Day 5 – Madison Campsite, Yellowstone to Colter Bay Village, Grand Teton National Park

Day 5 – Madison Campsite, Yellowstone to Colter Bay Village, Grand Teton National Park

Well, today was a low point on the trip so far. Perhaps we were all tired. Perhaps it was sleeping at over 8000 feet in lower than 40 F temperatures, but we were all grumpy today. And, our RV started to show its age. Alle and I slept in, which seemed great until the boys started melting down once we woke up. Ted peed into our bed in the back of the RV. We crunched the bracket for the RV's awning, pulling into the sewer and water station once we set-off. We stopped to see the Fountain Paint Pots, which “blopped and spitted”.

The geysers and craters were very interesting, but both boys got overheated in their long pants, fell walking on the boardwalk paths, and we were all on edge about navigating our RV in crowded parking lots. Peter melted down about having to put on shorts, although he was hot from the walk and we set-off again. Both boys eventually napped and their spirits lifted a bit. The rest of us ate salt water taffy.

We left Yellowstone at the South Entrance and continued to the Grand Teton National Park, which is almost contiguous to Yellowstone. On the way, we saw two pairs of mother elk with baby elks in a Yellowstone meadow.

 The views around Jackson Lake were spectacular. We all had ice cream cones to celebrate, except for Ted who was still sleeping. Alle, Peter and I slid down a sandy slope to stick our toes in the water of the lake.  It was not much further to our campsite for the next two nights, Colver Bay Village. Here we have a full hook up with electrical and sewer, which is a first, but we can’t make a fire and the spaces are narrow slots.  We also have an energetic family of volleyball-playing neighbors.

 

Our RV has been well used prior to our rental. Today, we put duct tape on the bottom of the screen door so that its base frame would stop falling out whenever we opened it. We put a bungee cord on the broken awning bracket. When I pulled out the pot drawer to make dinner, the entire front wood face pulled off. The drawer track has been fixed before and I have to carefully pull it in and out so that the drawer doesn’t drop off its track. Luckily, our toilet works, the water pumping and electrical items seem to work, and the engine and brakes seem ok mechanically. All of the “mod cons” seem to be running out of steam. I just hope they hold together for another two weeks.

Tomorrow we will explore the Grand Teton National Park.  Photos to come.