Goin' West in the Westy (1)

We returned last week from a 15-day, 3,400-mile odyssey in our 1986 VW Westfalia from Fort Collins out to the Oregon Coast and back. Whew.

I think I'll go ahead and get with the times to learn how to blog by journaling the trip.

So here goes it...

Day 1 was FC to Yellowstone. It's a pretty good haul with a 5 and 7-year-old, but the kids were troopers.

The route looked something like this:


"Are we there yet?" "No, only 8 more hours to go...today." :)

Stopped for a few pictures on Togwotee Pass, just outside of Grand Teton.



Yellowstone was next. On one hand, I have avoided Jellystone for so long because of the zoo-like crowds and "over-ratedness" (hey, it's my blog, I'll make up words if I want to) of the place, so I was pleasantly surprised at the amazing scenery, wildlife, and the steam exploding into the air on a regular schedule.

On the other hand, the crowds were similar to Disneyland and the driving was kinda crazy (there is a grade-separated freeway-stlye interchange at Old Faithful). I had to wait in a 1/2-hour line just to check in to my previously-reserved campsite.


We saw a mama bear and two cubs crossing the road as we drove out on Tuesday morning. This was very cool on several counts. 1. The kids got a good view. 2. Seeing cubs is always cool. 3. Unlike every other animal we saw in National Parks, there were not yada-yada cars already pulled off the road gawking -- we were actually the only ones who saw them.

The only picture I got is really lousy. But I'm still sort of proud of it because I had to (1) pull over, (2) calm Susie down from the wild-animal-seeing-induced seizure she was having, (3) get my camera out, (4) get my lens cap off, and (5) shoot.