Being Frivilous...

 

Not squandering money.  This is about power management.  When we were cruising with Wild Blue, we had to keep an eye on electrical use, water use, and waste tank level... we did have a generator if the batteries got too low, but we were careful in our power use.

We rarely dry camped with previous RVs, preferring to stay where we had full hook-ups.  There is a learning curve with this RoadTrek, especially in managing power usage.  The air conditioner is the biggest power draw.  If you aren't driving to recharge the lithium batteries, you may get 6 hours (+/-) of running the a/c.  Running the heat last night, had minimal draw on the batteries (it uses propane and an electric blower).  Then, there are lights, water pump, water heater, and the various appliances: coffee maker, toaster, Wonder Oven (air fryer, bake, broil, and probably other features I don't know about), microwave, and whatever else we plug in.

That "whatever else" is our devices: two phones, two iPads, a MacBook Pro laptop, 3 cameras, AirPods, sleep earbuds, and a partridge in a pear tree.  These devices have their own internal batteries, but they all need to be recharged at some point.  We have become accustomed to using these devices everyday.  So, as we monitor our battery levels, we determine if we want to turn the inverter on and when.

This morning, the battery level was the same as when we went to bed.  Running the furnace on auto (so it would turn on and off as necessary) had almost no impact on the batteries.  Turn on that inverter and fire up the coffee maker!  And while we're at it, plug in all the devices to top them off.  The sun is up and the solar panels (300 watts total) are adding to the battery levels.  When we start the van up and head out for the day, the aux alternator (that manufacturers like to call the "under hood generator" will top off the batteries in about 30 minutes.  In the meantime, we have power to spare.  Plug in the devices while we do our morning routines.

If necessary, we could start the engine and that aux alternator would juice up the batteries - the same way that many RVs use an onboard generator.  Except, with have "silent power" with the inverter being able to run the microwave, coffee maker, induction cooktop, etc.  So even being in a campground that has "no generator use hours" (10:00pm to 8:00am), we can still run what we want. 

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Check out for the campgrounds in the Tetons is 11:00am; check in is noon.  We are less than an hour from Gros Ventre to Colter Bay RV Park... but there are always "photo ops" along the way to stop for.  We rolled into the RV Park (it's a park rather than a campground because they have full hook-ups) at 12:02.  Just like at the last check-in, this was fast and efficient.  In the "olden days," you couldn't reserve a campsite - it was first come, first serve; you picked out your campsite then went back to the campground entrance hut to check-in and pay.  Now, it is all on recreation.gov - you do it all online, so at check-in, they have all your info, know you are paid, and they just give you a campground map to find your way to the site.

The site we are in is perfectly adequate...

 Well, prior to Covid, I would have called this site "rustic."  And it would be down the listing a ways for a preferred site.  And, it would have been worth $30 to $40 to me.  Then came the huge increase in people RVing - you could socially distance, but still get away to fun places.  RV manufacturers upped production, RV parks and campgrounds upped their rates, and the "VanLife" phenomenon that was already underway increased even more.  Because it is the only RV park with hook-ups in this National Park, the vendor can get away with charging as much as the market will bear.  That price is apparently $130 per night for this rustic site.  The NPS does have some say in what a vendor will charge (this is the same company, btw, that owned the boats and leased the marina when we worked here).

This park is full every night during the summer season.  The price is $58 more than the price of a no hook-up site.  The difference in price is "an electric surcharge."  I know I mentioned this before, but it still fascinates me how a vendor can artificially inflate the price of things in our National Parks.

That said, we are happy to be in Grand Teton National Park, and very happy to have sites the next two nights that have full hook-ups, because it is going to be cold at night.  We can run electric heat... certainly not $58 worth of electric heat, but it will save me a couple bucks on propane for that furnace.

We enjoyed the drive to this park; then decided to go to nearby Leek's Marina (a competitor of GTLC, the vendor here) to have pizza for lunch.  (We used to go there regularly when we worked here.)  After that, rather than sit in our expensive rustic RV site, we drove north to see more views of the Tetons and to tuck our noses into Yellowstone National Park.

The difference between the two parks is significant: Yellowstone has diversity like nowhere else on earth (geysers, canyons, waterfalls, thermal features, a large freshwater alpine lake (I used to drive a cruiseboat there, too), an amazing variety of wildlife... and all of it sitting on top of a "super volcano."  The Tetons have beautiful views with several lakes (the largest of which is Jackson Lake, near where we are staying) and those absolutely gorgeous mountains.  Yellowstone has mountains; they are not as rugged and scenic.  The Tetons has wildlife, but not as abundant as Yellowstone.  They are so close together, but very different.  If I had to pick, I would say Grand Teton National Park is my favorite, with Yellowstone a close second.  But, Yellowstone gets more visitors each year; by several million.  That means all those people get so close, but don't make it the 27 miles south to get to the entrance to the Tetons.  Their loss.

Going to Yellowstone today was a last minute decision and mostly just to do some driving in these beautiful places.  While Yellowstone has some amazing features, the driving gives you a lot of view of... trees.  On both sides of the road... until you get to one of the many features.  While Grand Tetons has plenty of trees, the views of those mountains comes into view at almost every turn.

We did stop at Grant Village in Yellowstone.  Picked up a couple items in their well-stocked store.  Then, back to our campsite to settle in for the rest of the day.  Also impressive in this RV park: a good Verizon signal with fast data.  That's thanks to Verizon, not the National Park Service... but, I'm happy to see that.  No, we didn't come here for the wifi... but, it sure makes life easier with downloading and posting photos and videos.  Which I'm going to get working on now.  ;-)

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Some photos of the day...

Before we left Gros Ventre campground, Murphy was still watching for bears...

While driving, I was watching for elk - only saw a couple, far from the road...

Another view of the Tetons, because... they are right there...

Joan got this photo of buffalo

At the Moran Junction Entrance Gate (not much of a line to get in)...

Another view of the Tetons (from Oxbow Bend) above, and from Leek's Marina below, where we had pizza for lunch...

At the northern edge of the park, with the last view of Jackson Lake and the mountains...

I mentioned "driving through the trees in Yellowstone" - this is what that looks like...

The road paralleling the Snake River...

A short wait for road construction ('tis the season)...

The General Store at Grant's Village...

And then back to our site to settle in for the evening.  And plug in every device we own.  ;-)  Oh, and a surprisingly strong/fast Verizon signal here at the RV park.

 

 

 

Looking Back...

 

We have fond memories of past times in the Tetons.  Today was planned to be an "out and about day," with several options.  Mother Nature surprised us with this, just as I got into the driver's seat to start up the van...

 It rained enough to make sure the van would be grubbed up.  One of the things on my agenda today: a photo of the RoadTrek with the Tetons in the background... maybe something to use for my home page on Facebook.

Before the rain, the day started chilly.  It was our first "far away dry camping" overnight.  We had to run some air conditioning when we first got back to the campsite yesterday.  Then, as it cooled off, we made do with the roof vent fan.  We didn't run any heat overnight, but turned it on as soon as we got up.  The Truma furnace did a fine job of getting us comfortable.  Our morning routine stuff, including coffee for Joan, hot chocolate for me, running the Keurig with the inverter.  Clean up, put stuff away, and get ready to roll.  And then the rain. (above)

We didn't let the rain stop our plans, and as we got close to the first place I had in mind for photos, it had stopped...

 Close, but I knew we could find a better angle.  We moved on, generally heading north towards Colter Bay.  The sun came out, and...

 Something from that location will be good.  Our plan was loose: we both wanted to look around at the Colter Bay Marina where we used to work.  Arriving at that area, things were hopping - we drove by all the activity around the Gift Shop, Activities, and Restaurants and parked just beyond the "easy" marina parking.  Same place we used to park when we worked here, where we could take a paved path right to the marina store.

Once inside the store, Joan looked around and said, "They sure don't have much merchandise here."  She was the manager of that store and the marina activities, and she kept it well-stocked.  We were the only non-employees in there.  From there, it was out to the actual marina...

 I used to say, "I have the best 'office view' in this company," since this is what I saw every morning as I would head out to the cruise boats.  There was a chain across the dock for the cruise boats that said, "Boat Owners Only."  Yeah, I remember that sign - it was there to keep "lookie-loos" off the boats that were at the docks (surprising how some people would think it is OK to get on someone's boat just because it is there in a National Park).  I mentioned that as I shot some video on that dock, and a boat owner came up to us, "I heard you say you used to work here - what did you do?"

I said, "I was one of the captains for those crew boats, and my wife was the marina store manager."  He has had a slip here for 21 years, including the time we were here.  We had a nice conversation with him... he did say that, "Things were better back then - the company (Grand Teton Lodge Company) needs to do a better job of maintaining things.  That Bayliner is my boat and if you want to go out on the docks and look around, you are my guest."

So, we did.  I shot some video out there (coming later, of course), and Joan took this photo of me by one of the cruise boats...

 I was surprised that both boats were at the dock at 11:00 am.  And surprised at how few people were in this part of the Colter Bay area (which includes two large campgrounds, a lodge, cabins, stables, different retail, two restaurants, a coffee shop, and a laundromat that also offers showers).  At the marina, besides the cruise boat excursions, there are kayak, canoe, and motorboat rentals - there wasn't a single employee or guest at any of those.

We stopped to get a selfie on the dock...

 Then got one more photo in the marina area before moving on...

 One thing we are looking to buy: a jacket or heavy sweatshirt.  The weather forecast before we left to come here was for one day of cool temperatures while we're here; now it is two days and a couple nights below freezing.  We both could use one more layer for warmth.  It is in the upper 70s today, but tomorrow will be in the low 60s for a high and the 40s on Sunday.  We'll be fine in the van, but we will be getting out and about.  Probably.

We walked up to the gift shop and didn't see anything we were hoping for.  For the marina retail store, Joan used to make sure there were sweatshirts and nice jackets available; nothing like that in either location.  I suggested that we head south to Signal Mountain, enjoy a lunch of their famous nachos, check the retail there, and if we didn't see anything we liked, take the scenic loop by Jenny Lake and go back into Jackson (where we had both seen items we liked).

The drive between Colter Bay and Signal Mountain is beautiful...

 We found a good parking place (the lot was not packed) and went into the restaurant at Signal Mountain.  I was surprised that there was a wait for a table, since there didn't seem to be that many cars in the lot.  The young lady taking names and seating people said it should be "5 to 10 minutes for a table."  We went into their retail area, and didn't see what we were looking for.  There is some seating for those waiting to get a table at either restaurants... 30 minutes later, the pager lit up and we went to get seated.  The table was right by the window, with a gorgeous view.  When a waited showed up, he said, "I have a big party that I need to get their food out, so it is going to be a while before I can come back and take your order.  Oh, and we don't have nachos today."

Bye-bye.  The nachos were the only reason we were there.  We went back to our good parking place, and Joan made us deli sandwiches.  Tasty!  And, no wait.  We then headed south towards Jackson.  I shot video of the drive on the Jenny Lake loop.  We had considered taking a short hike there, but cars were line up on both sides of the road for over a mile; people parked to go do the most popular hikes in this park.  I didn't feel like hiking to get to where you'd start hiking, and then having so many people on the trail that it would feel like waiting in a line at Disneyland.  Joan said, "You'd think today was Friday the 13th, not a week ago."  Nothing to do but laugh about it and move on.

Getting close to Jackson, Joan said, "Hand me the camera, I want to take some photos of the 'elephants, buffalo, and elk at the National Wildlife Art Gallery and Museum,"...

 Photos above courtesy of Joan.  And, this sign coming into town...

And Snow King Ski Are right in Jackson...

 Along the way, Murphy found a new place to hang out: in the driver's side step well...

 No problem, as long as I know he is there and don't open the door.  The boy finds interesting places to be.  We parked our van in the Public City Parking Lot (the one with the great "restricted vehicles" spaces - for those of us who need extra length or width) and walked right to the place that had the sweatshirt (for me) and jacket (for Joan) that we liked... but wanted to see if there was anything better in the park.  There wasn't.  Parking and the famous "antler arches"...

 

It was cool enough that we didn't have to run a/c for Murph while we were out.

 We also stopped to top off our gas tank, since the prices are better in Jackson compared to in the park.  Coming back into the park, there was a line for people wanting to get a photo in front of the entrance sign...

 The crowds are smaller than yesterday, but some places in the park are packed, while others seem eerily quiet.  Tomorrow, we head to Colter Bay RV Park (the only RV sites with full hook-ups in the park).  That will be nice, since the weather is supposed to be colder - we'll be able to run electric heat instead of our propane furnace.  And not have to be concerned about holding tanks or fresh water... which we are doing fine with, by the way.

The camping site we are in tonight is bigger than the one from last night, but runs markedly uphill (maybe why it was available).  Joan suggested we not pull all the way into the site - that worked fine for us, and only a small block on the back tires to get us level.  I like it when a plan comes together.  (We had driven by this site yesterday, so we knew getting level would take some maneuvering - it was less than expected.) 

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A bonus: a couple photos of the furry boy in the van, back at our campsite...

 He likes to look out the windows.

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After everybody got some chill-time (we all feel the elevation, so it is important to pace ourselves), I invited Murph to join me outside...

 I think Murph was concerned after the nice lady that check us into the campground said, "There have been bears reported in the area, so do not leave anything with a scent outside."

Murphy said, "I will protect us from bears, Dad.  But just in case, I will stay close by the door so they can eat you while I hide"...

 That brown box you see in these photos...

 That is a "bear box."  No, you do not put bears in that box - it is where you should put any food items or anything with a scent (soap, shampoo, etc), if you are in a tent or you have an open bed pickup.  Bears can't get into the box... and they will move on.  This is why you should not bring a snack into your tent for the night; not even the empty wrapper.  Bears have a great sense of smell, and you would be inviting a problem.

This site is a bit further into the campground, and I found that it is one of the few sites that has a view of the Tetons from our site...

 Between the overcast and the sun behind the mountains, you have to work to see it (I did "enhance" the contrast a bit for this image).  That is Grande Teton to the left, Mount Moran to the right.

This is a look at the site from the furthest in, by the parking stop...

 It is hard to tell in this photo, but there is quite a slope uphill.  If we had pulled in any further, it would have been hard to get level.  Yes, we are off the road, and only a small leveling block on the rear tires to get us "right in the middle of the bubble."  (For those of you who believe the lies about me being "a half bubble off.")

Another night with no hook-ups.  At 8:00, our battery percentage is higher than last night.  Even with it being a colder night, we should be good.  This "off the grid" lithium battery set-up is working like it should.

 

The Grand Tetons...

 

Before leaving this morning, here's a few photos of Murphy getting some outdoor time at our RV site...

 I got to thinking about it, and the only time this furry boy has been around grass before is when we went to North Carolina, the Ozarks, and Taos last summer.  We have turf at home, but that isn't the same... he didn't know what to think about this lush grass stuff.

Before leaving, we had a nice breakfast at the resort where we stayed.  Then, onward.  It is a beautiful drive as you head north from Afton...

 The road runs along the Snake River much of the way...

 

And as you get further north, there is still snow at the tops of some of the mountains (above).

 We stopped in Jackson for groceries and gas, then found a good parking spot at the public lot (just a block from the Main Square).  Murph stayed in the van (in air conditioned comfort) while we walked around town.  I didn't shoot any photos, but there will be a video of some of that shopping expedition at some point.

From there, we headed into the park and made our way to the Gros Ventre Campground, our home for the next two nights.  Our site for tonight is short (we just barely fit in it).  No hook-ups.  We are ready for that.  By positioning ourselves foreward into the site, we are able to be level without any blocks...

 

We weren't ready to settle in, so we drove on north to get a better look at the Tetons...

We stopped at Dornan's, just before the Moose Entry Gate, for lunch - it was packed!  As busy as Jackson, earlier.  There were huge lines waiting to get into the two eateries there... nope; we moved on.  We didn't realize that today is a holiday until we pulled up to the Entrance Gate, and when I went to hand the Ranger my Geezer Card and ID, he said, "No pass necessary - everyone gets free entrance today for Juneteenth."

No wonder everything is packed.  We decided to head towards Signal Mountain, where there are two more restaurants - and, it is about mid-way into the park; thinking that it might not be as crowded.  Good deduction on our part: it was a half hour drive to get there, but the scenery is beautiful and we had no wait to get a table...

 I decided to take the "outer loop" back to our site for the night - a bit longer, but there should be less traffic and the drive will top off our batteries (after having the a/c running while we were in the restaurant)... we have to go the next two nights without a plug-in.  More views of the Tetons...

 Somethings have changed since we worked here (2010 - 2011), but much of it is still the same.  I have good memories of this beautiful place.

Back at our site, we turned off the a/c and turned on the roof vent fan.  Not much to set up, since there are no utility hook-ups.  Joan got things set up inside while I took Murphy out for a walk...

 Unlike most RV parks, the camping sites in most National and State Parks are spacious.  "Then, why don't you stay in these parks all the time?"  Thanks for asking.  Location and amenities.  As we travel, most cities and towns have commercial campgrounds, so they are easy to come by.  They also have amenities like: water, sewer, electricity, wifi, cable TV, and often have a swimming poor or a hot tub.  That said, this time of year, the State and National Parks are generally booked out well in advance.  I got these sites for the next 4 nights by booking them one at a time as a cancellation came up.  It worked for this trip.  That isn't always the case.

Plus, with the heat in Arizona, I was looking for someplace cooler.  But, today in Jackson and Grand Teton National Park, the temps were upper 80s, pushing 90º.  We know it will cool off fast once the sun goes down.  We spent plenty of time here in the Tetons, having first come here in 1973... and frequently after that, well before we worked here.

Speaking of working here, I'm hoping it will work out that we'll get to the Colter Bay area, where we worked.  We'll see how things play out.

And now to start working on that "shopping in Jackson" video. 

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Here's the video...

 Mostly about shopping for a sweatshirt - it's going to get downright cold here in a couple days!  (Upper 80s today, into the 20s Sunday night)