On August 17th we left Lander, Wyoming and drove
across to the Grand Teton Mountains. We passed through another small town named
Dubois, with the classic western look that made you feel like you were in an
old movie. The main road cut right through the center of town, and I regret not
stopping and walking around. I was so close to the Tetons though- I couldn’t
waste any time! Continuing down the road, it winded in between red rock hills,
and I caught myself looking up houses for sale on Zillow J It was just so pretty!
(It’s super expensive to live there, go figure)
I hadn’t looked up a picture of the mountains in a long time;
I just knew they were spectacular. One of those places you don’t need to remind
yourself of why you’re going – and there’s no doubt that you want to go. So
when I saw smaller, yet still huge, grey, rocky mountains, I thought I had
arrived. My GPS said I was still 45 minutes away, and I knew I was camping on
an adjacent mountain, so I thought maybe I was looping around to the other side
of them. I was disappointed because there was no snow on the mountain, but it
was still incredible. Needless to say, I was totally shocked when we came
around a bend and the actual Teton Mountains were towering in front of me. I
actually yelled, “HOLY SHIT!” at the sight of them. I had to remind myself to breathe, and pinch myself to make sure I
wasn’t sleeping. I have never, ever seen such an incredible sight.
The best part about that sight was that I got to look at it
for the next week! I had searched for weeks trying to find the best boon
docking site nearby with a view of the mountain, and boy did I find it. It was on
public land off of a forest road that wound up a pretty steep hill. (It was
really more of a mountain, but compared to the Tetons, it was a tiny, miniscule
hill) It was a dirt road, but it was kept in pretty good condition. At the base
of the hill, there was a clearing with a good amount of campers set up. I had
read about this campsite, but I knew there was a better view up top, so I
headed down the narrow, overgrown road. Luckily I did not meet any other cars
while towing up, because most of the road was too narrow to fit two cars, and
you couldn’t see that far ahead. When I reached the top I found another large
group of campers. At first I felt bad parking so close to the RV next to me,
but with it being the week of the solar eclipse, I knew I wasn’t that close.
Sure enough, over the next few days a ton of campers packed in.
A few of the sites lined the edge of the clearing and had
the best views. Luckily everyone camping in those spots were incredibly
friendly and welcomed me to sit with them and soak in the view. We were right
across from the Teton’s and I couldn’t have asked for a better location. I just
can’t emphasize enough how amazing the mountain range was. There had been
forest fires burning in Idaho and Montana, causing the mountains to have a smoky
haze to them. Sitting there, watching the sun set behind them, it seemed like
it wasn’t real. It really felt like heaven.
That is, besides the heat. There were sites off in the woods
with good shade, but the only way to get the view was to be out in the field,
soaking up the sun. There wasn’t any electricity, so AC wasn’t an option. I
had a sun visor for my windshield that I had never used, so I cut it into pieces and
put them over the windows inside the camper. Then I cut pieces of cardboard and
covered all of the remaining windows. At night it got very cold, so I took
advantage of that and pumped in the cold air all night, before closing
everything up the next morning. It was still hot, but manageable.
The first day that I arrived I drove into Jackson. (It also might be Jackson
Hole… on the map it is named Jackson, but most signs and souvenirs say Jackson
Hole, so who really knows.) Jackson was expecting about 50,000+ people to come
into town for the eclipse, as we were right in the path of totality, and even a few
days out it was extremely packed. I would love to go back to visit without the
crowds, because the town seemed very cute. When I got back to my site, there
was a tent hanging on to the ground by two corners, ready to blow away. I went over and weighed it down with
rocks but couldn’t find who was staying there. Later that night I did finally meet the tent
owner, Susan, who quickly became my friend over the next few days.
Susan had lived in California before subletting her
apartment for the summer and taking her own cross country trip. She had spent a
month at a spiritual retreat in Virginia (I think), practicing meditation and
simpilier living. It sounded wonderful, just the kind of thing I’ve always
wanted to do. She was also at a bit of a cross roads, trying to figure out what
she wanted out of life. The next day her
and I rented out a canoe together and went across Jenny Lake to the Hidden
Waterfalls. The water in the Lake was so clear, you could see all the way to
the bottom even when we far from the edge. Susan had been on a tour the day
before and told me all about what she had learned. Apparently there wasn’t just
snow on the mountains; most of them were glaciers!
The next few days I spent relaxing and enjoying the freedom of not going anywhere. For the most part of the trip I had been driving 3-6 hours a day, staying a night or two, and then repeating. I hadn't minded it, and had originally been annoyed knowing I had to get to this site so early in order to have a spot for the eclipse. Once I was settled in though I realized how nice it was to just sit still! I had no where to go, and nothing to do but relax. I had my rug set up outside and spent most of my time sitting there, looking at the mountains.
On one day I drove to Yellowstone National Park. My GPS said it was a little over an hour to the park, so I took my time and left later in the day. When I arrived to the pay station, I learned that Old Faithful was still an hour past there! I wish I had known this because I ended up needing to leave earlier than I wanted to in order to get back to feed Coop Dog. I arrived at Old Faithful 30 minutes before the next predicted time, so I walked around and looked at the geysers. They were amazing, despite the strong smell of sulphor they gave off. Each geyser was a different color, though most of them were a shade of blue or orange, and they bubbled and steamed from the heat. There was a wooden bridge-path that wound around the geysers, and signs that warned of the delicate ground below. You could feel the heat coming off of the geysers even from feet away. From there, I walked back to find a spot to watch Old Faithful. It seemed everyone in the park had came to circle around, so I watched from afar before beating the traffic out. I wish I had more time to explore Yellowstone; hopefully one day I'll get to go back and really take my time there.
August 20th marked 4 years since my dad passed away. None of my trip would have been possible without him, starting with his encouragement years ago when I first came up with the idea, and ending with the settlement from his accident giving me the funds to go. That has been the hardest part of this.. Knowing that I wouldn't have been able to afford to go if he was still alive tears me apart every day, particularly on this day. I hadn't cried so hard in so long. Cooper heard me crying and jumped into my bed for the first time, insisting on smothering me for comfort.
The rest of the day was a lazy one. I brought Moxie over to the group of campers on the edge of the field and shared it with them in a toast to my dad. Moxie was his favorite soda, and can only be found in New England. I stocked up before my trip and still had about 20-30 cans left.
The next day was the day of the eclipse!! Everyone set up chairs together and brought food for a pot luck. It was a really cool experience, eclipse aside, being a part of a temporary camper community, made up of people from all over the world. There were a few full time RVers, otherwise most everyone there had only been traveling for the eclipse. There were 4 people from the UK who had rented RVs and had been traveling the US leading up to meeting here to see the eclipse together. Another group was made up of people from a few different countries who had met in college, one of which was going to school for astronomy and had a telescope set up. Susan had a friend drive from Arizona who joined us as well. We had mimosas and cocktails, all eagerly counting down to the eclipse. One of the guys from the UK had made his own lens protector using a piece of film and a toilet paper roll, and was getting amazing shots of the sun with his camera. The girl with the telescope had it set on the sun as well. It was tough to see through it, and you had to catch it at just the right spot, but when you did, you could see the sun as a little red ball with the fire rings shooting out of it.
We all had our solar glasses, continuously checking to see how close we were to the full eclipse. The sun was opposite of the mountain, and since I didn't have a lens protector for my GoPro, I set it up to watch the mountain as the sun went away. Slowly it got darker, and colder, and soon we all were bundled in sweatshirts. Finally we reached totality and everyone cheered, taking off our solar glasses and looking at the ring of light in the sky. You could see all the stars and it truly felt like it was night time. A short few minutes later, the moon uncovered a sliver of the sun, and the birds started to chirp as if it was dawn. Even though only a little bit of the sun was peaking through, and it was still noticeably dark, you could no longer look at the sun without the solar glasses. It was such an amazing experience, I am so glad I was able to witness it.
We spent the rest of the day drinking and just celebrating the occasion. Susan's friend from Arizona wanted to go swimming in a glacier lake, so we took off in his car to find a spot. He was Turkish, and was playing Turkish hip-hop on the radio. I didn't understand a thing they were saying, and with a pretty good Fireball buzz, I felt like I had been transported into another dimension. The day was just so strange; first watching the sun disappear, now sitting in the back seat of this strange car, cruising along in a Turkish daze. We got to the lake and at first we didn't want to go in - it was freezing! Though once we were in it was amazingly refreshing. I floated along on my back, looking up at the mountains towering over the water. Of all the moments I would like to go back to, this would be pretty close to the top of the list. I could have floated there for hours, in awe with the day, with the world, with life.
Later on that day the kid from Turkey left and Susan ended up sleeping on my couch with how cold it was outside. In the middle of the night I woke up to find a mouse inside! I had thought I had heard a mouse the night before, but I wasn't really sure and couldn't find it. But that night I heard it loud and clear. Milo had heard it too and was running around trying to catch it. I woke up Susan who then helped me in catching it. The people in the RV next to us had to have woken up from our screams, but eventually we got it out! (With no help from Milo)
The next day Susan left to make her way back home to California. The person subletting her apartment was moving out, and she had to go back and figure out what she was going to do next. I was originally planning on leaving that day as well, but ended up hanging out for another day. My plan was to head to Alaska after the eclipse, but I was getting really short on money, and cutting it close to the start of the Alaskan winter. A couple who were full time RVers had told me of a service in South Dakota that took care of your mail while you were on the road, so I decided to back track to get my license and become a resident there. The service is called America's Mailbox, located in Box Elder, SD. To sum it up, if you stay in South Dakota one night every 5 years, you can be a legal resident. Once you stay your night, and you set up a Personal Mail Box with America's Mailbox, you take that address to the DMV to get your license, and then off you go! Where ever you are, you can request your mail to be sent to you. Seeing that the biggest issue I had ran into with moving into my camper was not having a mailing address, this was a huge solution for me. Two other big perks were that you didn't get your vehicle inspected every year, so I wouldn't have to drive back to PA, and the state also didn't have an income tax. My end goal right now is to find a job I can have on the road, so this would be a huge bonus.
So on August 23rd, I hit the road again, heading back across Wyoming. Continue reading about it in week 7!
The next few days I spent relaxing and enjoying the freedom of not going anywhere. For the most part of the trip I had been driving 3-6 hours a day, staying a night or two, and then repeating. I hadn't minded it, and had originally been annoyed knowing I had to get to this site so early in order to have a spot for the eclipse. Once I was settled in though I realized how nice it was to just sit still! I had no where to go, and nothing to do but relax. I had my rug set up outside and spent most of my time sitting there, looking at the mountains.
On one day I drove to Yellowstone National Park. My GPS said it was a little over an hour to the park, so I took my time and left later in the day. When I arrived to the pay station, I learned that Old Faithful was still an hour past there! I wish I had known this because I ended up needing to leave earlier than I wanted to in order to get back to feed Coop Dog. I arrived at Old Faithful 30 minutes before the next predicted time, so I walked around and looked at the geysers. They were amazing, despite the strong smell of sulphor they gave off. Each geyser was a different color, though most of them were a shade of blue or orange, and they bubbled and steamed from the heat. There was a wooden bridge-path that wound around the geysers, and signs that warned of the delicate ground below. You could feel the heat coming off of the geysers even from feet away. From there, I walked back to find a spot to watch Old Faithful. It seemed everyone in the park had came to circle around, so I watched from afar before beating the traffic out. I wish I had more time to explore Yellowstone; hopefully one day I'll get to go back and really take my time there.
August 20th marked 4 years since my dad passed away. None of my trip would have been possible without him, starting with his encouragement years ago when I first came up with the idea, and ending with the settlement from his accident giving me the funds to go. That has been the hardest part of this.. Knowing that I wouldn't have been able to afford to go if he was still alive tears me apart every day, particularly on this day. I hadn't cried so hard in so long. Cooper heard me crying and jumped into my bed for the first time, insisting on smothering me for comfort.
The rest of the day was a lazy one. I brought Moxie over to the group of campers on the edge of the field and shared it with them in a toast to my dad. Moxie was his favorite soda, and can only be found in New England. I stocked up before my trip and still had about 20-30 cans left.
The next day was the day of the eclipse!! Everyone set up chairs together and brought food for a pot luck. It was a really cool experience, eclipse aside, being a part of a temporary camper community, made up of people from all over the world. There were a few full time RVers, otherwise most everyone there had only been traveling for the eclipse. There were 4 people from the UK who had rented RVs and had been traveling the US leading up to meeting here to see the eclipse together. Another group was made up of people from a few different countries who had met in college, one of which was going to school for astronomy and had a telescope set up. Susan had a friend drive from Arizona who joined us as well. We had mimosas and cocktails, all eagerly counting down to the eclipse. One of the guys from the UK had made his own lens protector using a piece of film and a toilet paper roll, and was getting amazing shots of the sun with his camera. The girl with the telescope had it set on the sun as well. It was tough to see through it, and you had to catch it at just the right spot, but when you did, you could see the sun as a little red ball with the fire rings shooting out of it.
We all had our solar glasses, continuously checking to see how close we were to the full eclipse. The sun was opposite of the mountain, and since I didn't have a lens protector for my GoPro, I set it up to watch the mountain as the sun went away. Slowly it got darker, and colder, and soon we all were bundled in sweatshirts. Finally we reached totality and everyone cheered, taking off our solar glasses and looking at the ring of light in the sky. You could see all the stars and it truly felt like it was night time. A short few minutes later, the moon uncovered a sliver of the sun, and the birds started to chirp as if it was dawn. Even though only a little bit of the sun was peaking through, and it was still noticeably dark, you could no longer look at the sun without the solar glasses. It was such an amazing experience, I am so glad I was able to witness it.
We spent the rest of the day drinking and just celebrating the occasion. Susan's friend from Arizona wanted to go swimming in a glacier lake, so we took off in his car to find a spot. He was Turkish, and was playing Turkish hip-hop on the radio. I didn't understand a thing they were saying, and with a pretty good Fireball buzz, I felt like I had been transported into another dimension. The day was just so strange; first watching the sun disappear, now sitting in the back seat of this strange car, cruising along in a Turkish daze. We got to the lake and at first we didn't want to go in - it was freezing! Though once we were in it was amazingly refreshing. I floated along on my back, looking up at the mountains towering over the water. Of all the moments I would like to go back to, this would be pretty close to the top of the list. I could have floated there for hours, in awe with the day, with the world, with life.
Later on that day the kid from Turkey left and Susan ended up sleeping on my couch with how cold it was outside. In the middle of the night I woke up to find a mouse inside! I had thought I had heard a mouse the night before, but I wasn't really sure and couldn't find it. But that night I heard it loud and clear. Milo had heard it too and was running around trying to catch it. I woke up Susan who then helped me in catching it. The people in the RV next to us had to have woken up from our screams, but eventually we got it out! (With no help from Milo)
The next day Susan left to make her way back home to California. The person subletting her apartment was moving out, and she had to go back and figure out what she was going to do next. I was originally planning on leaving that day as well, but ended up hanging out for another day. My plan was to head to Alaska after the eclipse, but I was getting really short on money, and cutting it close to the start of the Alaskan winter. A couple who were full time RVers had told me of a service in South Dakota that took care of your mail while you were on the road, so I decided to back track to get my license and become a resident there. The service is called America's Mailbox, located in Box Elder, SD. To sum it up, if you stay in South Dakota one night every 5 years, you can be a legal resident. Once you stay your night, and you set up a Personal Mail Box with America's Mailbox, you take that address to the DMV to get your license, and then off you go! Where ever you are, you can request your mail to be sent to you. Seeing that the biggest issue I had ran into with moving into my camper was not having a mailing address, this was a huge solution for me. Two other big perks were that you didn't get your vehicle inspected every year, so I wouldn't have to drive back to PA, and the state also didn't have an income tax. My end goal right now is to find a job I can have on the road, so this would be a huge bonus.
So on August 23rd, I hit the road again, heading back across Wyoming. Continue reading about it in week 7!
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