Jamie Thingelstad

Enjoyed a beautiful drive through the Shoshone National Forest today on our way from Jackson, WY to Mt. Rushmore in SD.

Weather: Rain! Cool! Rain stopped after first hour or so and then pleasant driving weather

• Breakfast at Persephone.
• Visit Teton Park visitor center, cool looking building.
• Drive to Mount Rushmore KOA.
• First two hours of drive really pretty!

We had delicious takeout burgers from Grazer’s in Newcastle, WY just before entering South Dakota!

Going to be covering over 470 miles today. Leaving Jackson, WY and checking in at Mt. Rushmore KOA tonight. We loved our time in the Tetons! 🛣

It was cloudy tonight but Wyoming Stargazing still got us out to see some cool stuff. Here is the moon tonight from Jackson, WY.

Weather: Clear and Sunny, Warm. Cloudy into the evening.

• Tyler and Mazie met and hung out with Nola and Sebastian.
• Rented bikes from Dornan’s and rode to Jenny Lake.
• Took Jenny Lake Boat and hiked to Hidden Falls.
• Waited in long line for an hour after hike to get boat back and stood with a group of annoying people from California.
• Waded in Jenny Lake to cool down.
• Got Ice Cream treats at gift store.
• Rode bikes back to Dornan’s with a heavy headwind.
• Attempted to stop at visitors center but they were closed.
• Went to Snake River Brewing for dinner.
• Astronomy evening with Wyoming Stargazing. Saw: Jupiter and 3 moons, Saturn and rings, moon, Moon closer, Vega, Arcturus, Mixar and Alco(part of Big Dipper) all three are double stars, ring nebula, Alberio (double Star), Hercules globular cluster, ISS, Owl cluster

Grand Tetons. Mt. Moran from Oxbow Bend.

Weather: cool in morning. Warm and pleasant rest of day.

• Got up at 5a to do wildlife tour with Bush Buck
  • Start at Teton village
  • Moose Wilson road tons of Elk
  • Loupin Meadow: Elk
  • Signal Mountain: Black Bear
  • Signal mt lodge coffee stop
  • oxbow bend Mt Moraine: Great Blue Heron with a chick
  • black tail ponds: mountain climbers
  • Moose Wilson road: Moose
• Met Kendra, David, Dawson for a walk. They brought pastries and beverages from Persephone. Walked the Snake River.
• Had snack in RV.
• drove to Downtown Jackson to explore stores and got Ice Cream at Jackson Drug and Chocolate at Cocolove.
• returned to campsite to maintain RV and get ready for rafting
• Whitewater rafting with Dave Hansen down the Snake River.
• got pizza and Handfire Pizza. It was delicious.

Afternoon ice cream from Jackson Drug in Jackson, WY.

Facial recognition doesn’t stand a chance with my pandemic vacation wear.

Bison in Yellowstone.

We played the Camp board game last night for the first time. Fun RV game. Good game that can be played with multiple ages at the same time. Tammy won!

Weather: great, clear, mid-70s

• Left West Yellowstone KOA.
• Returned rental car.
• Stopped at Lewis Falls.
• Lunch in RV at Jackson Lake overlook in Grand Tetons.
• Stopped and took photos.
• Missed turn to go down Teton Road and accidentally left the park. Decided to back track 20 miles back into Grand Tetons and go down beautiful Teton Road.
• Arrived at Jackson. Very busy. Got groceries. Got okay dinner at Miazgas.
• Went to Snake River KOA. Terrible road construction on the way. Can only go 25 mph. Spot 57 at Snake River KOA is tight and hard to get into. Not our favorite KOA.
• Early to bed for early wake up!

Weather: mid 70s. Nice.

• breakfast in RV
• Gibbon Falls
• North Rim of Grand Canyon of Yellowstone River
  • waypoint
  • Inspiration point
• South Rim
  • first overlook spot
• Hayden Valley
• Yellowstone Lake
• Ice cream at Yellowstone Lake General Store
• Tyler got a shirt
• Driver back through Hayden Valley
• Blocked by Bison walking on road
• South Rim, artist point
• Canyon Store shopping trip
• Ate dinner in RV
• Internet in car!

The KOA that we are at has no WiFi and no cellular signal. We’ve been offline for 3 days except for an occasional stop in some town. Tonight we all got in the rental car and drove into West Yellowstone to get LTE signal! 📱

Weather: started out rain/drizzle. Cleared up and was great day.

• Up early!
• Fly fishing
• Lunch at golf course restaurant
• Back to Yellowstone
• fairy Falls hike path up to grand prismatic viewing area
• Didn’t hike to fairy falls: bear frequenting area
• Old Faithful
• Walk over to geyser area
• Saw grand geyser. Was amazing. 200 ft in air.
• walked very fast back to car. Heavy winds and starting to rain!
• ate dinner in rental car as we drove thru Yellowstone back to RV