Almost Trailside: A True Story (6 page)

Tommy’s grandmother was a delightful woman with a sweet smile and pretty blue eyes. She knew just how to handle grandpa when he got too grumpy. Together they were a wonderful, fun-loving, and adoring couple. We always enjoyed being in their company.

We met Tommy’s grandparents at their apartment in the quaint little town of Philipsburg, Montana then followed them up the mountain side into the beautiful Lodgepole Campground. They drove to a specific area of the forest and showed us where they wanted us to set up. A group of their friends were already camping nearby, some in trailers others in tents. Tommy’s grandparents camped in a tent.

The thin trunked lodge pole pine trees were not like the huge redwoods that we were use to in California. Even so, the aromatic lodge pole forest was green and beautiful.

The campsites were small, lined with many tall lodge pole trees. Tommy had to maneuver the little travel trailer into the spot just right and he needed me to help guide him. It was a pretty ugly scene. Even with my help, Tommy couldn’t angle the little trailer just right to back it into the space. A lot of swearing took place and it wasn’t by me!

Finally, one of the other campers came over and offered to help. I was relieved. This guy was a pro. He told Tommy just how to turn the steering wheel to get the angle on the little travel trailer to back it right in to the space. That was the first of many parking attempts to come.

It was late now. The pleasant smell of campfires and food cooking on camp stoves filled the forest air. This small group of campers had a system. Everyone brought
their prepared foods, salads, and desserts to one central picnic table. This fresh cooked forest buffet feast took place every night. We brought a large supply of food with us, so we easily were able to provide our share. The grandparents introduced us to a dozen of their friends who shared in the meals. It was wonderful.

Early the next morning, Tommy’s grandparents appeared with their fishing poles in hand. The large Georgetown Lake was across the way within a short walking distance from the Lodgepole Campground. We took Buffy on her leash. She loved all of the different smells in the forest and along the grassy lakes edge.

The fishing was fantastic. Everyone caught something. Some we released back into the lake and others we took back to the campsite to cook.

We were in awe of the huge sparkling blue lake and scenic surrounding beautiful majestic mountains, as pretty as a picture postcard. I just didn’t care for the biting flies that landed on your hands while fishing…ouch!

We spent an entire marvelous week in the lodge pole forest camping, hiking, fishing, sleeping in our little travel trailer, and enjoying meals mostly cooked outside over a campfire flame. It was heaven.

I personally found this first camping experience to be inspiring. Living in the forest, fishing every day in the most picturesque scenery imaginable was uplifting and satisfying in a way I had not imagined possible.

At the end of the week, we hated to leave, but knew we had to keep going in order to meet our travel schedule. It was the perfect first family camping experience in one of the most beautiful places on earth.

With happy memories and so much to talk about, we waved good-bye for now to Tommy’s grandparents and friends, and headed south to our next destination, Yellowstone National Park at the south east corner of Montana and Wyoming.

Along the way, the station wagon started sputtering and began to lose power. Tommy didn’t have much choice but to pull over on a narrow section of the highway. We had plenty of gas, so that wasn’t the problem. Tommy got his tool box. The boys and I stayed inside. Tommy placed his red metal tool box on the huge bumper of the station wagon then lifted the heavy hood and propped it open.

For twenty minutes Tommy used a variety of tools on different areas of the engine. Then he slid behind the wheel and turned the key in the ignition. The station wagon started right up, sounded strong, and ran smooth. He wasn’t exactly certain what the problem was, but he seemed to have fixed it, at least for the time being.

Tommy quickly closed the hood while the engine was still running, got back behind the wheel, and slowly reentered the stream of traffic. Within seconds we heard a clinking noise. When I looked out the side view mirror I could see Tommy’s red metal tool box lying open in the middle of the highway behind us. All of his tools and shiny sockets were bouncing all over the highway. Tommy forgot to take his tool box off the front bumper of the station wagon…and the rest is history.

Before long we entered the little town near Yellowstone National Park’s entrance and found the only campsite in the area, on a blacktop surface like a parking lot in the middle of town. No grass, no picnic table, no trees, and no hook-ups, just a black slab.

Neighboring travel trailers, tent trailers, and motor homes were only a few feet away on either side. It was a noisy busy place with a convenience store at one end that must have been the only place to shop in town.

We leveled our little travel trailer, lifted it off of the trailer hitch, and drove our station wagon into the Park. We didn’t realize that the popular Park comprised hundreds of acres.

We spent three glorious days of delightful discovery in
Yellowstone National Park
coming out at night to our little travel trailer. The multitude of twinkling stars at night in the clearest sky we ever saw, were outstanding and made up for the lack of nature at the stark parking lot campsite.

During the day, we drove all around in Yellowstone National Park, stopped the car to hike, and took lots of pictures. We saw huge moose, wide-eyed elk, and a large herd of woolly bison. Andy got too close to one moose who tried to eat his red sweatshirt. The vast fields of brilliant blooming flowers were stunning. We found many interesting and beautiful natural formations of forests, grasslands, rocks, and unique species of plants. We discovered pools of steaming water and witnessed geysers shooting hundreds of feet into the air. Yellowstone National Park is a treasure to behold. We left there in awe of the beauty and intrigue of it, vowing to return one day…but not to the parking lot campsite.

Continuing our trip south, we stopped along the way to admire the prestigious
Grand Teton Mountains
in Wyoming and drove through the beautiful little town of
Jackson Hole
,
Wyoming
just ten miles south of Yellowstone National Park.

Y
ellowstone National Park is located primarily in the state of Wyoming extending into Montana and Idaho. It was the first National Park in the world when established in 1872, known for its wildlife and many geothermal features, especially Old Faithful Geyser. The Park spans an area of 3,468.4 square miles with pristine lakes, canyons, rivers, and mountain ranges. Yellowstone Lake is one of the largest high-altitude lakes in North America, centered over the Yellowstone Caldera, the largest active super-volcano on the continent. Half of the world’s geothermal features are in Yellowstone. The Park is located at the headwaters of the Yellowstone River, from which it takes its historical name, commonly believed that the river was named for the yellow rocks seen in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
.

T
he 310,000 acre Grand Teton National Park in northwestern Wyoming established in 1929, includes the 40 mile long Teton Mountain Range and most of the northern sections of the valley known as Jackson Hole. Grand Teton National Park is an almost pristine ecosystem. The same species of flora and fauna that have existed since prehistoric times can still be found there
.

J
ackson is the largest town in the Jackson Hole valley of Teton County, Wyoming and is the county seat with a population of 10,000. Jackson is a major gateway for millions of tourists visiting nearby Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. The large arches of shed elk antlers at the four entrances to the town square are popular attractions
.

Salt Lake City, Utah
was the next point on our map. We wanted to see
Temple Square
and the
Great Salt Lake
that we had heard so much about. Neither of us had ever been to Salt Lake City before, but we had friends who always visited the area.

Temple Square was the focal point of the downtown area comprising one entire huge city block. We were surpised to find a parking space on the street large enough for our station wagon and little travel trailer. It was just a short walk to the visitor’s entrance.

We took the general tours of the beautiful church buildings, enjoyed the pretty landscaping and large shade trees, and spent some time walking the immaculate grounds.

We didn’t take as much time as we would have liked to investigate the area or even Salt Lake City itself, wanting to travel closer to Reno, Nevada that day…but what we did experience was pleasant and very inspirational.

We headed out of town, stopping briefly along Interstate 80 at a viewing point for the Great Salt Lake. It was hot and windy that day as we stood outside viewing the enormous lake that was much larger than we had imagined. We were surprised at how smelly the huge lake was. There were a lot of flies so we didn’t stay outside of the station wagon for long. We noticed a lone sailboat on the lake in the distance but no other activity on the lake or around the shore. The deep blue Salt Lake was pretty in an eerie sort of way, but the surrounding shoreline was mysteriously barren, lacking trees and greenery. The terrain looked volcanic peaking my curiosity about its history.

S
alt Lake City is the capital of Utah and the largest urban area in the Intermountain West with a population of 2 million people. Salt Lake City was founded in 1847 by Brigham Young and several other Mormon followers. The first transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869 on the north side of town. The city historically was named “The Crossroads of the West”. Currently Salt Lake City is the industrial banking center of the United States. Tourism is a top industry year-round with world class ski resorts in the surrounding picturesque Wasatch Mountains, hiking, mountain climbing, fishing, and scenic driving
.

T
emple Square is a 10 acre complex located in the center of Salt lake City, Utah, owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS Church), and is home to the world famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Attracting 3 million to 5 million visitors a year, Temple Square, is the most popular tourist attraction in Utah
.

T
he Great Salt Lake is located in the northern part of Utah and is the largest salt water lake in the Western Hemisphere. The lake covers an average of about 1,700 square miles and is the largest lake in the United States that is not part of the Great Lakes region. The lake has a very high salinity, far saltier than sea water. Known as “America’s Dead Sea”, the lake provides habitat for millions of native birds, brine shrimp, shorebirds, and waterfowl including the largest population of Wilsons Phalarope (a unique dainty shorebird) in the world
.