Bailey's journey ended this evening

Sadly, Bailey ended her journey through our lives this evening. After twelve years with us traveling all over the country in a Winnebago, Airstream, 5th wheel, and Tiffin motorhome, she finally reached the end of her road. Bailey was the best dog a family could ever ask for and she left this world lying on her favorite sofa in the family room after a great meal of cheeseburgers.

This blog will remain as a memory of one of her early travels with us. She loved everyone she met.

Goodbye Bailey ...

Day 14 - Last full day drive

Got up before dawn in Davenport, took a shower, got dressed, and took Bailey out for a walk. Dry camping at the Walmart is kind of fun, but it's really interesting the strange activities that go on after midnight. Groups of kids appear with their cars, rev engines, and play loud music. Delivery trucks come and go -- guess the drivers sleep during the day. Great job for a vampire!

We bought gas at the Walmart station before we headed out to put another 575 miles on the car and trailer. We were taking I-70 this time, planning to go through Indianapolis and on to Columbus to Zanesville, Ohio for our final night. Hit a lot of construction through Indianapolis. In fact, it seems every time we go through that city, they are working on the highways. It's starting to seem like Chicago. ;-)

Got to Zanesville around 7:15. Checked into a nice campground way off in the woods called Wolfie's. We only have about 5 hours to go Saturday, so we'll take our time and get out around 8:00.

Looking forward to getting home after two great weeks on the road.


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Location:N River Rd,Zanesville,United States

Days 12 & 13, You aren't a real RV'er until you've camped overnight in a Wal Mart parking lot

We got out of Colter Bay around 6:45 and headed south toward Jackson. We decided to take the southern (and longer) route to avoid the muddy construction on Togwotee Pass to the east of the Park. By the time we ended our day in Ogallala, Nebraska, it was 8:00 PM and 650 miles later. We used the self check-in at the RV park there. Only $29 and we got a pull-through so we didn't have to disconnect the car. Next morning we found a Starbucks in North Platte for a much-needed morning beverage and headed east.

We didn't have a reservation for the night on Thursday, so we decided to drive as far as we could and then look for the closest Wal Mart that would let us park in their lot overnight. We made it to Davenport, Iowa around 9:00 PM (630 miles this day). Ann Sue used an app she bought for her iPad that looked up the closest Wal Mart and whether or not they allowed overnight parking. The app is called All Stays Camp and RV, and really is a great help. Once in the lot, I went inside and spoke with the greeter to ask for the manager. He got her on the radio and we got permission to stay overnight. I picked up some supplies for the trip, including some of Wal Mart's delicious cinnamon bread from their bakery. Friday we are headed to Zanesville, Ohio after we hit the closest Starbucks in Davenport on our way out.



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Day 11 - String Lake

We wanted to go back to String Lake to complete the circuit hike around the lake. So, today we had breakfast at the Pioneer Grill at Jackson Lake Lodge again, and then headed over to String Lake. We started on the western end of the trail and followed it around the south side of String Lake and along the western side northward. After about 1.9 miles we reached the fork that took us the remaining 1.8 miles around The north end of String and back to the trail head.

This is one of the most scenic hikes in the Park. Views of String and Leigh Lakes as well as amazing closeups of the Tetons are accessible around the lake. Here are some of the highlights.














We got back to the Twinkie and took Bailey for a walk along the lake (or as close as the Park Service allows dogs), then came back and began breaking up camp so we could get out early tomorrow morning.

We were chatting with a couple next door in a 34 foot motorhome and ended up having a couple bottles of wine and hot dogs for dinner with them. They were from Santa Clara, California.

We'll get up early tomorrow and try to be on the road by 7:00 so we can get through Jackson before any stores are open and traffic picks up. Plan to head south through Jackson on 191 to I-80 and then east to our stop in Ogallala.


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Day 10 - Return to Jackson

Slept in this morning. After I got dressed and took Bailey for a walk, I ran down to catch the last glimpse of sunrise against the Tetons.


After the photos, I had to take a propane tank to be filled. It does get a bit chilly at night, so the propane goes more quickly.

We left the Twinkie around 10:30 for Jackson. Along the road into Jackson, there are a lot of scenic opportunities. It was a bit hazy from the ongoing fire southwest of Jackson, but we got some nice shots across the Snake River.






We got to Jackson around 11:30 and headed to Albertson's for some groceries. Bought gas and took the Sequoia through the car wash. Then we headed over to Mountain High Pizza Pie for lunch. It's still the best pizza ever!


We sat out on the deck and had our pizza. Temps were around 65, so it was pleasant. After lunch we drove up to Teton Village to check out the tram ride. It's pretty much a high end tourist trap. We didn't even do the tram ride as it was $29 per person! The drive out to Teton Village turned out to be fortuitous because we decided to take the alternate route back to the Park going through Moose and up a narrow road toward Jenny Lake. Along the way we saw a moose beside the road.

When we got back to the Twinkie, Bailey was waiting for a walk, then we had a snack and rode our bikes up to the store and got an ice cream cone. We had a little thunder shower, but it seems all storms are short and pass with little rain. It will probably be completely dry by morning.

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Day 9 - Check out some other lodges in the park

Today's plan was to take our time, get up and enjoy breakfast, then drive down to Signal Mountain Lodge and Jenny Lake Lodge to see how they compared to Jackson Lake Lodge. At Signal Mountain Lodge, they had a really nice shop with local products. Signal Mountain Lodge is also a demonstration site for sustainable and eco-friendly products. They get much of their power from wind farm electricity.






Signal Mountain Lodge has a very nice bar, grill, and restaurant. We were there at 11:30 so we decided to have lunch at the grill. We had the Nachos Mountain -- delicious! Brought some back with us and Bailey enjoyed some of the chicken and ground beef. We've decided that the Grand Tetons concessionaire does such a good job we'd come back here and stay again. This time we'd eat out more!






After lunch, we drove down to Jenny Lake Lodge. On the way, we stopped along a scenic drive for some photos of the Tetons across Jenny Lake.





Jenny Lake Lodge area is very small -- the smallest of the lodges in the Park we think.

Headed back to the Twinkie and Chris vacuumed the floors and sofas, then we sat outside in the screened tent with Bailey, talking to the neighbors.

Weather today started out in the low 40s, partly cloudy. It cleared off later in the morning, although there was a brief light shower while we were driving to Signal Mountain even though the sun was out. We could see the cloud moving over the Grand Teton as it approached us and dropped a little rain. That went away quickly, and we had clear to partly cloudy skies and temps around 72 for the afternoon. Finally had a little thundershower right after sunset. Captured some interesting shots just before the rain.

Day 8 - Laundry Day

Nothing planned for this morning other than laundry. It's pretty crowded in the laundromat. Looks like we will be here for a couple hours. After, we will try a short hike before we go to dinner in the Mural Room at Jackson Lake Lodge.

Decided to do the String Lake trail. String Lake is a narrow (obviously) lake just north of Jenny Lake and connected to Leigh Lake further north. The circuit hike we were taking goes around the lake. There are some good views of Mt. Moran and it's glacier. Here are some photos from the hike.










After the hike, we went back to the Twinkie and took Bailey for a long walk. Then we headed out to Jackson Lake Lodge to have a drink at the bar overlooking the Tetons before dinner. Dinner in the Mural Room was excellent. Took some nice treats back to Bailey who was eagerly awaiting our return.

Oh, and the weather was excellent! High was around 75 with clear skies. The low this morning was around freezing according to the weather reports in the Tetons, but the thermometer we have outside only registered 45.

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Location:Colter Bay Village Rd,,United States