Yellowstone Park

September 21- 22: We saw lots of horses and black angus cows in Montana. The drive down highway 89 was gorgeous. We saw antelope and fenced bison. I guess you would call them farm raised. Saw a few hawks, red tail and rough legged hawk. The road went alongside the Yellowstone River It is the longest free flowing river in the US. We followed it right into Yellowstone National Park. Of course, we had to drive through the Teddy Roosevelt stone archway. The park seems to be run by concessionaires. They are very efficient, but not as happy and cheerful as volunteers or seasonal rangers. We got in on my Golden Age Passport Card, this is a wonderful card.

Stopped at Mammoth Hot Springs, and then headed for the only campground that wasn’t full and would take reservations. Stopped along the way for a close up encounter with a few bison. They walked down and into the turnout where we were parked. They went by Escape To not two feet from my window.

When we got to our campground, it was a disappointment. No picnic table, no fire pit, no electric, and water pressure that spiked to 100PSI. You needed a pressure reducer to connect to the water. The worst part of all was the no generators until 8AM rule. Therefore, no coffee till then.

Next morning we had our coffee at 8AM and went to look at the next campground. If it had been the same we were leaving the park. It was actually quite nice with fire ring and trees that separated the sites.


Yellowstone Lake by our campsite

Went to Old Faithful and spent most of the day in that area. We saw Old Faithful erupt, as well as numerous geysers and some beautiful boiling pools. It is a very strange landscape, but very intriguing.

Old Faithful

Even Yellowstone Lake has some thermal activity. This activity causes some open areas in the ice during the winter. The otters take advantage of these holes. I felt very rough after dinner and went to bed a 8 PM. I guess it,s too much vacation or too much hiking in this altitude. We plan to go on to Grand Tetons and Jackson WY tomorrow. Time is getting tight.

Back in USA

September 20: It started out raining so we did not linger. We just kept driving and crossed the border with no problems. Took about 2 minutes, only questions were where are you from and how long have you been in Canada. The first question seems strange as they have our passports in their hands. Observation: Canadian customs agents are very friendly and pleasant. US customs officials are not warm and fuzzy but very business like and curt.


The day cleared up after crossing the border. Now we understand the slogan “big sky country” for Montana. They were cutting wheat and bailing hay, a pretty picture with these huge gorgeous blue skies. We are camping in Lewis and Clark National Forest. Typical NFS campground. Edna met a couple from Helena and their cat Spot. He is a seasoned camper and has been all over the country, including Virginia. It feels good to be back in the lower forty-eight.

Tomorrow we should be in Yellowstone National Park.

End of the Alcan Highway

September 19: Left the campground late as we were working on the blog and making postcards for the grandchildren to mail from Canada. It rained all day and we drove all day.


We did see a Swainson Hauk and lots for flocks of geese overhead as we drove thru Canadian horse country. We drove by a town that was hosting Alberta Provincial Horse Trials. I didn’t stop as it was raining very hard.

Every town has a large RV dealership that are well stocked and a rodeo. Seems everybody has and RV or horse or both. Stopped at Park Lake Provincial Park for the evening which had a nice lake, and as it stopped raining we walked to the lake and took a few pictures.

September 18: Today was mostly driving. Drove by bison, elk, horse, lama and alpaca farms along the road. Stopped at Dawson Creek at mile post monument 0 on the Alaskan Highway and said goodbye to the Alcan. Stopped to photo Beaverlodge big beaver. We had lunch at Williamson Provincial Park beside Sturgeon Lake. Saw some ducks and geese on the lake.

As we got closer to Edmonton we realized that commercial campgrounds were few and far between. We wanted wifi and to wash cloths tonight. Ended up a Glowing Embers near the Edmonton Mall (largest in the world), it was very nice and professional. The laundry was the most reasonable we have used to date.