This morning was our first morning on the road. I made a pot of coffee and watched the sun rise over the lake. I remember feeling really at peace, and sure that even though the journey to get here was hard, this is where I was meant to be.
We packed up the XP and headed up the stunning highway 89 through Idaho and into Wyoming. I highly recommend driving this route, it is a beautiful road, would be perfect for a motorcycle also.
As we were driving through some of the most stunning canyons and rivers I have ever seen, Sam and I kept looking at each other trying to come to terms with what was happening to us. We set out on this new adventure and it was taking a while to absorb it all. We had just camped in our new (and only) home, and were now headed North, where we would be driving until we hit Fairbanks, Alaska, where we would then be heading south for a very, very long time.
We were excited, scared, sad, and more than anything anticipating what lies ahead. I kept thinking of that scene from the movie Goonies, when they look through the medallion and realize the pirate map was real. I kept saying to myself, “It all starts here……”
We were told this is the largest antler arch in the world, hard to imagine how many other antler arches there are….
A few hours into our drive we arrived at the town of Jackson, Wyoming. I have always wanted to visit here, and it was pretty, but with our new daily budget we found out all we could really afford was a slice of pizza (a small price to pay for freedom!) Also, parking the XP in downtown Jackson was a little challenging, so we ended up parking way off the Main Street with all the other large RVs. So many new things to think about.
Another antler arch….actually there were four of them.
We did have a really delicious Huckleberry shake in Jackson and visited the Cowboy bar with saddles for bar stools. However, I was happy to leave and head up to Grand Teton National Park, which was our first national park of this leg of our trip.
In Jackson we bought the $80.00 National Parks pass, hoping that it would pay off after our North American leg of the trip. Driving into our camp ground, Gros Ventre, where we were told we were GUARANTEED TO SEE A MOOSE (which of course we did not), we did have a run in with some other Wyoming wildlife.
I think this is one of the only things that would do damage to our massive ARB bumper.
Such majestic creatures, they are really impressive!
The evening was filed with hiking in the mountains (I am getting back in shape one mountain at a time….), lighting storms, a sky like you can’t imagine with towering mountains behind green valleys, and finally Sam’s endearing (and failed) attempts to make a camp fire.
That little white dot at the bottom is our XP.
Wyoming was absolutely stunning, I felt so grateful this early in the trip to be able to see such beauty, I had to keep telling myself this is my new life.
Gran Tetons, open plains, dramatic sky. I will definitely be back one day!
