US Road Trip - May 2023 - Day 20

Day 20

We set an alarm for 5 am and checked out of Wagon Wheel Hotel just after 5.30 am - all in the name of looking for bears! We had decided to drive through the park and head out of the South Entrance and yes; we saw a bear - albeit from over half a mile away! We saw the bear spotters from miles away and although we didn’t see a bear with the naked eye, a kindly man with a spotter scope let us look through his and we saw a grizzly and her two cubs! From the South Entrance of Yellowstone, we drove on into Grand Teton National Park and guess what? We saw another bear! There was no time to take pictures. She was on the move too quickly, but it was good to see her.

Our route to Riverton took us through some beautiful countryside and we saw a lot of deer along the way - and a lot of snow!  It amazes me all the time how you can drive for a hundred miles and not see a sign of a house or anything!

We were able to check into the hotel pretty early before we decided to spend the afternoon at Wind River Casino. It seems like that’s where Vegas sends all its old machines to spend their final days. There were a few new ones, but a lot of old favourites too. We had a fun afternoon and didn’t spend very much, which is always good in a casino.

That was it for Riverton really, not much else there, but we had a Subway and hit the sack about 9 pm.

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US Road Trip - May 2023 - Day 19

Day 19

Our last full day in the park and another long and busy day, but so worth it. I’ve loved travelling around Yellowstone and seeing all the scenery and wildlife. Today we went across to Canyon Village and down to West Thumb. Just down from Canyon Village are the Upper and Lower Falls. I have no idea how far down we walked to view the falls, but it was a very, very long way back up! It was spectacular though and retrospectively, I’m pleased we did it!

As we travelled back down towards Old Faithful, it was evident the snow hadn’t melted and there was easily 5 feet at the sides of the road! We watched Old Faithful erupt again and this time the wind wasn’t in the wrong direction, so we could actually see it. A few bison and their calves came to view it with us and definitely got themselves in on the act!

We wandered into West Yellowstone again for dinner and ate at Hank’s Chop Shop. There definitely isn’t a shortage of decent restaurants and bars in this town. We decided that we would get up early the next day and drive through the park and out of the South Entrance before continuing our journey towards Denver. 

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US Road Trip - May 2023 - Day 18

Day 18

Today we were in the park by 9.30 am and headed up to the first half of the top loop via Madison, Norris and Mammoth Hot Springs. It was a beautiful day as the snows continued to melt up on the mountains and the rivers flowed faster. Gibson Falls was outstanding. Check out some of my photos, although they don’t do it justice. We saw a lot more bison, including some really close-up calves which were so cute! We also thought we might be in luck to see a bear, as at one point there were a lot of cars and photographers pulled up along the side of the road. Not a bear this time, but we did see a moose - no great photos though, he was a bit too far away. 

We also saw elk and deer today and bison galore. Dunraven Pass is still closed right now, so we headed partway down Lamar Valley. However, there were roadworks and lots of delays, so we turned round and headed back at this point, arriving back at the hotel just after 4 pm.

After a quick shower and change, we went for a walk into town, wandered around some shops and went for dinner at Pete’s Rocky Mountain Pizza. We had a couple of beers, shared some garlic bread and had a small pizza each. Looked round some more trinkety shops and then walked back to the hotel for a chill out.

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US Road Trip - May 2023 - Day 17

Day 17

Up early (not the best night’s sleep - the mattresses definitely need replacing) and back on the road for the relatively quick journey to Yellowstone National Park and the part of the road trip I have been looking forward to the most. We were quickly within Targhee National Forest where there was still snow amongst the trees and deer peering out from amongst the branches.  Yellowstone is in both Montana and Wyoming and we drove from Idaho to Montana to Wyoming today.

We arrived at West Yellowstone around 10.30 am and headed straight for the West Entrance. It costs $35 entrance fee and you’re good to come and go as you please for 7 days, 24 hours per day. Our plan for the first day was to drive the first half of the bottom loop down to Old Faithful and then back up again. We went via Madison Junction, driving along the banks of Madison River and stopping at a number of places along the way, including the Lower Geyser Basin.

The snows have been melting over the last couple of weeks and all the rivers are a lot fuller than they have been. I love watching them rush over all the rocks as they flow to wherever they are going.

We saw a fair few bison along the drive and as we were walking around Old Faithful, a couple decided they were going to cross the bridge in front of us! They are such huge, amazing creatures and have been in Yellowstone National Park since prehistoric times.

We checked into Wagon Wheel Hotel, which is brand new and seems really comfortable. We headed into West Yellowstone for dinner. A purpose-built town, especially for the tourist trade, but made just like a Wild West town. We went to Bullwinkles, had a couple of beers, a hot dog and burger and just soaked up the atmosphere.

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US Road Trip - May 2023 - Day 16

Day 16

After a restful twelve or so hours sleep (the driver needed it and the passenger didn’t have anywhere else to go) we headed back onto the I15 around 9 am. As we were driving through Salt Lake City, Dave asked me to look at where the shop was for Kindigit Design (Kindig Customs on TV - Google it)! It was literally ten minutes off the freeway, so we made a quick detour. Dave reckons that if he ever has the money, he will get them to custom-design his car! Anyway, he bought a couple of metal plate designs for his collection in his garage and we continued with our journey.

As Utah turned into Idaho, it became flatter and a lot, lot greener, with just miles upon miles of space. There were some flood warnings in place as the temperatures were rising, the snow was melting on the mountains and the rivers were filling fast, but we managed to avoid anything and arrived safely at Hampton Inn & Suites, Rexburg. 

Sarah checked us in and she picked up on where we were from and the UK accent straight away. It turned out that she had spent a year in the UK last year and had stayed for six months in Nuneaton, which is where we moved from in the summer! I couldn’t believe that from a small town in England to a small town in Utah, USA, we found someone who had lived where we had!

Now, I’m sure most of you won’t be aware, but Rexburg is a 95% Mormon town and consequently they don’t drink alcohol or coffee. We were only aware of the alcohol thing as I was reading about it today, but we didn’t know about the coffee until we tried to find a coffee shop! It took us ages, but eventually, we found June’s place. It was a cute little shop, and everyone there seemed a little different. I don’t know enough about the Mormon religion, but I’m assuming that it’s quite traditional and June’s Place very definitely had an LGBTQ+ vibe about it. A little piece of reality just nestling within the town. Plus, the coffee was delicious, even if we did have to wait fifteen minutes for it!

We popped out for a Subway and ate it back in our room whilst watching Shawshank Redemption for the millionth time!

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US Road Trip - May 2023 - Day 15

Day 15

The next part of our road trip begins today as we head off to Lehi in Utah on our way to Yellowstone National Park. You know you’re in America when your sat nav says…’stay on this road for 383 miles’! The majority of the next five hours were spent in the car with coffee and rest stops along the way. 

Today we drove from Nevada, into Arizona and then into Utah and the scenery changes within minutes. From the inhospitable desert and rocky climate in Nevada to the slightly greener Arizona and then into beautiful Utah. I didn’t realise the scenery in Utah was so amazing. I didn’t even glance at my book for the majority of the journey. I was too busy gazing out of the window!

Anyway, we arrived at Hampton Inn & Suites, Lehi around 3 pm and to be honest, that was it for the day. We found a sandwich shop, a bit like Subway, but not as good, and had a very early night!

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US Road Trip - May 2023 - Day 14

Day 14

Our last day in Vegas and despite the 36-degree heat, we walked down to Manderlay Bay first, playing a couple of $20 challenges again in there, Luxor and Excalibur, before heading over to Tropicana. From what we’ve read, they are in the process of selling Tropicana, so I’m guessing by the time we next visit, it will no longer be there. From Tropicana, we walked across to MGM Grand and then back up to Beer Park for a drink and a pretzel. 

By this time it was around 1.45 pm and we wanted to go and see Big Elvis at Harrah’s. Despite the number of times we have visited Vegas, we have never watched him sing. For anyone who wants to while away an hour, it’s a great free thing to do on the strip. He plays every Monday, Wednesday and Friday in the Piano Bar at 2 pm, 3.30 pm and 5 pm. If you get there early enough, you can sit in the bar and order some drinks. If there are no seats left, then don’t worry, you can stand behind him! We both really enjoyed the show, he’s a talented singer and does requests. I requested Suspicious Minds, and he sang that and everyone was singing along for the hours’ show and having a lot of fun.

We had dinner booked at Prime at Bellagio at 7.45 pm. We went here for Dave’s 50th, a few years ago and really enjoyed it. It has changed slightly in the fact that if you want a table on the patio overlooking the fountains, then there is a minimum $175 per person charge. This may seem a lot, but if it’s a special occasion and you don’t mind spending that amount, it’s easily spent. We had one drink each, a starter and a main course a coffee and it came to around $400 with tip. From what I remember from last time, this is definitely an increase of around $50 from last time and the last time we ordered a bottle of champagne! It’s a special experience to sit and watch the fountains from the other side, but for me, there are better steakhouses in Vegas.

We were both really full from dinner and after half an hour playing in Aria; we went to bed.

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