ve ever driven that slow on a HWY before. They?re serious when they say 10 % grades. But, despite driving in first gear, we made it to the top. We stopped and got out to take a picture of the ?looking down at Jackson Hole sign? and for the kids to play in the snow. After freezing our finger having snowball fights in JUNE, we loaded up and headed down to Jackson Hole.
We picked up the rental and some supplies and made the trek through the two Parks to our camping spot at Fishing Bridge. The drive in was breathtaking. The Tetons were completely covered in snow. There were snowmelt waterfalls all over the place. We finally got settled in around 7 pm. We had a great spot. We were a little disappointed that there were no fire pits, but we figured we could survive 3 nights with no fire.
We spent the next 3 days driving to the various sites in the West, North, and N. West portions of the Park. My wife was like a kid in a candy store with all the wild life. We saw just about every large animal that resides in Yellowstone in those three days. We saw a baby Moose. Mom was there, but hiding in the brush. We saw Bison up close and personal right next to the road. We saw a little Black Bear that was munching on the flowers right next to the road. We saw Elk hanging out by the river on one of our hikes. We hiked several trails to various waterfalls. We saw a very camera shy Grizzly and her two cubs. I think I have at least 5 rear end shots of the three. Yep, not one face shot. We saw a grey wolf. We saw a coyote hold up on coming traffic as he slowly (very slowly) trotted right down the middle of the lane. We saw two beautiful Bull Elk with huge racks still with the winter fuzz. They looked like statues as they hardly moved. We saw a Prong Horn (Not Antelope?as we found out later). We saw an Osprey hanging in its nest with 3 little offspring. We saw Big Horn Sheep way across one of the canyons. We saw a couple of Beavers. I know I?m forgetting something. The kids and wife were out of their mind excited that we got to see so much in just 3 days. Here is where the rental came in spectacularly handy. It was easy to pull off the street and easy to turn around when we spotted something. We had explored a little over ? the park.
Monday, we moved to Flagg Ranch. We had a campfire pit again! After settling in, we did a ton of bike riding. There is a FS road that leaves from Flagg Ranch and goes into ID. This road was open to the 4th campground along the Snake River. The rest was still closed due to snow. We rode our bikes to the gate and back. Then slept real well that night. We were a little disappointed with our stay at Flagg Ranch. We happened to be there right when the mosquitoes hatched. It wasn?t until after 10pm that they settled down enough for us to be able to sit outside. Not the Ranches fault. The facility was nice, but a tad pricey. It was more per night than any other place we stayed. The laundry facility was tiny and more expensive than places in the park. Their store prices were also higher than those in the park. Despite this, we would still recommend the park for its location.
Tuesday, we headed into Jackson Hole and to do some rafting on the Snake River. We spent the next few days driving around the other roads and seeing the other sites in Yellowstone and the Tetons. We saw a ton more wildlife. We got some face shots of a different Grizzly Mom and cubs. We got to see a Grizzly walk across the road while everyone was stopped taking pictures. We got to see Big Horn Sheep up close on our way back into the park from Cody. Did I mention the mosquitoes? I think it was Thursday when we were heading back to Flagg Ranch from Yellowstone. We heard what sounded like rain on the car. It took us about 15 miles with no water visible to realize it was a rain of mosquitoes. For all the driving, we ended up going out each entrance and checking out the various small towns just outside the park.
Saturday we turned in the rental in Jackson Hole, and took 89 South into Brigham City. This was much nicer than we had anticipated. The KOA we had as reference was the one off I-17 in Phoenix. Not exactly an ideal location for peace and quiet. This facility was quite the opposite. Our spot was large and the facility was far in an area that had little traffic. There was a large open grassy area the kids loved. The pool was clean. The store, restrooms, laundry and grounds were well cared for.
Sunday we headed out to I-15 for the drive to our last overnight stop before heading home. We chose this spot due to its location. A nice little Forest Service Campground that allowed up to 35ft MHs. It?s called Duck Creek Campground in the Dixie National Forrest about 27 miles east of Cedar City, UT and about 11 miles west of US89. Perfect stopping point. The campground is at about 9,500 ft elevation and in the woods. This was our only stop that did not have any hook ups. We rolled in just after a nice thunderstorm. Temps were a bit nippy and it was only about 4pm. We were able to procure dry firewood and had another beautiful evening with a campfire. We had to run the heater and the coach batteries worked flawless. This campground was clean and quiet. The roads were all paved as were the back in spots. We didn?t even have to level the RV.
Monday, we headed home. The RV gave us no troubles the entire trip. The house was just as we left it. We came home with ton of laundry, a bug smeared and dirty RV, and the best vacation memories ever! I could write a book on the things we saw and did. We have over 1600 pictures and a few hours of video.
Next year Yosemite and Redwood!
