We left Gardiner around 10:00, a balmy 58 degrees. We went to the West Thumb part of Yellowstone at the end of Yellowstone Lake. The craziest thing happened as we drove in, a tour bus full of Japanese (?) were unloading as we pulled in. A man and two women were quite taken with the coach, taking pictures and oohing and aahhing. As Gary got out he invited them inside with me. They didn't speak a lick of English, but were chattering away in their native language, taking turns having their picture taken with me. It was fun watching their reactions. The West Thumb is not as active as the rest of the part, although they had some interesting geothermal action, some were in the lake itself, all you could see were ripples in the water. We saw herd of buffalo, three of which were real close to the road. One was laying down then started rolling in the dust and getting up to shake off, it was nice of him to do a show for us. As we drove into Teton National Park the mountains were just spectacular then into the funky town of Jackson (Hole). We had to ask why do some people say Jackson and other (most) say Jackson Hole. The town itself is Jackson but the area is Jackson Hole. We were staying in a RV park in our membership group about 50 minutes south of Jackson. We followed the Snake River, some of the rapids looked pretty scary then you'd see inviting smooth waters. We arrived in Thayne, a town of 366 at an elevation of almost 6000 feet, the weather was delightful 33 degrees. The area Thayne and several other small towns were in Star Valley, they must do a big tourist trade in the summer. We chose to stay there it was only $11.00 a night vs $45. in Gardiner. Location location location. Sure glad we put the electric blanket on the bed. TTFN
Paint pots at West Thumb, Old Faithful, Old Faithful Inn, and the buffalo who put on the show for us.
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