Yellowstone Vacation – Getting There

It seems like every year we find ourselves with some WorldMark vacation points to use, but all the great places have already been booked. Last year, we decided to change that and we planned ahead. In August (thirteen months in advance), we booked a week in West Yellowstone, Montana.

But in the game of life, plans change. In April of this year, my income situation changed dramatically; i.e. it went to $0. I spent months trying to remedy this, but to no avail. Finally, regrettably, we decided it was time to change our Yellowstone plans. So instead of West Yellowstone, we used our points at Daytona Beach.

As I said earlier, life has a way of going in unexpected directions. In August, I was deeply involved in an internal debate about my future career plans. I was this close to going back to flight school to pursue a career above the clouds when I got a call to come in for an interview at Northrop Grumman. I decided to go to the interview and see what they had to offer. Remarkably, a few weeks later, they made me an offer and I accepted. Even more remarkably, they didn’t want me to start until early October. Well, that got my wheels turning. What could we do during that full month before starting my new job? Smoky Mountains? Canada? Or maybe even Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons?

With Andrew’s planning enthusiasm and expertise, we put together a proposal and presented it to Susan. Susan liked the options and was easily persuaded. We called Mom and discussed our options. She had plans for early September, but was open after that. She needed to work some dog-sitter magic first, but then she was onboard too. The decision was made: we were going to Yellowstone!

Just after 4:00 AM on Friday, September 19, we hooked up the tiny U-Haul trailer to the back of the trusty CR-V and began the road trip of a lifetime.

Early morning departure

Our first destination was Toronto, Ohio. At just over 1,000 miles, that’s a dark-to-dark trip of at least 16 hours. We made the trip with no problems.

Saturday, we took the day off to rest for the next two legs and to hang out with family. We did a little shopping, too, since we left the Yellowstone book that we borrowed from the library on the back of our couch at home. While shopping for a guide book of our own, we met a former Pittsburgh Steeler player at the bookstore. We talked for a while and he signed a book for us. I knew my cousin would love getting this for Christmas.

Sunday came and we were back on the road. With Jackson, Wyoming 1,800 miles to the west, we decided to split the distance and spend one night in a motel. We chose Omaha, Nebraska for no other reason than, well, it was almost exactly half way.

The early drive through Ohio was very familiar up towards Cleveland. We passed through some occasional showers along the way. Indiana passed by quickly, and then we entered Illinois.

Andrew did all the route planning and told me that he wanted to see Lake Michigan. He found a park just a few miles off the Interstate, and it was just the right mileage for a planned fuel stop, so we stopped for a break to see the lake. It was chilly and breezy, and we saw mills to the east and west, and Chicago off in the distance about 25 miles to the northwest.

Mom and Andrew at Lake Michigan (Chicago in the distance)

The interstate in Illinois was very congested for miles around Chicago. Finally we reached the Mississippi River and entered Iowa. All I can remember about Iowa was farmland. Surprisingly, I didn’t see nearly as much windmill construction activity as I did back in 2008, when we were traveling the same highway in the opposite direction.

We arrived in Omaha after dark. We crossed the Missouri River, but couldn’t see it. But I could see Kenefick Park, a Union Pacific tourist attraction along the north side of the highway. On the left was an EMD DDA40X Centennial and on the right was a Big Boy. Unfortunately, It was too late to stop and look. I found this picture on the Internet.

Union Pacific monument

On Monday morning, we pushed on towards Jackson, Wyoming. Nebraska, oh my goodness, is too big. The highway goes on and on and on, in a nearly perfect straight line for 100 miles out of Lincoln. At least the speed limit was 75 mph, but then, it’s hard to go that fast in the CR-V with a trailer in tow. And it sure doesn’t help the gas mileage!

Interstates 76 and 80 split at the northeast corner of Colorado. We continued along I-80 towards Cheyenne, promising ourselves we’d go through Colorado on the way back.

Wyoming offered immediate relief from the monotonous terrain of Nebraska. We crossed the state line and the scenery changed completely. All of a sudden there were hills, with pine trees and rock outcroppings!

Panorama at Pine Bluffs Rest Area

At the rest area, we picked up a map (we lost Internet access, so Google Maps was not much help anymore) and discussed our options. Andrew’s route was the fastest, but it crossed a large desert area. The longer route passed through the mountains. Since it was getting late and would be dark soon, we decided to go the short route and save the mountain route for the return trip.

Taking a break at the rest area

The final hours into Jackson were tough and bizarre. We were all tired and there was really nothing to see. And darkness, like you can not imagine unless you’ve seen it yourself. Complete blackness, except for the glow of the high beams. The desert gave way to forest as we entered the Gros Ventre Wilderness. Now it started to rain and we had to deal with turns and hills. The lack of objects to see almost felt like being in a state of vertigo. Were we going up or down? Only the pressure on the gas pedal provided a clue. This went on and on for miles.

Finally we entered Jackson; civilization at last. It was still raining and extremely dark, but there was at least something to see. We headed away from town, across the Snake River, toward Jackson Hole Resort. Then we past by the strangest message board I’ve ever seen. The highway sign was cycling a message about moose on the road and something about a moose-vehicle collision! I really just wanted to check in, get our keys, and hit the sack, and NOT hit a moose.

When we reached the resort, we had no idea where to check in. Our first guess was wrong, but they pointed us in the right direction. We drove to the correct building, but it was closed for the evening. Susan looked around and thankfully found a sign about late check-in. She went inside and retrieved an envelope with our keys and a map of The Aspens. We drove back the way we came – back into moose crossing country – and found the condo.

But we weren’t finished yet. The parking lot near the condo was full and we had a trailer to deal with. I decided to park along the tennis court and take up three spots and deal with it in the morning. We quickly unpacked only what we absolutely needed, went inside, and went to bed.

TO BE CONTINUED…