The Great West Trip Part 4

We entered Yellowstone National Park through the East Entrance and began driving through what I would call the mountain area. I had no idea that each part of the park would look so different. Our first stop was at an overlook. We had to stop because the views were spectacular. The pictures don't do it justice.

The obligatory picture at the entrance.

As we made our way through the park, we started to see random buffalo in the fields. There weren't big packs of them in this section but it was a thrill to finally see some.

We saw our first geyser/ hot spring of the day

First buffalo sighting!

We noticed this rather large crow sitting on the roof of the bathroom. It was pretty loud and Robert was able to get rather close to it.

We stopped at Calcite Springs and I walked the path to the overlook. The water was a stunning color.

The steam coming from the side of the river was pretty cool.

See what I mean about the color of the water?

These formations were made by volcanic activity

We were surprised that we hadn't seen as many buffalo as we were expecting. A quick talk with a ranger gave us the information we needed. We drove through what I would call the "plains section" and managed to see a lot of them. Babies, mamas, daddies, and even some pronghorns in the mix.

Buffalo mamas and babies

Pronghorns in the background mixing in with the buffalo

Having our fill of buffalo, we continued on. We stopped at the Albright station at the North Entrance and saw some elk as well as some interesting rock.

We were amazed that these elk were just hanging out in the midst of the visitor's center with a lot of people around

This rock looks like snow cascading down a mountain

In the afternoon we made it to the geyser section (as I call it) which is in the west side of the park. We opted to skip Old Faithful which I think turned out to be a good choice. We aren't crazy about getting in with the crowds and by the look of the line of cars, it was going to be pretty crowded. We stopped at Beryl Springs and got a pretty good idea of what a geyser looks like on a smaller scale and without a lot of people.

Beryl Spring is one of the hottest springs in Yellowstone.

It was named "Beryl" because of the blue-green color of the water reminiscent of the gem beryl.

We stopped at Flood Geyser just as it was finishing its performance. This is one of several geysers in the "flood area" of the park.

I couldn't find this so I'm going on the assumption that it's possible that this area floods since there is a stream/river flowing through this section.

Or maybe it's because it looks like it's flooded. If you know, let me know!

As we made our way to the South exit, we saw a few more geysers/hot springs which were just fantastic to drive through:

Our next mission was to find a place to stay for the night. I had the coordinates of a place to boondock but, surprisingly, Robert wanted to find a campground instead. We stopped at one place and were pretty much told, "Good luck". I checked a campground in the Tetons and, as luck would have it, they had one spot left. We snatched it up right away. It wasn't the best campsite we've ever had, but it gave us a place to park the van.  More on that next time!

I realize how much we missed by doing Yellowstone in one day. This will be one place I want to return to and spend more time. There is so much to see!

The Great West Trip Part 1

For our big trip, we talked about either going north or west. It just happened that the northern US was being pounded by a lot of rain, so we decided to go west. One of the reasons for that decision was that I (Mary) had never been to Utah. I wanted to see Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, and Arches. Plus, I wanted to see some places in Colorado that Robert talked about. We decided that we wouldn't push ourselves and would take our time. We didn't make any reservations except for the Harvest Hosts on the way to the Badlands. 
We made our way out of TN with the first Harvest Host as the first goal. We ended up leaving a day later than expected because of an issue with our cabin air conditioner. We took it by the dealer where we purchased the van only to be told that the battery was okay. I'm not sure if they didn't understand that we knew the battery was okay; it was the AC that needed to be looked at. In hindsight, when Robert bought it, I think he just checked to make sure that it was blowing and not that it was cooling. Anyway, we made the decision to go ahead with the trip without a working AC unit in the cabin; if it was too hot at night we would just get a hotel room. This actually worked extremely well for us. We ended up staying a few nights in hotels but opening the window above the bed and turning on the MaxxAir was all we needed. 
Holt RV Service was our first host. We spent the night of the 4th of July there. They were so very welcoming, even though they had a family party happening that night. We were treated to fireworks and nice conversation. If you're thinking, "Couldn't he have fixed the AC?", the answer is "no" due to the voltage of our AC. 

Nice spot at Holt RV Service

They have a super friendly cat that we had to make sure we didn't take along with us when we left the next day.

The next stop was my sister's house in Missouri, just north of Kansas City. We ended up spending a couple of nights there so I could have my sister time, then headed to the next Harvest Host site in Iowa. Stensland Family Farm is a working dairy farm. We dealt with flies, but it is a dairy farm. The parking was in the parking lot which was very level and quiet. We got a quick tour of how the freeze-dried ice cream was made and were given some samples. There is a small store with a pizza maker, ice cream, and cheese. You pay via the honor system which means if you want to use a credit card you have to make a phone call. They ended up getting a bit of a tip since we didn't have exact change.

View heading toward the farm

View from the front of the van

We parked in the parking lot but it was a quiet night. There was one other camper who came in while we were there.

It's a working dairy farm....you've gotta take a picture with a cow (real or not!)

On to the Badlands! On our previous trip out west we drove past this National Park but didn't actually go into it. This was one place I knew I had to visit and it definitely didn't disappoint. The scenery was breathtaking! We found an amazing place to Boondock, along with about 100 other people. You'll want to make sure you get to this space in the afternoon; if you wait until the evening you won't be able to find the best spot.

The view from our van

We spent 2 nights on the Pinnacles (also called "Badlands Boondocking Area" or "Badlands Boondock Campspot" on Google Maps). The whole drive through the Badlands was just breathtaking. We rode through the "loop" when we got there, found a spot to spend the night, and then spent the next day going back through the park at a much slower pace. We showered at the campground and then headed back to the Pinnacles to find a spot for the night. 

We had been advised to be aware of the wind. We had a young couple in a tent in back of us. Luckily the winds weren't too bad that night and their tent didn't end up against the van. We ended up seeing the couple again a couple of days after that on the interstate to Billings. It was very cool to have someone to wave to when we were so far away from home. 

From the Badlands, we started heading north/northwest. We had the luxury of taking our time deciding where we were going to go next as we drove along. We averaged 4-5 hours of driving each day which was perfect for us. I was already amazed at how beautiful this area of the country is; there was much more to come!

Frisco Woods Campground, NC

When we decided to go to the Outer Banks, Robert initially said he wanted to camp at a National Park Campground. There is no electricity or water at the campsites, and we went in July. So, I was able to convince him that we needed air conditioning. We began online searches to find the right spot, and we're certain we found it.

When we first got there, we registered and went in search of our site. We had a spot reserved right on the Sound. Our little trailer fit, but there was no place to put our canopy, plus the jockey wheel wouldn't come down due to a hole. We rode back to the office and explained our predicament. The Office Staff couldn't have been nicer or more accommodating. (*Note: it is their policy to not give refunds if  you change to a less expensive site.) Within 10 minutes, we were given several sites to take a look at. We ended up with a large site backing up to the marsh.

(View from our site)

Most of the sites are a good size, with plenty of room for even the bigger rigs to put out a canopy.

Did you notice the trees? This is the only campground we saw (beside some of the sites in the Frisco National Park Campground) that has this many trees. Definitely a plus when you're camping in July!
Frisco Woods has sites for every camping need. Sites with full hook-ups, sites with electricity & water but not hook-ups (like ours),  tent sites without water or electricity:

They also have cabins with electricity and air conditioning, but no water:

Included on-site is a canal and a pool (the pool can be seen in the left side of the following pictures).

The pool. The bath house at the pool has been renovated. I didn't take any pictures, but it is pretty nice...and air conditioned!

The other bath houses have decking as the floor. Not nearly as nice, but it gets the job done! They were clean and conveniently located throughout the campground.

There is a dishwashing station (very important to us!) at the bath house.

Pets are welcome. There are "doggie stations" conveniently located through out the grounds. Most of the campers were very conscientious about picking up after their dog.
Frisco Woods is a very family friendly campground. There is a very small playground. (I didn't get a picture because when we went by there were children playing on the swings.) There is also a pavilion of sorts right next to the playground.

There is an amazing camp store. It has almost anything you could possibly need from souvenirs to wine & beer to bug spray to sunscreen to snacks to ice and grocery essentials.

If they don't have it, there's a market just down the street.

Other amenities include laundry facilities (coin-operated), gas refill, kayak rentals, and free air refill (which is great for refilling your tires after you get off of the beach). There is also wi-fi, but it was really slow. We were able to get 4G on our cell phones, so our hotspot was on a lot.
Every night, some of the campers went to "the point" to see beautiful sunsets.

Of course, some campers didn't have to go anywhere to see the sunset!

 We were extremely happy with this campground. In summary: good-sized sites with options (electricity, water, hook-ups...all as needed), pet-friendly, family-friendly, nice clean bath houses, amazing camp store, trees, and a place to watch beautiful sunsets. All this, and it's conveniently located to Ramp 49 which gives you beach access!

If you plan on camping there, the only recommendation we would have is to make sure you take bug spray and tiki torches. We took citronella candles & citronella stakes but couldn't use them...it was too windy.
To view their website, click here.