Rocky Mountain National Park

We hit the road Saturday, June 15 by 6:30 am. More pronghorn. Views are opening up, small ridges in the distance instead of massive mountains. Traveling along Interstate 80 in Wyoming, this is big ranch country! Horses... Boer goats... sagebrush.

Turned southeast on 287 toward Fort Collins, CO. A big day of driving for us! 

rest area lunch just inside Colorado

Southwest Sandwiches on Bolillos

Curving up, along the Big Thompson River on 34 toward Estes Park, we pulled over to let 1,2,3,...11 cars get by. Later we paused again so 14 more could pass. We found a RV parking spot in Estes Park, unhitched the van and made it to Beaver Meadow Visitor Center 45 minutes before closing. Not too far into Rocky Mountain  National Park we saw 4 mature bull elk plus several more by the roadside. We had been in this park the year we moved to Kansas, nearly 10 years ago and the elk were impressive then as well. Never a disappointment to see such large racked animals in the wild!

We continued on to Trail Ridge Road and wound around through the mountains up above the treeline to Tundra Communities Trail. It was snowing great big flakes that melted as they hit the windshield. A natural looking fellow was doing a 'snow'dance of delight off on the side of the road. We chowed homemade trail mix, but didn't even hike the full path. Elevation 12,000 ft!

Our drive back out of the park into town led us by closer elk, right amidst homes and businesses.

Chick-fil-A for supper, thanks to Aunt Britney's gift card to us. A 1st time experience for our family. Then overnight in Denver at Sears.

Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Driving south out of Grand Teton National Park into Jackson, WY, we stopped at the Greater Yellowstone Visitor Center. We watched a film about baby animals entitled "Circle of Life". It showed the cutest little bear cub frolicking, hanging on a tree. And other sweet critters too!

Across the street we saw this antler arch, so took some photos. Later, driving through the touristy town we saw 4 more arches on the corners of the downtown park, a very crowded area on a Friday night. 62 degrees here and 100 in Sawyer, KS!

We drove on through...home is sounding near and the sights are losing their inspiring impact. Down 191 we passed through Bondurant -population 100- where quaint rustic cabins & homes with tin roofs spotted the roadside. There was also a teeny elementary school maybe 60' x 80'. We saw more pronghorn and flocks of sheep. A rancher on horseback with a couple dogs was corralling his sheep in for the night. We motored on past the rest area we thought we may stay at (actually never saw it?) and stayed in a gravel lot in Farson, WY.

sunset out the rv back window

Grand Tetons

A Day in the Tetons...

Jackson Lake

looking for 'the bear' or moose on Willow Flats

steadying the binoculars

Jackson Lake Lodge sun viewing

through a filtered lens telescope

Lunch Tree Hill Trail

lupine, yellow balsam, & sagebrush

Mount Moran

We saw 6 pronghorn antelope close by near here

Grand Teton

Craig Thomas Discovery Center had fur samples of
red fox, wolf, mule deer, whitetail, elk, coyote, lynx, bobcat, cougar & more
and videos on big square floor tiles

Jr Ranger certification

Sheffield Creek Campground

We headed south out of Yellowstone, crossing the Continental Divide several times at varying elevations between 7 and 8,000 ft. We had been finding places to stay on freecampsites.net and were driving west with that in mind when a fellow stopped us and said that all campgrounds were closed for the next 10 miles. He recommended another spot, but, we needed to cross the creek to get there!

Here we are at Sheffield Creek Campground in Teton National Forest.

Is it high enough?

checking the water depth 1st...COLD

Caroline & Riley: delighted foragers and fire starters

We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows, but got rained out, so ate inside.

colorful peep mallows

And went to sleep to the sound of rain.

June 14, 2013 was a cool mountain morning. We ate hot oatmeal outside, took a short walk, and sipped hot chocolates. 

Here lies the road before us...again!

More adventure! Such excitement!