PICKS:
Star Valley Ranch RV Resort
Out in the middle of nowhere in eastern Wyoming, there is what I believe may be one of the largest RV parks in existence. We happened upon it because Trudy, our GPS, told us about it. We were planning just on stopping for a shower before continuing on to a state park, but since we were able to get both a campsite and access to showers for only $10, we parked Arvin for the night. Plus, we got a glimpse into the foreign culture of semi-permanently parked RVs and their inhabitants. Why do they buy concrete parking spots in Wyoming? Why do they erect storage sheds and porches to pull their RV up to? I guess it’s not as seamless as you might imagine to go from living in house for 60 years to living on the road. It was sort of like a halfway house for recovering addicts to permanent housing.
Oswald Gallery in Jackson
Jackson, Wyoming is a prime example of how to utilize Old West kitschy-ness to suck money out of tourists. There are boardwalk sidewalks, a local stage coach operation, t-shirt shops around every corner and even an arch made out of antlers. But, really, can you blame Jackson? All those hapless people pouring in and out of Yellowstone just looking for places to spend their money on t-shirts and tacky western memorabilia. There are however, amongst all of this, a few oases. Oswald Gallery is one such oasis. The gallery’s collection is all photography, including the compelling Wouter Deruytter exhibit we saw during our visit. Deruytter’s Crow Warrior series is composed of large format black and white photos of Crow men dressed for the annual reenactment of the battle at Little Bighorn. Deruytter’s photos accomplish the difficult task of juxtaposing the pride of the Crow nation with the ever present feeling of defeat. Also at the gallery was a near museum quality collection of rare Ansel Adams prints. Definitely a nice reprieve from the more common Jackson fare.
Lizard Creek Campground in Grand Teton National Park
This lakeside campground was a great spot from which to launch our whirlwind tour of Yellowstone hot spots (pun intended) the next day. It was pretty cheap for a national park ($18) and a fairly short drive to the park entrance. There is, however, a large mosquito population to contend with, so be prepared.
Old Faithful is just the beginning of the geothermal features (as the folks at Yellowstone like to call them) at the Upper Geyser Basin around Old Faithful Lodge. There are about 4 miles of boardwalk weaving amongst spitting, steaming, bubbling geysers and brilliantly colored geothermal springs. Even with the milling crowds, we were all about this nature freak show.
Neither grand nor prismatic even begins to cover it. The edges of this enormous steaming pool are brilliant yellow and orange which quickly gives way to the deeper sparkling turquoise in the middle. It’s pretty spectacular.
This spot is a little off the beaten track, but well worth the half mile hike out. The hillside is spotted with bubbling white mud pots, burbling steam out of thick sulfurous paste. And thanks to the different types of bacteria living in the geothermal waters there were pools of every color along the spectrum. If it weren’t for the relentless mosquitoes, we would have given ourselves time to be thoroughly mesmerized.
Showers at Fishing Bridge Campground
Although the Fishing Bridge Campground is for RVs only, their showers and laundromats are open until 9pm for use by anyone. The $3.25 shower was well worth it and the evening drive around Yellowstone Lake toward our campground in Shoshone National Forest was a serenely pastoral end to our day.
PANS:
Saddle Rock Family Saloon in Jackson
You might think that a couple of hours wandering around Jackson may have taught us to read more into the marketing intentions of streetside ads, but no….when we saw signs on the outside of the Saddle Rock Family Saloon for delicious hamburgers and hand cut fries, we thought that sounded good. We didn’t think, “Oh, I bet this is a ploy to lure us in to eating terrible food, served by an awkward teenage waiter dressed in a sparkly combination of 1950s style western clothes.” We especially didn’t think that it meant that while serving us this terrible food, getting our order wrong and not having any beer, these bumbling young men and women would break into song and try to interact with us (i.e., sit in Sean’s lap and twirl his hair) while we were merely attempting to choke down our food so we could leave ASAP. And we really, really didn’t think that the only reason this place even serves their terrible food is so they have a chance to advertise their nightly performance of Grease: Western Style. Yep that’s right, these embarrassingly awkward waiters are also thespians who yodel their way through Grease on a nightly basis. Once we had ingested our lunch (if you could call the horse meat burger on burned buns with tepid fries lunch), we made our escape and ran back to Arvin.
Wow – once again the photos blow me away. I love the Morning Glory pool photo the most (so so cool). I haven’t been to Jackson, and after reading your review, I’ll know to avoid it (or at least be prepared)!
It’s true about a lot of people who try to embrace the “RV Lifestyle” – that they often end up making it just like the house/settled life they were trying to leave behind. Old habits die hard, I guess…
I’m still laughing at the description of the servers/would-be singers at the Saddle Rock Family Saloon! Western-style Grease?!? Sitting in people’s laps and twirling their hair??
Your video of Old Faithful scared the poop out of me. I knew there was a reason that the only time we’ve spent much time in Yellowstone is in the winter when it’s cold, snowy, and generally deserted. Yellowstone is a truly amazing place, and the impression that I get is, that much like Glacier, if you get off the beaten path, you can really enjoy the park, but that the main attractions are absolutely overrun with folks “communing with nature” as long as it doesn’t require them to go more than 100 yards from the car. I’m just surprised you didn’t entertain yourselves by randomly stopping the van and pointing up into the hills at phantom wildlife. You can create instant traffic jams in five minutes or less that way, and even if all you’re pointing at is a tree trunk, you will soon have hoards of mini-vans pulled over and exorting the kids to “look at the bear.”
Next time you’re in Jackson, which is also a great place to visit when it’s not summer, I suggest skipping the show tunes and trying Jedediah’s for breakfast (only open until 2 pm) and Nikai (http://www.nikaisushi.com/) for sushi. Jedediah’s is everything a good western cafe should be with hearty breakfasts and a great outdoor porch in the back. We had the last breakfast of our honeymoon there. And Nikai is exactly what you would not expect from a town that trades on its western heritage. It’s a little pricy for road trip fare, but it is phenomenal sushi and great atmosphere to boot that make the price worth it. This was our favorite meal of our honeymoon and we still talk about the fantabulous spider rolls and innovative without being gimmicky cocktails.