Day 2 started with brisk but not freezing temps. Had a bit of a tough time regulating the temperature at night in the Airstream. We have two roof mounted AC units that function as Heat pumps when it is cold. Like all heat pumps they start to lose efficiency below 40 degrees and will need defrost cycles as they ice up when really cold outside. That process we found out isnt a quiet process and leads to bumps and noises as they start and stop. So I need to figure out additional ways to control night time temps as they will be near or at freezing every night we are here. I was able to supplement with an electric heater that my great cuz Chip loaned us but because of our concerns about burning the pups I had it on the counter where it doesnt sense how cold it is near the floor so doesnt come on all the time. And let me be clear I do have a propane furnace and two 40 Gallon Propane tanks on the front of the trailer. I am however frugal and the electric is included free in the nightly campground rate and I have to pay to replace the propane so I wanted to avoid using the furnace. Maybe not a good idea.
We decided to tour the park near us and then later go to the other side of the park for Mothers Day dinner at the Old Faithful Inn. We saw many buffalo (Really should be called American Bison as we have no buffalos in the US except maybe water buffalos in a zoo). We also toured the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone with absolutely stunning views. The falls were created when the hot magma dome below Yellowstone heated granite like hard rocks and by cooking them made them soft and easier to erode. It is not at all related to THE Grand Canyon in Arizona. I will include some pictures of that valley. Gorgeous. After touring a bit and getting gas at the station in the park near us that was open we went home to get ready for dinner as we had 5:15 reservations and the Inn is 1.5 hours away. Yup Yellowstone is huge and spread out.
The roads in Yellowstone consist. Of a big circle with roads coming off at the North, East, South and West going to those four entrances, There is another spoke that was listed as closed I think to avoid bothering Grizzlies coming out of hibernation as many other scenic roads are in the park for the next few weeks. Old Faithful Inn is at 8 oclock on that circle an we are off the East entrance road at 3 oclock. To get from 3 oclock to 8 oclock takes around 1.5 hours as I mentioned above. Well we left around 3 to give us time to mosey around Old Faithful by arriving early for dinner. When we got to the West Thumb road where the road splits to go there or go to the South entrance we found out that the road was closed. I misread the sign that showed an alt route there by going toward the south entrance (Jo politely disagreed with me but I kept on). When we hit the south entrance I realized Jo was correct (again). Now we were 2.5 hours away from the Inn as we would have to backtrack to our campground and go the long way from 3 to 12 to 8 oclock counter clockwise on the BIG circle. If we had gone that way initially if we had known the West Thumb was closed it would have been 20 minutes longer> Now it was 2.5 hours and impossible to make our dinner. In my defense even if I had listened to Jo we would have not made our reservation time but they might have squeezed us in. UGH. So Mothers Day was spent at home with an impromptu pizza and salad. Sorry Jo.
I was not happy that the Park hadnt put signs at the junction near our site saying dont turn left turn right and let the Ranger at the South entrance know. She gave a cryptic “we closed it suddenly sorry” answer. We later found out there was a domestic disturbance on the road with a shooting that closed the road. Guess we are lucky the worst thing that happened was we missed dinner. 😦
Hoping I get heat figured out tonight so sleep is accomplished without noisy heat pumps. More to come on figuring out how to heat and sleep later. Please know however that the days have been high 50’s and sunny so far and cool temps refreshing so not at complaining about our brief exposure to snow and cool. It’s actually been nice since we know it’s temporary and the snow covered mountains have been beautiful to look at.
Bill and Jo’s Road Trip 