The World of Mackay

After our few days in unplanned luxury, we we now heading back into the world of camping. Based on Yelp reviews and other posts that raved about the managers, Bill and his wife Barb, at the Riverside Ranch, we had booked a three night stay there. It was just 20 minutes from Bryce Canyon, and about 40 minutes outside Zion, so it seemed it would be a good location for visiting both parks. The property has a lodge, RV campsites and a regular campground, but after some discussion with Bill (the owner, Bill), we agreed we would rent a 50-amp RV spot so we could plug in the car. The drive to Hatch was exciting as we went through a monster rainstorm, and just missed what appeared to be a substantial hailstorm. This might make setting up camp more interesting. Incoming rain during our drive to Hatch, Utah Luckily, the rain subsided by the time we were ready to unpack. We checked in with Bill and we figured out logistics for parking and for cooking dinner. The view from our campsite wa...

The drive out of Grand Teton, heading south toward Park City was lovely - with the terrain slowly changing from sharp craggy mountains to the red erosion that is more common as you drive south. We saw on our ChargePoint App that there was a fast charger at a place call the Bread Board in Lander, WY. We stopped for breakfast, and were pleasantly surprised by great bread/sandwiches, and a single charger that offered 5$ an hour (pro-rated if you don't stay a full hour) for charging, at a speedy 45 mph (not Tesla, supercharger speedy, which can top 360 mph, but very good for a generic all purpose charger). We headed out after breakfast and made our way south. Super cool canyon walls outside Grand Teton We continued on the winding roads, whose speed limit quickly jumped to 80 MPH, which I thought was pretty awesome. Around each bend, we found new terrain... Bill converted this to black and white, but the low boulders and general lack of color really made us feel like we were ...

We started from the Moran entrance, and decided to take the clockwise route (vs the counter clockwise route advised in the official booklet, hoping we might avoid some traffic.) Apparently the south entrance from Jackson can be quite crowded. We breezed in about 7:30, and started our tour heading south toward Moose Junction. We had heard that Antelope Road had a high likelihood of animals, but we saw naught. We did pull into Blacktail Ponds Overlook to get a view of the Snake River valley, and we saw at least three moose in the distance. The birds there were amazing once the noisy tour group near us packed back into their mini vans and left. Owen was thrilled to learn that the second highest peak in the range was Mount Owen! We headed toward Jenny Lake and stopped at Dornan's chuck wagon for a quick and delicious breakfast. We were debating about heading to either String Lake or Jenny Lake, which we had heard was potentially overcrowded, but since we were early, we thought we...

We packed up early (we're getting good at squeezing all of our belongings into the many compartments of the car and storage space), and began the drive to Dubois, Wyoming - where we would camp for 3 days and make sure we could spend a day in the Grand Teton national park. The car was fully charged, thanks to our tether to the plug inside the sliding window of our cabin. The drive from Yellowstone gave us our first glimpse of the Teton range -- breathtaking from whichever angle you approach. We entered the park at Moran and made a brief stop for lunch at Colter Bay Village. We were impressed with both the pizza, and the beet and goat cheese salad served in the adjacent restaurant. Seriously - it's fresh arugula, a light vinaigrette, golden beets, and they caramelize a little sugar over the goat cheese that makes it crunchy and especially delicious. From there, we beelined it to the Longhorn Ranch and Resort, in Dubois, about 60 miles east from the park. We initially ch...

The kids both wanted to try a trail ride, so we were able to book a one-hour ride at the nearby stable in Canyon Village. We booked the ride in the morning to avoid the heat, and had the added bonus of being able to drive through Hayden Valley early in the day, when our chances of seeing some wildlife were greater. So - up early again, and we were out the door promptly at 7. Since our ride didn't start until 9:15, we had some time to explore along the way. Since it was a cold morning, we saw a lot of steam coming from the earth that we hadn't noticed during our drive in. We pulled off into the almost completely empty parking lot where there is a short walkway around bubbling mud pots that leads to a feature called the Dragon's Mouth. Bubbling mud pots in Yellowstonr The audio doesn't come through very well, but this cave lets off periodic bursts of steam, along with what sounds like a huge, forceful exhale. It's pretty cool. Continuing on, we wound ou...

Having learned our lesson on park traffic, we were out the door by 7 to make our way to Old Faithful. It's about 40 miles to get there from the lodge. Within 5 minutes, our progress is stopped by 2 young elk crossing the road, followed shortly by a bear. Super cool. We made it to the Old Faithful area with zero traffic, and pulled into the first row of the enormous parking lot. Go early. It's a bit cool, so we grab our sweatshirts and begin walking around the pathways that surround the geysers. They are just letting off steam, and we have about 50 minutes until Old Faithful is expected to put on its display. While we heard from other people that the Daisy Geyser is especially cool, the 4+ mile walk (for our kids) and the long window you'd need to wait to ensure you see it erupt kept us closer to the visitor center. The amazing colors of the different geothermal pools near Old Faithful Since we had some time to kill before Old Faithful's next display, we took ...

While we were sad to leave Under Canvas, we were excited about the animals and other amazing sights we would see inside Yellowstone. We hit traffic immediately at the gate, but the staff moved everyone quickly along. Thanks to Mackay still being considered in the 4th grade until the end of August (and Obama for putting this program in place), the kid finally saved us money instead of costing us! Free admission for 4th graders and their families to any national park. Yay! You do need to register and print your pass before you show up though. One we clear the gate, we drive fairly smoothly from the West entrance of the park, headed to Lake Yellowstone to find our cabin. We had only one tactical error. Knowing we had a few hours to kill before check in, we saw a sign for Norris Geyser basin, and thought 'let's go check it out.' Note: it's about 1pm, and we're here the 4th of July week. We pull into the 1-way section that leads to the parking lot, and it's absolu...