Hi ladies,
Since it is quiet this weekend on the thread I wanted to send a short recap to Cookie about her upcoming trip out West.
Hi Cookie,
Since it was about 15 years ago not sure if things are still the same at Yellowstone (& my memory). When we went there wasn't any TVs, internet or air conditioning. I will try my best to give you a recap, I did find searching for must-sees & tips very helpful & true.
We arrived in Salt Lake City but because of the boys ages we didn't do anything there but sleep & actually was up with one of the boys who was sick to his stomach from the flight
We drove to Jackson Hole (my ex neighbors daughter just moved after graduation & loves it there). Prior to us leaving for the trip we heard that the wildfires were very bad in Yellowstone & would need to check to see if we could go thru the South entrance if not we would need to drive an additional 3 hours. We really enjoyed the town of Jackson Hole & the Grand Tetons. We did a float trip (somewhat long), trails along Jenny Lake & enjoyed huckleberry ice cream (throughout the trip we ate lots of things with huckleberry
). We only allowed 2 days at the Grand Tetons (wished we had extra time) & we were nervous about the wildfires on our last day there.
We were lucky & able to go through the South entrance but that could have changed even as we approached the gates. We stayed at Grant Village & could see all the wildfires around us. It was late when we arrived & so tired but we didn't sleep much that night because of the smoke from the fires. It was so hot, windows needed to be kept shut & no air conditioners. We decided to check-out the next day & stay near Old Faithful an extra day. The rest of the areas of Yellowstone was just beautiful, we hiked & saw so many hot springs & geysers. We saw waterfalls at Canyon Area & the Monmouth area was much quieter & less crowded but a really beautiful small town.
We stopped at little general stores (lots of them) & they had healthy snacks & drinks you could pick-up. At the time there wasn't any fast food/commercial places around. We also did a horseback riding to a BBQ which was fun but scary going through the mountains. We ate a picnic lunch at a picnic area & there were so many signs warning of Grizzly Bears
we didn't see any LOL. We did see lots of buffalo & eagles but did not see any elk or moose.
Afterwards we drive out of the Northeast entrance to Cody & went to a rodeo which was fun. We stopped at another town (can't remember which one) but decided to drive straight to Deadwood which was a fun town. We ate at Kevin Costner's restaurant. Our last stop was Mt. Rushmore, we enjoyed it. We went to see Crazy Horse (which was still being built) but at that point we were done with sightseeing. We went to a hotel & flew out the next day.
You & DH will have a great trip!