Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2001 18:44:45 -0400
Reply-To: Stu Schwartz <sschwartz@OS2BBS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Stu Schwartz <sschwartz@OS2BBS.COM>
Subject: Trip Report #2
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Hi Everyone,
Here we are in Denver (a real city) staying with our friend, John. We have indoor plumbing and electricity (most of the time). The outdoor heated pool is
heavenly. We have our own suite -- bedroom, bathroom, rec room -- and Jasie's allowed! We may never leave!! That's exactly what John is afraid of.
Actually, Midnight (the cat) and Jasmine have gotten along very well, except Jasmine has REALLY taken a liking to cat food! And she has also been
swimming in the pool.
We stopped at Yellowstone for one night. Ginger's favorite Nat'l Park. Of all the times Ginger's been to Yellowstone, she has never entered through the
east entrance (it's always been closed). On our drive out of the park (south entrance), Ginger spotted a bear! It was truly majestic to watch the bear
walk/run free, up and down hills, etc. It was a black bear, yes, I know we have them on the east coast, but watching it roam free in its natural habitat was
truly spectacular.
Grand Teton Nat'l Park was absolutely beautiful. The weather was hot, Hot, HOT during the day and nice and cool at night. I think the daytime temps
were around 80 - 85 and nighttime around 40 - 45. I think because we were in the mountains, closer to the sun and I swear there is no shade in the state
of WY or as the locals say Wyo, it is so darn HOT! It's hot and dry. We've been drinking alot of water. One night we saw a moose. Another time we saw
a mother and baby moose. It was an amazing sight. Ginger got eaten alive by mosquitos while viewing the mom and baby moose with Jasmine on her lap
while taking pictures. Stu had a great view standing looking through the binoculars! The baby was, of course, adorable. It was trying to eat the lower
sage brush and used its' hoove to lower the limbs to mouth level, only it didn't exactly work the way the baby intended, it was so cute. There was quite a
crowd by the time the mom and baby wanted to cross the road. Jasmine is extremely curious with the large animals like the buffalo and moose. She can sit
patiently and watch for as long as WE do, she loves it. She's sniffed the air trying to identify the smell, but we don't have these animals at home!!
We took a drive down to Jackson Hole, Wyo. We found a great little place to eat lunch with lots of vegetarian choices. Since Ginger had been here
before, she made Stu look inside two different bars with Jasmine in her carrier. The Silver Dollar Bar has silver dollars underneath heavy plastic on the bar.
The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar has saddles for seats at the bar. We didn't order anything since we had Jas and it was way to hot to leave her in the van.
We have changed our future plans. Originally, we were going to southern Utah to see the Nat'l Parks (Arches, Canyonlands, Zion), but since we had a
taste of "hot" weather in Wyo, we've decided to skip Utah and head for Oregon where we hope it will be a little cooler. We never knew one state could
have so many State Parks and dog friendly, too. We're not sure exactly of our new route, but we'd both like to drive along the coast in Oregon down into
California. Of course we won't drive the entire coast but we're looking forward to seeing new and different scenery. We may stop at Glacier on the way....
Still seeing about 1 westy each day. MZ Magic still seems to be doing fine. The A/C pretty much sucks...but we can't seem to avoid the sun baking in.
The dometic is still working well. Thanks for the numbers of vs people in Denver. We tried Painter...he was busy...went to V-Barn on his suggestion..they
suggested Mid-Town Auto (their original shop). Seems to have a loyal following. The oil was changed and the ATF was changed.
Say...someone suggested "dry ice" in the dometic...comments?
--peace--
stu
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