On the road again - grand teton/yellowstone national park

Rawlins proved to be an enlightening spot. The woman running the front desk of the RV park gave me some great insights to the oil industry and our government. Her husband works for an oil company and has been drilling holes in the Wyoming area for some time. Through his research and discovery, he has found enough oil to keep the US going for generations to come, if we chose that form of energy. The issue is in the government closing the refineries down and not processing the oil. I don't understand all the why's, how's and intentions, but I can say I believe a good investigative reporter would have a great story here.

The ride on the way to Grand Teton was nothing short of awe-inspiring. The beauty and different colors of the mountains is just mind blowing. I hadn't had experiences looking at so many natural beauties, so the fact that mountains come in so many different colors was news to me. I stopped the motor home a few times just to take it in and get a couple of video clips.

I stayed in Grand Teton National Park for the first time without hookups. For those who have not traveled in an RV, it is a learn as you go experience and you get to have revelations and discoveries when you least expect them. In this case I got to learn the balance between using battery power and running a generator. You see batteries only last so long and the generator is needed to recharge as well as run things the batteries can't. No drama, just a class in RV Travels 101.

At this point the weather took a drastic turn to cold and dismal. I had no idea that winter in some parts of our country comes so early. I was just miserable. No more leisure strolls outside to enjoy nature. Even connecting to people was difficult since there weren't people strolling. I was guided to check out Jackson Hole, a busy tourist town with an overabundance of art galleries. If you are into art this is the place for you. I like to connect to people, so my mission was to see who I was supposed to talk to. I did have to walk the cold drizzling streets and manage to meet two 20 year old women. We sat outside, out of the rain and discussed our country. They shared their views on what they perceived to be the future. They were quite frank about their views and how they believed people were destroying the country as well as the world and that they had lost hope as to how to live their lives fully. The age old question "what am I here for," almost seemed fruitless. They did not believe any of us would be here that much longer. I attempted to reassure them that their generation had an important role to play in cleaning up some of the disasters that have been created and to create a new way of living with more respect for our earth environment. It was an eye opening experience to see their perceptions of the world, as well as disappointing to know they had lost hope. 

Due to the weather, I did not get to really tour Grand Teton and decided to move on to Yellowstone. As I approached the park, the weather seemed hopeful, with the sun coming out and the park busy with tourists. I first stopped at Old Faithful. I parked the RV and followed the masses to outdoor seating and waited for the show to begin. Old Faithful has regular eruptions throughout the day for us humans to witness. I have to admit, it is comical to watch people running from their cars to get a seat and wait for water to shoot 100 ft in the air. Hearing everyone ooooh and ahhhhh was actually funny. When it's over everyone just gets up and walks away.

Up to this point I hadn't felt real touristy because most areas into September have slowed down. I was informed the this was slow for Yellowstone, and that the summer is just a zoo. I was grateful to have missed the summer circus. On my way to Madison, still within Yellowstone, I stopped at many beautiful sites and got some great pictures. I stayed at another park without hookups and needed the heat. It had dropped into the thirties, and this sun loving boy was quite in shock.

I did meet some other wonderful people while touring the many locations within Yellowstone. The one man that will stay strong in my memory was a German Army General who was on an exchange program and in the states to train our troops. He was very wise and had some clear insights to our government and the Bush administration. I was the perfect investigative reporter and we were both very grateful we met and had the opportunity to talk. Just another example of you never know who you are going to meet.

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