Yellowstone 2016 or Bust! Forum Rally May 15 through May 21, 2016

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Kim


Sue asked if she needs to plan food for happy hours all week?
 
Jeff said:
Kim
Sue asked if she needs to plan food for happy hours all week?

Kim, good to know since I had the same question as Sue.  So no need to worry about bringing herring from the Norske capital of the Midwest.  LOL (I had no intention of bringing Lutefisk.)
 
I would never restrict anyone from tossing food on the table, but for reasons that will soon become apparent, a "conventional" happy hour may not be observed as a group.

Then again, place it on the table and they will come...  8)

Kim
 
skyking4ar2 said:
I would never restrict anyone from tossing food on the table, but for reasons that will soon become apparent, a "conventional" happy hour may not be observed as a group.

Then again, place it on the table and they will come...  8)

Kim

Come on...spill the beans...(not literally) My wife needs to know what to plan for...
 
To set some expectations, "Happy Hour" is going to be difficult to do at Yellowstone for several reasons.

In most cases, setting a time for Happy Hour which most set at around 4pm, is too early here. People who have traveled a thousand miles are not going to want to be restricted to a time to be back, traffic and long distance to travel across the park being the key here.

We are never back from the park before 7pm simply because the later afternoon hours are better for reduced tourist traffic and the wildlife are far more active late in the day.

If someone wants to "own" a Happy Hour and preparing food, they can do so, but our past experience in places like this is that Happy Hour is poorly attended and most folks will have some difficulty juggling preparing food and returning on time. We've seen people grumble because they feel forced to cook every night for everyone and they don't feel comfortable not bringing something so we lose their participation in the conversation.

We were considering, instead, two different things, one a morning coffee session and sendoff, and possible a second "debriefing" at about 7pm in the pavilion for those who wish to participate and share their day's adventure. Certainly, bringing your dinner over "picnic" style is an option, but the happy hour/potluck thing has to be very voluntary.

You will quickly find that Yellowstone time does is not measured conventionally. So we are very purposefully not setting schedules to a clock and over planning folks' time. If you are pooped from "having" to do stuff, the rally will lose its value.

The goal here is to integrate new folks into the group, introduce those who are new to the park to all things Yellowstone, and exchange thoughts and ideas informally. So this rally is far more free form than most people will be used to. Yellowstone is hard to even begin to scratch in a week; we have been here twice before, for two months each time, and still have things to do. We want folks to have their appetite, whatever it might be, photography, hiking, fishing, sight seeing or just being with like minded folks satisfied.

But as far as "expecting" folks to bring something to a happy hour, there are no expectations. If one or more happens, it will be the right thing at the right time.  8)

Kim


 
Sadly we are not going to  make the Yellowstone rally but I would like to share our  experience at the  recent Big Bend Rally.  The rally host set the tone the  first night with the  note that  no goodies were planned  for the first night  happy hour. AND at each subsequent Happy Hour no  goodies were shared.  We brought beverages of  choice and socialized.  Believe me no one ever went  hungry and  our appetites were not spoiled for  dinner.  Most of us do not need the extra calories. Just my 2 cents and I'm sticking to it.

With such a  large  Park as Yellowstone having to  "return" by a set  time in the  afternoon could indeed be a hinderance of the fun.  Have fun with out me!  Sigh............
 
Kim, the morning coffee get-together and evening gathering sounds great.

I agree traveling through the he park and trying to get back to a certain time will be difficult let alone if a bison jam or animal sighting is present, which will almost make it impossible to return in a timely fashion.

I also agree with Betty, at Big Bend even after the traditional happy hour everyone had some time to grab a bite of dinner and relax before gathering around someone's coach for a BS session.  No one went to bed hungry and for the most part everyone was relaxed.  No need to stress everyone out by trying to return at a certain time.

Mike.
 
Ok, here's a perfect example - Day 1 (today) when we arrived in Grizzly.

We are checked in, in the site, the car is loaded with food, cameras, and water, and at 4:30pm we hit the west gate.

A STEADY stream of people coming out, just a couple of us going in. (Timing is everything.)

We're not ten miles into the park and spot a bear, create a bear jam, and that's in the first half hour.

Moving right along, about another ten miles down the road, after geysers, we get a monster bear jam, a big grizzly less than a 100 yards off the road, sleeping between some trees by the river, the Ranger going nuts keeping people out of the road, and trying to keep people with cameras (like us, in line). Twenty minutes of sleeping grizzly pics, and off we go and see the first red dog (baby bison) of the season (now with him/her there are mommas as big as houses looking ready to deliver), creating a new bison jam.

Bison to the left, bison to the right...then the elk show up. Now we have an elk jam.

Pretty sure we got within two miles of Old Faithful but turned around just in time to see a guy pass on a double yellow line right in front of the Ranger. (Note: 45 mph almost everywhere in the park - don't mess with the Rangers!) Traffic stop/blue lights "what's happening?" jam.

We are back in the house finally at 8:30 with plenty of light. Sixty miles in four hours.

THAT'S how you roll in Yellowstone.  8)

Kim
 
Hey Kim, save some of the bear sightings for the rest of us.  Don't hog them all. ;D

Mike.
 
OK, cool. I'm fine with a very relaxed schedule. I hate "overplanning" my vacation trips. Too much "gotta go here by such a time, gotta go there by such a time, gotta be way over yonder at such a time...can really ruin things for people...most of us have had plenty of that kind of  madhouse scheduling in our working lives... (and vacations ain't supposed to be "work.")  Can I say that vile 4-letter word here?  8)
 
I think it was Betty Brewer who told me early into my RVing lifestyle to "make plans in Jello". I really like the idea of no fixed schedule. Morning coffee with folks is a great.

We are really looking forward to the experience. 
 
Kim    I was out by Grizzly yesterday for a grocery and hardware store run, I headed into the park just a little before you, Saw plenty of bison and eld, but alas, no bears.  Just never know.
 
We've made it to Carson City NV and after spending a very cold night near Walker NV, we're happy to be a bit lower in elevation.  Our furnace decided to take a break late yesterday afternoon.  We were at 6500 ft and the outside temps were in the high 30's to low 40's.  Had to turn the genny on and with the help of two space heaters were able to keep fairly warm until 10 PM.  Woke up to a chilling 43? and turned on the genny immediately.  Boiled a pot of water hoping that might warm us a bit.  Made that all important pot of java and turned on one space heater.  After 1 hour it was almost 53? in the motorhome.  After another hour with the help of a second space heater we got it up to almost 60.  So, today we scour the Net for a place that works on RV furnaces.  Then we need to have the brakes looked at.  Before we got under way this morning, we couldn't find our new kitten.  Goldie, just 5 months old was no place to be found.  Our worst nightmare was happening.  We're sure we didn't leave the door open but we looked in every nook and cranny.  No Goldie.  We went outside and looked for a 15 minutes.  We were camped along side the Walker River and I was ready to jump in in need be.  As I was getting ready to walk down to the wet shores of the river I heard Maria call.  I walked toward her and heard her say she found Goldie.  She was hiding beneath storage area beneath the stove and couldn't get out.  Her cry is so soft that if she was letting us know where she was, we simply couldn't hear her.  In any event, she was happy to come out and stayed under cover on the sofa the rest of the trip. 

So, we're probably good to go it it's in the low 30's at Grizzly.  But hopefully we'll have the benefit of the furnace and won't have to rely on the small space heaters.  We're probably only 750 miles from Grizzly and still expect to arrive mid-day Sunday the 15th.  Barring any other minor glitches, we hope to see you all in a week.  Happy Mothers Day to you moms and safe travels to all.

Gary and Maria
 
I made it to Las Vegas today.  Hopefully tomorrow will be North of Salt Lake City.  On track for a Wednesday (or maybe Tuesday) arrival.
I'm surprised the Lady who was petting the Buffalo wasn't petting the sleeping Grizzly.
 
Read a file created by Gary RV Roamer regarding furnace problems.  It looks like the furnace got too hot yesterday and shut down.  In any event, it's working fine for now.  We'll stick have it checked out just in case. 

Just finished dinner at Ole Ole, Mexican Restaurant at the Gold Dust Casino in Carson.  Great food, great casino and Maria did her thing.  Dinner $54, RV Park $32.  Maria's winnings $146.  All in all, not a bad day. 
 
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