~ September 2009 ~

Wednesday - 09 September 2009

About 9:00 AM, myself and my daughter Tamra and our two silky pups, Gracie and Scooby, headed back home to Yellowstone. Carlene was still working at the Mammoth Clinic, so she was in the park but not quite enjoying the park as much as we were. It was just time for a break and to get back to my roots, so we headed up for the day just to enjoy being together and being in Yellowstone.

We had nice weather and made good time driving to the park. There was about five miles of construction in the northern part of Island Park as the state was widening the road and putting in a passing lane. I know that this will be greatly appreciated by future visitors to Yellowstone. We entered the park about 10:30 AM and saw ducks and geese on the Madison River and a few folks fly fishing. We did not see the bald eagles on the nest on this trip. There were elk and bison in the meadows but not as many as usual. Probably back in the trees or just over the hillside.

We made our way to the Madison River Picnic Area to take pictures and video. There were a number of campgrounds that I wanted to visit and take photos and video of for the web site. So, after we were finished at Madison River, we headed east to Madison Campground to take pictures and video. We arrived at the campground just before noon and headed out about 12:30 PM. There were a few bison in the meadows at the wildlife pullout just before Madison Campgrounds. It was a nice day and we had good weather the whole time.

Next we headed south to Lewis Lake Campgrounds. We arrived at the campground and picnic area at 1:30 PM. Lewis Lake is a lot bigger than I had thought. It is a very beautiful area and campground. We made our way around the campground and area and enjoyed it very much. We are planning on camping here next year. It is more of a primitive campground with a few places to get water and pit toilets, but that is okay. At 2:20 PM I finished filming and we were back on the road.

Grant Village Campground was our next destination. We arrived at 2:33 PM. Grant Village is a nice campground and there were mostly RVs there at this time of the year. It was after Labor Day and off season but the weather had been nice and folks were still camping and enjoying Yellowstone. It is a large campground and we tried one time to camp here but there was too much bear activity in the area and they would not allow tent camping at that time. From that time on we camped further north in the park, not because of bears but because the campgrounds were closer to the things we wanted to see and enjoy.

By 3:10 PM we were back on the road and heading home. We saw the regular wildlife on the way out, bison, elk, ducks and geese. No bears or wolves but that's okay, what we did see, we enjoyed.

We had to get back to Rexburg to film and watch Rachel and the senior class play the juniors in powder puff football. The seniors won, 18 to 12, but the officiating was absolutely horrible!

These girls take this game seriously. And I am so glad they won. It made it much easier to live with Rachel. Just kidding!

Until the next time my friends, enjoy the great outdoors and all that is around you with family and friends! Keep smiling, laugh much, and enjoy life.