The road to the Grand Teton's

This morning, August 16, we left Aberdeen at 8:30 and headed for the Grand Teton’s to meet up with our friends Ron and Jane. It sure is nice driving this time of the year with the wheat fields being harvested, the hay being cut and the tall corn still green with the white tassels. We also drove past a lot of sunflower fields in full bloom with their yellow heads turned towards the sun.



We drove most of the way on US 212, crossing the Missouri River at Gettysburg, SD.



Summertime always seems to be road construction time. We managed to hit about 15 miles of fresh tar and gravel near Eagle Butte, SD. You guessed it, the front of the truck and the back of the motorhome were full of tar. When we arrived in Spearfish, SD we stopped at the Elkhorn Ridge RV Park Resort for the night.

The next morning as we were starting to disconnect the water system, I noticed that there was some red fluid on the ground under the motorhome. A closer look confirmed my first thought that it was engine coolant. After getting under the coach and analyzing the situation I figured it was a loose hose clamp. But as my luck has been lately, it was buried behind a metal shield that was there to protect the bottom of the radiator. An hour later we were ready to hit the road. As long as I had the shield off, I tightened up 6 more clamps that I could see. Our first part of today’s travel was on I-90 west from Spearfish. I took this picture as we were approaching the Bighorn Mountains.



In Buffalo, WY we caught US 16 which took us over Powder River Pass at 9,666 feet. The next picture is taken after the pass in Tensleep Canyon.



When we got to Worland we headed south on US 20. After Thermopolis we passed through the Wind River Canyon.



This looks like an area we might come back to visit sometime. From there we headed to Riverton, WY for the night. We don’t think we need to spend any more time than just an overnight stop in this town again.
The morning of the 18th we left Riverton heading to Gros Ventre Campground 6 miles north of Jackson, WY in the Grand Teton National Park. We followed US 26 the whole way. We did go through Togowotee Pass, which is also the Continental Divide, at 9,658feet.



After the pass we ran into several miles of more road construction. At least this time tar was not involved.





Sandy decided to take a picture of me relaxing behind the wheel.



I spent the next couple of days cleaning tar off the truck and motorhome.

This morning, Sunday the 24th, Sandy, Jane and I went on a walk to Taggart Lake so we could get some pictures of the Grand Teton’s with their reflections in the lake.
On the way over there we had to stop for a herd of buffalo that was heading to their watering hole.



Later a group of elk passed in front of us.



The trail to the lake was a moderate 3.2 mile round trip, Jane had her hand on the bear spray all the way up and back. Well, maybe she wasn’t holding the bear spray, but she sure did not leave home without it. The views were beautiful on the way up the trail.



Here are three pictures taken at Taggart Lake.







This is one of the walks that should be taken before 8:00 AM or earlier so you can get the morning sun and beat the crowds.

We left Gros Ventre on Monday the 25th and headed up to West Yellowstone, MT. While still in The Grand Teton’s we stopped at an old Mormon homestead that was established in the 1910’s. Now here's a home with a view?.






Dave and Sandy