Yellowstone, Tetons and Flaming Gorge

Here are some pictures of me at Yellowstone and Tetons. It was sunny and cold at the instant this picture was taken at Yellowstone. Later that afternoon, we saw rain, snow, hail, very gusty wind, thunder and lightning. Crazy weather.




Sirhc at Mammoth Hot Springs.


Amy at Mammoth Hot Springs.


Our campsite at Mammoth Hot Springs. On the phone with Mike.


Standing next to the Oregon Trail.


Our campsite at Grand Tetons - Colter Bay Campground. S'mores!


Our island picnic site at the Tetons.



All of the animals on the island.


Canoeing on Jackson Lake - Tetons.


It's still winter there....


Okay, now to the interesting part of our journey this week. We went to Flaming Gorge Canyon and stayed at Fire Hole Canyon Campground. The place was nearly deserted. Only us and 2 or 3 other campers for 3 days. It was a beautiful site. No cell service, but still good. I declared after only an hour at this site, that it was my favorite place yet. How quickly things can change.

This is the view from our site.


Here I am with all of our animal crew. Teton the Bear, Sirhc the Frog, Dokie the Prairie Dog, and Guardian Flubs the Buffalo. All loved and wanted harmless little creatures.


A Mouse in my House:
At Yellowstone we were so cautious with the bears. At Flaming Gorge we were out of bear country and could finally relax a bit. Until we saw the chipmunks. They were the size of squirrels - FAT and very aggressive. They would jump up on the picnic table - one even jumped into the car landing on Dad's foot, then ran all the way through the back of the car. Dad chased it out, luckily. Well, those were the annoying daytime critters. Nighttime critters are worse. Our first night in the Gorge, Dad set up the tent and slept there. I decided I would sleep in the car. I read for a bit before falling asleep. But I kept hearing noises. Am I crazy? No, I hear plastic bags rustling. And it's in the car. I turned on the light and look down to the plastic bag with the chocolate in it, and looking back at me is a mouse. He's staring at me. I stare back. It's 3:00 in the morning, every is sleeping. No, I didn't scream or jump or panic. I opened the door - asked nicely if Mr. Mouse could please leave. Nope, he didn't leave. He started racing all over the car. Going in and out of nooks and crannies I didn't even know existed. I tried hitting him with an umbrella. He's too fast for that. I decided to call in the reinforcement (Dad) before this mouse ate all of our food. He tried to catch it, coax it out. Anything. No go. After awhile (almost an hour) we decided to move all the food to the tent with my Dad (definitely not a move to make in bear country - but we were clearly in rodent country now). I got back in the car, with the mouse, and tried to go back to sleep. I put on my iPod and cinched tight my mummy sleeping bag. I waited until dawn to empty the car of everything else in search of the mouse and it's hiding places. Last I saw it was staring at me from the driver's seat around 5 am. I didn't sleep much that night. After the car was emptied and the mouse couldn't be found, I put my sleeping bag back in the car and slept for a few hours. No sign of the mouse. The next night, we had a plan. We figured the mouse would be back. We packed the food in mouse-proof bags, and I moved to the tent with all of my stuff. My Dad would sleep in the car and try to capture the mouse. He set up bait in bags and had a plan. The mouse came back, and he spent most of the night almost catching the mouse. From 10 pm to 5 am. No sleep for him. I, in the tent, spent the night sleeping and occasionally waking up to knock the rodents off the outside walls of the tent. Yup, they were trying to climb the tent. Crazy rodents. As of this moment we don't know if the mouse just visited the car at night and then left or if it has taken up residence in a little mouse-sized place we can't find. I picked up all the mouse traps I could find at the grocery store and we'll set them tonight. We're sleeping in the tent though. No more sleepless nights for me. Flaming Gorge is a nice place to stop, take a few pictures and then leave. DON'T SPEND THE NIGHT. Mary and Karen also have a mouse in their motor home. I wonder if the campground was empty cause everybody that goes there finds their car infested with mice? Anyway, death to mice.



Me! And our animals.