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| Fishing in one of the many creeks in Yellowstone National Park. This one is called Firehole River, due to all o the thermal features along its banks. |
We loaded up the camper, left Linden and headed to Pacific Grove for a final visit (and final vet appointment for Sunny) before leaving California. The kids all had sleepovers and we all had a fantastic time visiting all of our loved ones on the coast. After hugs all around and lots of "see-you-laters", we drove back towards Linden for a family bon-voyage BBQ. That made for a long day, as we left later that afternoon to camp at Bear Lake off HWY 88. We camped near the reservoir overflow area and fell asleep to the roaring sound of the water. The next morning, we packed up and made our way to Tahoe. After discovering our brake controller was short circuiting,and then having our sway bar break (it was only a few days old!) we detoured over to Reno, NV for a visit with our beloved Aunt Rosalie and tend to repairs. A new sway bar set us on our way but we still had the short circuiting issue. Jared tried a multitude of fixes, but we decided that we would need to find an actual trailer repair place to get this issue resolved. We camped at Cave Lake on the CA and OR border, which was a lovely remote campsite with some 4x4 action involved.
The next morning, after some fishing in the creek, we set our sites on Payette, ID to visit Jared's sister and family. We found a trailer repair place near Boise, about an hour away, so after spending the night and getting some much needed laundry done, we headed over there. The shop had closed by the time we arrived, so we decided to call first thing in the morning to secure an appointment. We really needed to get this brake issue fixed!
Not a campground was to be found that had vacancy, so we ended up staying at a hotel that evening. We all enjoyed unlimited hot showers after a dip in the indoor pool. We had one of the last rooms available, which was a suite, which the kids loved because it had a Jacuzzi tub in the room!
Sunny was so tired, she flopped down by the air conditioning unit and didn't move all night!
We lucked out the following morning, as the repair shop said they would squeeze us in. After dropping off the trailer, we drove over to a Starbucks for breakfast and wifi. Jared had a few projects to get done and the kids did a little math. After a few hours, we got lunch at the Flying Pie Pizza place (soooo good!) and decided to bring the food over to the large grassy park nearby so the kids and dog could run around. Just as we were finishing lunch, we got a call that the trailer was fixed. The issue turned out to be the brake wire on the axle was badly frayed. We also learned that one wheel bearing needed to be replaced and the others repacked. $500 later we were on our way and it has worked beautifully ever since!
We arrived in Pocatello, ID later than planned. Again, there was only campground available with any vacancy, which was the KOA. If you are in the area, keep driving and find someplace else. The staff may have just had a bad day, but they were really grumpy towards people. We had no choice as we were all so tired, so we just set up camp and fell asleep.
The next morning, we drove straight through into West Yellowstone to Madison Junction campground.
**If you have a 4th grader, get the Every Kid in a Park pass. It will get you into all of the parks for free!
After setting up camp, we had a quick dinner and fell into bed exhausted. So happy to have the next 4 days in one spot! We set about to explore Yellowstone the following day, starting with Old Faithful. Jared and I honeymooned at the Old Faithful Snow Lodge (we were married in January), and we just had to take the kids there on our trip down memory lane. The kids were not really impressed.
We walked around lots of trails with hot springs, mud pots, geysers, and wildflowers. Such an amazing and diverse landscape all in one area!
A couple of Yellowstone tips:
1. Make your reservations way in advance! We lucked out, but there were lots of others without places to stay. If you decide to go for the "first come, first serve" campgrounds, go at 7am (yes, that early) to get in line and secure a spot! That's what we did when we moved from Madison campground to Mammoth.
2. It is not a dog friendly park, at all! Many trails had signs posted not allowing dogs, even if they were on a leash. This included areas next to a river where no thermal features were present. Fortunately, the weather was really cool and the trails we ended up taking were short. Sunny could rest in the car with ice water and food while we were gone. We missed out on lots of other trails, but did not feel comfortable leaving Sunny for long periods of time. Plus, it just wasn't fair to her.
We took her to remote spots where she happily swam in rivers, streams, and lakes. We wanted her to have fun and not be cooped up in the car or camper the entire time. She is such a good dog and never complained!
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| Sunny getting some swimming time! |
3. Pack your own meals! Most of the food is cafeteria style (we didn't explore the fancier restaurants, since Sunny wasn't allowed) and really expensive. There are many water bottle filling stations, though, so that was nice.
We moved from Madison Junction Campground up north to Mammoth. We had explored lots of the area and were ready for something new. We left early to get there in time, as Mammoth is first come, first served. We scored a campsite and after one night, moved to one with more shade and closer to our new friends (but more on that in the next post).
Next up: Part 2 (Yellowstone and moving eastward)
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