Day 14....we have arrived in West Yellowstone! (from Rushmore, Badlands, etc)

Hey all,  been off for a while.  Wanted to check in with everyone.  We are over 2000 miles in and way above 2000 feet here! 

So far we have visited Chicago (thank you for all of the recommendations.) 

We have taken so many awesome pictures from Chicago, Rushmore, Pipestone, Badlands, Custer State Park, Sioux Falls, and several other places!  If you guys have time....check out some of our pictures!!

Anyways,  we have had such a great trip.  It didnt start off well though.  When we were about 300 miles into the trip I had a tire blowout (inner right tire).  The roads heading up from Knoxville to Indianapolis were absolutely terrible!  I guess shovel ready jobs did not make it there.  I hit one of the potholes and blew the tire.  And if that wasn't bad enough...the tread came off and my our friends/baby Godparents who are traveling with us in their brand new RV ran over the tread and it got wrapped around his exaust pipe on his brand new 2013 Itasca and ripped it right off.  Well, we found a 24/7 tire place and they recommended a muffler place that would help us.  No gouging at all.  Paid $350 for the tire and they fixed the entire rear half of the muffler system for $79.00.  I may hate the highway but the business people we encountered were A+!  Only negitive I had was this happened 1 mile from the camping world and we limped over there to find out they do not do tires and do not do exhaust.  :

Rushmore was great.  Did not enjoy Hotsprings.  I mean seriously....the only hotspring is in an indoor enclosure?  Thats like an indoor pool!  We went up to deadwood one day.  Had a great time there.  Don't miss this little town.  We loved the one casino we played .  It was called "The Lodge".  Excellent low minimums with comped beer!  Great table games but no roulette. 

Oh yeah....Badlands....What an awesome amazing park!  Had a wonderful time there.  We stayed inside the park and prepaid for 2 days but left after 1.  Would recommend it to everyone but I did not need more then 1 day there.  I had already done it all so we packed up and just went on to Rapid City a day early. 

Custer State Park......We have enough Bison pictures to choke a cow with!  Fun fun park!!  I loved everything about the Rapid City area. 

We spent the night last night in Sheridan in the BigHorns.  Nice KOA.  We left at about 5:30am this morning and took 14 threw Big Horn Mountains.  I keep having to up the ante of "that was the best thing I have ever seen".  I know several people want to take the South Loop and go south of 14 because of the road......my advice....do not skip this road.  I am so glad we left early though.  Because it was 6am on a Sunday there was no traffic at all so we were not bothering anyone.  We have a V10 gas coach and it took all she had to navigate these inclines (and then the decline) but we went slow...VERY SLOW (sometimes under 30mph).  We kept our RPMs low and if someone came up behind us we just moved to the shoulder and flagged them by.  They were so grateful.  (Dont blame them). 

We stopped in Cody and did the meusame.  We did not give it enough time to do it justice but we wanted to head out.  So we went to Grandma's Kitchen (liked it actually) and headed to West Yellowstone.  One the way we saw the mud volcano's, had our fist bison traffic jam (made a You-Tube video on it. lol).  And we saw elk and even deer mules.  Not bad for just driving from east to west at about 4pm. 

Well, its time to get to bed.  We are getting up early and starting with the North Loop tomorrow.  Supposed to get crappy tomorrow so hopefully the weather can stay on our side. 

Here is the link to our pictures:

www.jenngreenberg.smugmug.com  We have the different places separated by albums. 

So happy to be here.  Even happier our 13 yo coach is riding like a champ.  She's got her issues but rides/drives like a dream!  I guess we will forgive it for letting mice in.  LOL.  We opened up our foldout table and a mouse came out.  We knew we had them because we have found "presents" from them in our drawers.  Hmmph!


talk to you all soon!

Mike and Jenn (in KOA - West Yellowstone)

Sounds like you're creating lots of good memories!  While you're in West Yellowstone, check out the Bear and Wolf Discovery Center.  Neat place where you can see both up close and personal in safety.  Have fun.

ArdraF

...our first bison traffic jam...

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If you are going to do this you need to know the proper terminology. It is not called a "bison traffic jam". That would be properly called a "buffalo jam". It is very similar to an "elk jam" and a "bear jam". The only difference between the three is the bear jam is usually the largest. ;D

Seriously I am glad you are enjoying your trip. If you get to the upper and lower Yellowstone falls then look for the Osprey nest in the area. It is there every year on top of a pinnacle in the middle of the river.

These are awesome pics. Thank you for posting them so that complete strangers like myself can view them.  We were trying to plan a Rushmore trip for this summer, but sadly it will have to wait for next year.

The scenery is just awesome, I can't wait to really start planning our trip.

Thanks again!
-Mike

Tom,

You're close...it's a Bison jam.

Mike & Jenn,

Be sure to stop at the bookstore at the Old Faithful Visitor's Education Center. Pancake Bill and I both work there with our wives. Pat & I won't be in until 2:30pm tomorrow.  Today is one of our days off.

Nope, a buffalo jam. Those rangers at Yellowstone all love to claim that those are not buffaloes, they are bison. They are wrong, they are buffaloes. They have the scientific name and the common name mixed up. The scientific name is bison bison. The common name is buffalo. The rangers then claim that they are not related to nor anything like a real water buffalo from Africa. It doesn't matter, a common name is the name an animal is commonly called and bears no relationship to the scientific name or to reality for that matter.

Let us look at an example. You know that pretty little bird with the orange red breast that signals the coming of spring. A robin right? Wrong. A robin is not a robin, it is a thrush. It was misnamed by the first settlers here in the 1600s since it looked like a robin from their home country. Now if I told you I saw a thrush you would not know what I was talking about, but if I said I saw a robin you would know exactly what I was talking about.

Consider the following: Bryce Canyon is not a canyon, it is an amphitheater. Death Valley isn't a valley. Crater Lake isn't a crater. Joshua Trees aren't trees.

Bottom line is common names are the names people actually use when discussing a species. Being scientifically correct can be very confusing at times to the general public.

There is also an osprey nest just west of the Lamar Valley. Its below the road surface, on the top of a dead tree. There are usually several photographers there on the south side of the road next to the big rock looking for the nest. Here is a pic I took, not good, I don't have a fancy camera, and this was about 150 yards away.

Note, one of them is on the nest, and the other one is on a branch to the right.

Stan

SeilerBird said:

It was misnamed by the first settlers here in the 1600s since it looked like a robin from their home country.

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And this is how the Bison was named by Europeans coming to this country. It reminded them of their "buffalo".

We got stuck in two different bison (aka buffalo) jams yesterday on the road from Norris to Mammoth Hot Springs.  The darn things think they own the road!  Also got stuck in a mama bear with two cubs jam.

Having a great time here in Yellowstone!

Jean,

They do own the road. They were here long before us. ;D

I see you are from St. Pete. I was born there!

Whether or not they own the road is not the issue. The issue is who is going to go tell them to move ;D

Tom,

That won't be me! ;D

Me neither Jim ;D

We are just patient and wait for them to decide where they want to go!  One Bison came so close to our truck yesterday that I thought he was going to get in with us.  Amazing how many people we saw get OUT of their vehicles to get a close up photo!  Same thing with the Antelope.  Idiots!!

jsetti said:

Same thing with the Antelope.

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Shame on you. Those are not antelopes, those are pronghorns. If a ranger hears you call a pronghorn an antelope he will have you hung and shot on the spot. It is as big a sin as calling a bison a buffalo. ;D

On the way to dinner the other night with the Dick's at the Yellowstone Lodge, DakotaRed and I were panhandled in a bison jam. The coyote on the way back was far less concerned and was just having an evening walk in the park.

That evening, we were in a bison jam, a coyote jam, and an elk jam (twice). And that was just between Old Faithful and West Yellowstone. Clocks are useless in YNP.

Hey everyone,

Quick update....we are having a great time here.  We did a short day today doing the lower southern loop.  We did ol' faithful and went down and saw the lake and the hot pockets.  I did not see the reply's until today.  Jim, I don't think you guys were working today.  We went in and saw the 10:17 blast off.  I asked someone for you and they said you were off.

We had a good time there.  We went to the picture place and had our pictures made with the postcard maker.  I still find it amazing how much hotter it gets as the day goes on.  I mean, it goes from 50-80 in a couple hours!! 

Tomorrow we are going to do the north loop.  We really have to check off Moose from our list!  We have got bison (or buffalo...have no clue now. LOL), mule dear, black bear, grizzly bear, pronghorn antelope, and prairie dogs! 

Check out this picture my wife made on instagram of all the animals we have seen so far:

http://instagram.com/p/bmuzmVxawC/

I know many of you are following us on Twitter but if you are not, would love to have you start following us on instagram.  We are trying to post a couple times a day some beautiful footage of this wonderful country.  Would love for you all to share in it with us. 

Our twitter handle is @jenngreenberg

Datasponge,

Thank you for the kind words.  We are having an awesome time!  hard to believe it is almost 1/2 over!  We thought that a month long trip was going to take forever...now we wish we had longer.  We have been documenting our travels in several places.  Feel free to check them out.  It is myself, my lovely wife, our 2 dogs (1 jack Russell/terrier mix, and 1 Rottweiler), and our 15 WEEK OLD baby!  We also have another coach with us that has our baby's Godparents and my wife's parents with them. 

MOOSE SIGHTING?????

Can someone please tell us where to find a moose and a bighorn sheep.  I have been told near fishing hole.  Whats the best times?  Bison seem to be the only animals that have a time card they punch to make sure there is coverage on the roadways.  hehehe.

Hope everyone is having a great summer!  I know we are!!

Mike and Jenn

Moose are best spotted in willow groves. Not many willow groves are located close to the highway in Yellowstone. South of Mammoth area is the best spot. If you get to the Grand Tetons they are easier to spot there. On the back porch of the Jackson Lake Lodge or at Oxbow Bend at sunset.

Bighorn sheep are found at high elevations on rocky cliffs.

We have gotten moose and mountain goats at Soda Butte Creek several times, including Bullwinkle below, at various times. I read somewhere that moose population in YNP was down to around 150, but we see them outside the park more often than in.

The bighorn sheep were camped just north of the Caldera Rim pullout in the valley for about two weeks causing massive sheep jams, but I think have moved out. We have seen them in the valley on the way out of Mammoth on the road to Gardiner, and they were in the valley on the Grand Loop east of Mammoth several miles out grazing next to the road about a week ago.

Most of them are not keeping to a schedule so a good spotter is pretty handy. Early in the day and late in the day have been far more successful for us, especially with the temps rising.

SeilerBird said:

Shame on you. Those are not antelopes, those are pronghorns. If a ranger hears you call a pronghorn an antelope he will have you hung and shot on the spot. It is as big a sin as calling a bison a buffalo. ;D

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SeilerBird ... The Yellowstone Expedition book that I bought at the Old Faithful Bookstore calls them "Pronghorn Antelope".  I didn't realize the correct abbreviation was "Pronghorn" not "Antelope". 

To the Rangers ... Please don't hang and shoot me!  I'm having too good a time here!!

LOL