Monday, July 28, 2008

More New Friends

Drove past Yellowstone Lake into the Tetons this morning. It's still as beautiful as in my 2004 trip. Arrived in Flagg Ranch, just outside the Tetons NP. After I suggested that camping next to an RV was not in my itinerary, the visitors center people told me about Grassy Lake Rd on Polecat creek.

The first of 8 campsites had 4 spaces right by the river, a vault toilet (nicer than it sounds), fire grates and picnic tables. Everything but potable water. Seeing as I carry about 10 gallons with me plus a water purifier that was no problem. Better still, on a dirt road so no noisy RV’s and more amazingly it was free. There must be some rule about not charging for sites without water. It was as nice as many for which I’ve paid up to $20 a night.

That’s where I met Shawn and Cal. They were standing in one of the sites chatting and waved. I said hi, pulled up in the next site and went over. We quickly decided to camp together for the next few days. Cal’s been on the road for 7 months and Shawn for the last month or so. He was in Desert Storm in the early 90’s, is now a disabled veteran and spends his summer’s traveling away from his Texas home. None of us has a tight schedule so exploring the area together is easy. We’re all very different but get along well so far. It’s easy without the stress of a city or job.

Shawn and I bicycled the 20 miles roundtrip to Grassy Lake then enjoyed a jointly prepared dinner inside my bug-free screened tent, unanimously agreed as the best purchase ever.

No comments: