Road Trip 2021 - To Maine and Back

This morning, I woke up at the resort parking lot just outside of Yellowstone. I woke up early to try and beat the crowds. I was entering the park at the south entrance, and my plan was to drive north, along the west side of the park. It's configured as a Figure-8; however, I knew that I would not have time to see the whole park in just one day. After I entered the park, I could already see the bubbling earth around me as I drove. It was fascinating!  On my way to Old Faithful, I stopped to do a short hike to see a waterfall.  When I arrived at Old Faithful around 8am, I was surprised that hundreds of other people had too. All of the other National Parks that I had visited had been moderately busy, but not at 8am. I have been spoiled with the all of my trip so far being during off-peak season, which hadn't even occurred to me. But now, I was entering the height of summer. I checked at the visitors center for an estimated time for it to blow, which would follow shortly. I hung o

This morning I woke up at the dispersed campsite that I had found yesterday in the Grand Tetons National Forest, at 5:00 to the sound of coyotes. At 5:30, I decided to get out of bed and get ready to head out. I made breakfast, packed up, and was on my way by 6:15. It was a long drive down the mountain, but the park was close by. I had decided to drive the loop clockwise to see the entire park, with the best views of the Tetons in the morning with less crowds. While driving, there were absolutely spectacular views of the Tetons. It was a blue sky with not a cloud in the sky. The Tetons were aw-inspiring. I was absolutely captivated.  I could see the Snake river, which I never knew flowed all the way into Wyoming. By 9:00, I made it to the visitors center, where I stopped to get my passport stamped. Then, I headed across the street to get my paddleboard inspected. This was required to be able to paddle on the lakes in the park. Little did I know, I also needed a permit to paddle too

I woke up at the rock-climbing camping area and left early. Today, I would be making my way across all of Wyoming, including the Continental Divide, over to Grand Tetons National Park. On my way out that morning, I also wanted to stop at a campground to pump out. I wanted to be as light as possible crossing the continental divide.   It was a long day driving. I stopped for somewhere in the middle for gas and to check the oil. It had been low during this trip. I had first noticed it in Michigan. I think it is because I’m fully loaded with all my stuff for moving, so my truck is burning more oil. I stopped to pick up another quart, checked the levels, and topped it off.   I was nervous about crossing the continental divide with the truck this loaded, but we made it; slow and steady.   When I arrived outside of Grand Teton NP, I found a camping area, but most of the spots were taken, so I kept going up the road, further up the mountain. On my way, I passed a ranger who suggested I go ab

I woke up this morning at the ATV / Snowmobile Park in South Dakota. Today, I would be going to Wind Cave National Park & Mt Rushmore as I continued to head West. I woke up around sunrise, got ready, and back on the road. Once I arrived at Wind Cave National Park, I waited in line at the visitors center to get tickets. The line was long and they were selling out quickly so I was unsure which tour I would be able to go on. They had several to choose from. Which was a nice change from Mammoth Cave which only had one option at the time due to COVID-19. I was able to get tickets for the Natural Entrance Tour and the Fairgrounds Tour. The Natural Entrance Tour was just as it sounds, where you enter through the original entrance of how the cave was found. As the name implies, the cave was found by an explorer who heard the wind coming out of the cave. It was an interesting tour where we saw boxwork and cave popcorn. Boxwork is formed when calcium carbonate dissolves and crystallizes in t

 I realize that my last blog post while returning from Maine to Washington, was Day 8 in Badlands National Park. A lot has happened since then! (Spoiler, I did make it back safe and sound!) The rest of my trip was a race to get back to Washington. Filled with long days of driving and visiting National Parks. I was also expediting my trip to get back in time for my cousin Annie's birthday, three days earlier than I had originally planned to. Therefore, my blog fell to the wayside of driving, exploring, and sleeping. So now I hope to complete it based on the few notes that I have, pictures, and memories.

 I woke up at the Visa overlook that I had stayed at on the national grasslands last night. I woke up at 6:00 to get on the road by 7:00. It was a (Google) 5-hour drive and my goal was to be there by 1:00 p.m. I knew I was stopping somewhere along the way to stretch my legs and get gas, so it would take me closer to 6 hours. On my drive, I was coming up to where I had put in a halfway point to stop and get gas and stretch my legs. However, I was staring straight at a thunderstorm that I was supposed to drive through. It was already pouring rain and the lightning was striking right in front of me. I thought to myself, it's probably not a good idea to pump gas when there's lightning near by. As in over top of me. I had enough to be able to keep going, so I did. But I pulled over anyways, because I wanted to look up if it's safe to drive through it and what to do if you're in an RV. It turns out that being in your car is the safest because if you do get struck by lightning