It's Big Trip Time! Part 4 - Heading North, Way North

Need to catch up?  Here's the link to Part 3.

CUE THE CLOUDS!

This glamour shot of the rig was brought to you

by the fine folks at the Flying J in McCammon, Idaho.

Well, that's where we were parked - I took the picture.

Monday, Day 3 of our trip, dawned bright and sunshiny in Salt Lake City, continuing the weather's theme of being crappy while we were visiting a place and turning amazing right as we were leaving.  Rad.  We did a quick yogurt/blueberry/granola parfait breakfast, and we hit the road, but not before taking a few shots of the Salt Lake City KOA Holiday while the weather held.

Pretty place, easy to find, quiet - would stay here again.

In a few days, we'd be headed (roughly) back to this area of Utah, so I wanted to choose different driving routes for up and back, just for a change of scenery; our route north took us straight up the 15 and into Idaho before continuing on smaller roads into Grand Teton National Park and our lodging for the next few nights at Gros Ventre Campground (290 miles, around 6 hours).  

Who wants another blurry map?

Truly, I don't really know why these are so crappy,

but I don't really care that much.

You guys aren't reading these blogs for the crystal clear

Google Maps images (I hope).

(If you really do want turn by turn directions,

just let me know - of course, I have those.)

We started our drive around 9:45am, and it was pretty smooth and easy to start out.  Since we were on the freeway for the first two hours, things zipped by at high rates of speed, and I killed time taking pictures out the truck windows:

We made it to Idaho!

Where are your potatoes?

Stopping for gas around noon, we were delighted to see that the Flying J we'd picked as a location in McCammon, ID also offered an "interstate oasis."  It was pretty much a huge, paved lot off to the side of the gas pumps where it was easy for cars, trucks, and rigs to park; it's sometimes hard to find safe, convenient spots to park the whole kit and keboodle for a lunch break, so this was most welcome (we try to hit up Flying J's, Pilot's, Love's, and other truck stops, since they generally have more parking options for long vehicles than your standard gas station - this is a thing I never thought I would need to think about before owning a travel trailer.  Prior to this, I'd still stop at those places, but it was because their bathrooms tend to be cleaner than smaller gas stations - that's still true as well).

An Idaho oasis

(the picture at the top of this post was also taken here)

After finishing up Day 3 of the pasta salad (will it ever end?!?!?!), we transitioned from the 15 to Idaho State Road 30 and enjoyed the scenic byways that occupy this part of the state (through the Caribou National Forest).

I took a quick snooze during this part of the trip

(my only one of the entire week, thank you)

and woke up to a landscape covered in patchy snow.

I shrieked with delight, startling Chris, who now

knows that if he EVER sees snow, he must wake me up.

It's grounds for divorce, otherwise.

On our way to connect with the 89, we ended up on the 114, or State Line Road.  As you might deduce by the name, it straddles two states: Idaho is on our left here and Wyoming is on our right:

Thanks, GPS!

We stopped in Alpine, WY, to gas up at KJ's (a great stop - convenient, clean, safe), and we made our last push toward Gros Ventre, traveling through another forested area with peaks on either side.

Part of this route runs next to the Snake River,

which was rather full - 

it was raining as we went through here.

Arriving at Gros Ventre Campground around 3:30pm, we checked in at the front office and filled up our water tank.  We'd be camping off grid for the next two nights - no hookups at all - so making sure the tank was totally full was important.  We made our way around the park and found our spot on Loop C, #132 (back-in, no hookups, $38 per night, paid in advance about a month ahead of time); we got the rig in place and set up what was necessary (stabilizer jacks, propane, etc. - not a lot).  

Since we faced another night with the prospect of consistent rain, we decided we'd rather not attempt to cook dinner ourselves, and (after donning warmer clothes and the raincoats - again) we hopped back in the truck, doing the quick 20 minute drive into Jackson, WY.  We did a bit of shopping first (I needed more socks) and wandered around the town, stopping for photo ops:

To answer Aunt Kim's question,

each antler arch is made of about 2,000 pairs.

There's one on each corner of the town square,

so that's a lot of deer!

Oh, there's that Cowboy Bar Uncle Jim mentioned!

We walked a bit further off the main town square area and wandered to Stillwest Brewing, located right across from one of the main ski lifts in town.  While skiing was done for the season, we saw a few families having fun sliding down the chunk of snow that was still hanging around.

At Stillwest - baked brie with my maibock.

Hot cheese and brown beer?  Yes, please!

Very full, we waddled back to the truck and headed back to camp, stopping to buy firewood, in case we ever had a chance to actually use the fire rings/pits provided at each of our locations.

The arts center (next to our parking lot) had

these flags to use when you crossed the street.

SAFETY FIRST.

The gas station where we stopped had a self-serve firewood stand!

I promise he's closing the flap with his foot,

not kicking it.

Back at Gros Ventre, we explored the little river that ran behind our campground (the Gros Ventre River, coincidentally); when we made reservations for the campground, we picked a site that backed up to the river, figuring it would be quieter than others in the park.  I'd also read that we might see moose and other animals heading to the river for a drink each morning.  Did that happen?  You'll just have to wait and see!

Well, something comes through here,

that's for sure.

Peeking at Arlene...

Speaking of animals, in addition to the picnic table and fire ring that are pretty standard at other campgrounds we've visited, Gros Ventre had one other essential piece of equipment:

A BEAR BOX!

Yes, bears are common in this area, so you had to lock up

all food and other smelly things (perfume, detergent, etc.)

every night and when you left the area,

to ensure Yogi and Boo Boo didn't help themselves.

While we used the box for that purpose,

we also found that it was nice and dry inside,

so our camp stove and firewood lived in there, too.

Since we'd just bought that firewood, we tried our best to get a campfire going (how had we camped for three whole nights without any S'mores?!?!?!), but the rain fizzled it out pretty quickly and drove us back into Arlene's warm embrace for the rest of the evening.

We tried!

In the next blog, we head north (again, some more) to the Grandpappy of all the National Parks, Yellowstone!  Old Faithful, here we come!

Later!

Amy