Left Estes Park at 8:45 after dumping gray water and refilling fresh. One of the tips on the sewer hose broke and I ended up dumping a couple of gallons of kitchen sink water on the ground. Glad it wasn't the black water. After getting everything cleaned up we drove to the office, dropped off some postcards and Esther took us back to I25. About a 30 mile trip that took two hours because I was on Esther's case to slow down all the time. She kept looking at me saying "I'm only going 25, and I kept saying I don't care, it's still too fast. She did slow down. I know it is not at 39% grade, but it sure felt like it to a guy who can't stand heights. I only smelled the breaks once the entire trip down, which is a whole lot less that I smelled them when i drove the same route 30 years ago.
Once on I-25, I settled down and enjoyed the vista through upper Colorado and southern Wyoming. We took I-80 across Wyoming until we reached Rawlings, Wy. There we took Us287 to Landers. Road was a good 2 lane with good shoulders. There is one 6% grade down for about 3 miles, but it seemed much less dangerous to me. However, Esther did pamper me by slowing down to a top speed of 35mph. Luckily there was little traffic behind us and they were able to find plenty of opportunities to pass. (She really does love me).
That evening we spent writing this journal. I also finally made reservations for Belle Starr at site C44.
6/15/2010
Left Lander around 9:15am. I drove on US 287 from there to Moran, Wy. Beautiful scenery. Went over a mountain pass with snow all around us. After we were over the pass we got our first sight on the Grand Tetons. Majestic doesn't quite cover the awe we experienced when we first saw them. Seemed like every mile we had to take a scenic turnoff to take pictures as the scenery just got better and better.
We arrived at the Grand Teton Park RV and were assigned a pull thru site that was to have had a great view of the Tetons. The view was actually blocked by trees, but the space next too ours had a clear view. I called to see if we could change and when they arrived to see what the problem was, they informed us that we could not only not have the one next to us, but that the space they put us in was only good for one night. They assigned us to another site which had no view of the Tetons at all. We settled in and then went to drive around the Grand Teton National Park. Stopped at the Church of the Transfiguration which is an Episcopal church built in 1925. It has a great view behind the altar of the Tetons. We then drove to Jenny's lake and got some pictures of the Tetons behind the lake. This is the location where most of the Grand Tetons across a lake are taken. From there we drove down to Jackson, Wy. Downtown sidewalks are still made of wood. A real tourist trap with very expensive goods for sale. I looked at a brown sheep leather sports coat for $995. I did say looked at, not bought. Though Esther thought I looked good in it. We then had $7 coffee and latte. Watched the gunfight between Buffalo Bill and Pawnee Bill. Pretty fake. We looked for a place to eat and after seeing the prices ($12 sandwiches), found a Dairy Queen. I'm almost as cheap as Howard. It was getting near dusk so Esther took over the driving duties and drove us back to the campground. We caught up data and uploaded pictures into photoshop. Tried to put together a blog where we could share our pictures, but wireless service was less than desired, so we caught up on the journal. We are both tired so I bet it won't be long before we go to bed. Our plans are to go to Yellowstone by truck tomorrow morning and spend the day there. We will come back to this campsite again and then go to Yellowstone a second day. Yellowstone is only about 30-40 miles from our current campsite.
Grand Teton National Park
Beautiful shot of the mountains behind the lake!
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