Pivot

Since our trip started a little over 2 months ago, we have been very lucky that we really haven't had to make too many changes. ( knock on wood) . We have learned that with RV living, a lot can happen to change travel plans. RV repairs, truck repairs, weather- but overall so far so good for us. 🤞🏼

I am sure by now everyone heard what happened to Yellowstone National Park. 😩 When we were in Glacier there was a lot of rain in that area, and throughout southern Montana. Even our guide from our ebike tour had said he never has seen the rivers as high as they were in Glacier. Our last day in Glacier they even started closing a few trails because of flooding. Then, the next day they announced that Yellowstone was closed and all the reports started coming in showing the terrible flooding and damages. Yellowstone officially announced they were closing until further notice on Monday, June 13th and we were already heading that direction. We planned to be in Yellowstone Wednesday the 15th until 21st. We were so bummed and weren't sure if we should change our plans around. This was definitely the park that Dean was looking the most forward to and was our last national park of the trip. We called where we were staying in West Yellowstone , and they said that every thing was fine in that area. So, we decided to still head there and just see what happens. There were still things to do and see outside the park and just maybe they would open the West Gate before we left, as most of the damages were on the North side. We decided to make the best of it. The drive into West Yellowstone was so pretty. I took some nice scenic shots along the way.

The Rv park we are staying at, Yellowstone Grizzly Rv Park, is really nice. We have a beautiful lot backing into the forest, the park is super clean with nice amenities, and it's a super cute town with everything is very close. The first night we arrived Dean made dinner. ( Dean has really become the 'chefboyarDEAN' during this trip ) and enjoyed our fire pit to keep warm. It was supposed to drop down into the 30's that night. 🥶 It is so crazy to think that it's mid June and we are experiencing these cooler temperatures, but we are really enjoying the change from the South Florida summer heat.

The next day we were able to see Grizzly Bears in Yellowstone!! It was in a refuge center, and not IN the national park...but still! It was cool to see these bears and wolves up close. After that, we went for a drive along a dirt road to a lake for some beautiful scenery. We met Paul, who was riding his 4 wheeler along the road we were exploring. We chatted with him a bit. He is from Minnesota and bought land right by the lake we were on where he has his camper. He will be building his retirement home on it in a few years. SO cool. Dean offered to help him build it. ( any excuse to stay in Montana now! lol) Friday afternoon we went to Harriman State Park for a 5 mile hike around a lake through meadows and forest. Then, we went for dinner and drinks at a local bar, The Buffalo Bar that had great food and a huckleberry lemonade vodka drink that was…yum!! I waited to see if a Dutton would show up and hang with us. No such luck yet!

Since we didn't know if we were going to be able to see Yellowstone National Park, we decided to get up extra early Saturday morning (3am) to take the 3 hour drive down to Grand Tetons National Park. It wasn't in the original plan, but as Ross would say...."Pivot!!!" 😆. If you don't know that reference, sorry. You must binge watch Friends. Stay tuned to see if the 3am drive to Tetons was worth it!? And do we make it into Yellowstone National Park after all?! 🤔 Time will tell.