Our Fantastic Three Week Vacation 2004 - Page Two

We left camp on Monday, June 21 and headed south to Jackson, Wyoming as we needed groceries. We stopped at the Grand Teton Sign for pictures. I took pictures of the Grand Teton Mountains, Jackson Lake and Leeks Marina.

We stopped at Willow Flats Overlook for pictures. There were many yellow-headed black birds there and we crumbled up some cheesy crackers for them to eat. They liked that a lot. We went on and I photographed the Cunningham Cabin and mountains, Snake River from an overlook, and more pictures of the Grand Teton Mountains. Also took a picture of Indian paintbrush. We reached Jackson at 1:00 PM and found an Albertson's store where we shopped for our groceries.

On the way back, we stopped at the Grand Teton Sign and fed some bread to a pica (small rodent). We stopped at the Glacier View Turnout and I picked up some Wyoming rocks to add to my collection. We went down the Snake River Access road and ate lunch  at 3:00 PM. We had a good view of the river front where rafts are launched, also, there were rest rooms available. After leaving there, we drove down Pilgrim Creek Road. We hadn't seen any bear as yet, although we talked to a lady that had videoed a grizzly bear attacking a buffalo. The remains of the buffalo were lying in a field not far from the road. We thought we might see one on a side road. No bear, but a really rough road! We talked to a man who said bear had been sighted around Mammoth Springs that morning.

We unloaded our groceries in camp and left for Yellowstone again, looking for bear or moose. We found and photographed elk in the Lewis River and on the hillside. Also, took two shots of a white pelican on the Lewis River. We saw a herd of elk with young ones, across the road from Old Faithful this time.

We drove around Black Sand Basin and Firehole Lake Drive. We saw two women leave their cars and walk out into a field where buffalo were grazing, to take pictures of the calves. Dangerous!!!. We left before they got gored, which could happen. Luckily, they got away with it without suffering any injuries. We went back to camp after that.

We woke up this morning, Tuesday, June 22, to a temperature of 31.8 degrees!! BRRR!!!! It was cold!! We packed up and left camp, headed for Jackson about 9:30 AM. We were held up by road construction for 30-35 minutes before we could continue. Off again at 10:15. At 10:45 we spotted three otters in the Snake River at Ox Bow Bend and stopped so Deanna could video tape them. I couldn't get a clear shot at them as they were under water so much.  We arrived in Jackson at 11:30 AM and took pictures of the antlers at the four corners of the park, the ski lift and trails on the mountains. Jackson is a neat little place, thoroughly western with some Swiss themes about the buildings. We encountered more road construction, which delayed us about 15 minutes on the way to Idaho. We finally got to Idaho, and stopped at the Palisades Reservoir for a break. This a large, very pretty lake and we took some pictures there. We saw many, many potato fields north of Idaho Falls and some underground barns with sod roofs, possibly used to store potatoes.  We stopped in Idaho Falls for lunch around 3:00 PM, then went on to a large rest area south of Idaho Falls. We took pictures of the lava formations and I picked up some small pieces to bring home.

We crossed into Utah at 6:00 PM. We saw the Wasatch Mountains and the Great Salt Lake at 7:10 PM. It was on my right so I snapped a picture of it from the truck window. I hope it turns out all right. We stopped at a KOA Campground at 8:00 PM, set up camp, and did laundry from 10:00-11:30 PM. We got to bed late that night.

We slept in this Wednesday morning of June 23, 2004, because we got to bed so late the night before., After breakfast, we visited the Mormon Tabernacle, and an original log home, and saw a statue of John the Baptist conferring sainthood on two Mormon leaders in the Visitor's Center. I took lots of pictures of the buildings. They are magnificent. We saw cable cars and even a restaurant called "Dee's".

Dave wanted to wash the truck, so we stopped at a car wash on the way back to camp. We left Salt Lake City at 12:00 noon and headed south on Highway 15. We stopped for lunch at 2:00 PM outside Nephi, Utah and took pictures of the Uinta Mountains.

We stopped for gas and rest room break at 4:10 PM at Beaver, Utah and were back on the road again at 4:30. I took pictures of the Pink Cliffs and the Pine Mountain Wilderness Area from the windows of the truck. Some of those didn't come out very good, so I tore them up. We arrived at the Zion Park at 7:15 PM. We drove around Zion National Park for a while after dark to see some of the fights. The road was so steep and winding that we turned around and went back to camp.  Found a great printed guide to Zion National park.  Zion Guide

This is Thursday, June 24^th.  It is easy to lose track of your days when traveling so much. We looked at maps and brochures and planned for several day trips on the shuttle and some walking trails. We walked to the shuttle pickup spot, then rode the shuttle to the Visitor's Center. We got on another shuttle and went to the Temple of Sinawava. We walked the Riverside Trail which was 1 and 112miles long. The temperature was about 112 degrees. We then rode down to Weeping Rocks Trail and walked that one, which was only 1/2 mile long.

Then we rode down to Zion Lodge and walked the Lower Emerald Trail which was 1.2 miles long. It was really hot and we had to stop and rest a lot and drink lots of water to keep from getting dehydrated. What a change this was from Yellowstone! We had taken pop, snacks, and water with us so didn't get too hot and dry. Poor Dave! He had to carry the backpack and a camera! We got on the shuttle once more and rode back to the Visitor's Center and then back to town. We drove the Canyon Drive (in daylight) through two tunnels. We stopped and took pictures of the Checkerboard Range  and many other peaks and rocks. We got back to camp at 7:50 PM and ate a good supper. Dave is really skilled at grilling steaks, hamburgers, and chicken for us to feast on.

It was 70 degrees this morning of Friday, June 25^th. We left camp about 9:15 AM. We stopped in Springdale to take more pictures of mountains and square pueblo like houses, as we were leaving. We crossed into Arizona at 10:30 AM. I took some pictures of fields of cactus and mountains. We then crossed into Nevada at 10:55AM and entered the Pacific Time Zone. We stopped at the Mesquite, Nevada tourist center for maps, brochures, and other information. I turned my watch back another hour, making us two hours ahead of the time at home. I took a picture of a Big V (for Virgin River Recreational Land), and a mesa. Temperature was 108 at noon.

We arrived in Las Vegas and went to the Boulder Lake RV Park. Checked in about 12:35PM with temperature reading 109 degrees F. We set up camp and ate lunch, then drove into town to find a Wal-Mart store. I needed more film. We then walked through several casinos, and I lost $1.00 in quarters. We watched a free show in  Caesar's Palace and went through some shops. We stopped at KFC for some chicken dinners to take home. The boy made a mistake in the price and charged us for only two dinners. When Dave told him about it, he said, "Don't worry about it", so we got 3 dinners for $7.53. WOW!!! They were good, too.

We went back to town after dark and saw some  really fantastic lights; a street movie in a large overhead dome; and put some more quarters in the slot machines. I spent $1.75 and won $3.50. Took photos of lighted casinos (from outside), shops, street scenes, etc. We went back to camp at 11:45 PM.