-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
working out for Disney
- Thread starter Figgy1
- Start date
HouCuseChickie
Well-Known Member
Checking in with all sorts of stuff...mainly because I need to vent/share... 
I won't tell the full tale of drama with the car...just that the new dealer I was trying was awful. They claimed to have gotten a loaner in early, I drove 30+ miles at the crack of dawn the next day (got there before 7am) to get it and turn in my vehicle for service, just to watch them offer up my loaner to the guy in front of me. No other dealers had loaners, so I ended up going back to the original dealer. Dropped it off on Friday and had it back by late afternoon on Monday. Fingers crossed this finally fixes it.
Got a clean bill of health from the dr this Monday, minus my stress, but she's helping me with that. Still waiting on some stuff from radiology, and hopefully that will be good too. I'm at least feeling a bit better. Still a lot of stress, but back to workouts this week. I'm on day 3 of getting back to being good. The scale also said horrible things, so I need to go back to eating much better/smarter.
My older one's bday was this Saturday. She's all excited because she just made a select ball team. So, we're going to have 0 free time between the girls and sports/music. We took her on a shopping spree for her bday and I almost lost it in the Disney Store when I heard the voice of the parks come on over the PA system. Probably a symptom of all of my stress.
Speaking of her bday, it was a weekend of cake work. It's supposed to be a tribute to the national parks. I was going to make the emblem, but my white food coloring dried up. I was also going to sculpt some of the park icons and put them in 3d relief form on the map...but that looked dumb. I did find my blue rock candy and used it to make lakes. I also found some colored candies to make map pins to show where we've been, where we want to go, etc.
Beyond this, I've been trying to stay sane with school. We're on week 2 and things just keep getting crazier. I just visited the high school for the very first time and I was overwhelmed. We're also prepping to redo the first of the bathrooms. I hope my sanity doesn't dip too much from adding on this chaos. All of the bathrooms are in dire need of a full redo and the one going first is the worst.
And if anyone else finds fish as soothing as I do...you might like this. The audio is a loop, but during daylight hours, the fish are live. Conditions vary, but there are usually plenty of fish. You really never know what you're going to see on here. Some things you see all of the time, but this morning there were baracuda hunting massive schools of scad and quite a few angelfish and tangs. Yesterday, I saw a trigger and a cowfish. Last week, several tarpon were hunting here. Recently, they even had a hammerhead wind up on the camera.
The have an ID guide if you want to watch and figure out what you're seeing. http://www.deerfield-beach.com/1737/DFB-Fish-Guide
Hope everyone is well
I won't tell the full tale of drama with the car...just that the new dealer I was trying was awful. They claimed to have gotten a loaner in early, I drove 30+ miles at the crack of dawn the next day (got there before 7am) to get it and turn in my vehicle for service, just to watch them offer up my loaner to the guy in front of me. No other dealers had loaners, so I ended up going back to the original dealer. Dropped it off on Friday and had it back by late afternoon on Monday. Fingers crossed this finally fixes it.
Got a clean bill of health from the dr this Monday, minus my stress, but she's helping me with that. Still waiting on some stuff from radiology, and hopefully that will be good too. I'm at least feeling a bit better. Still a lot of stress, but back to workouts this week. I'm on day 3 of getting back to being good. The scale also said horrible things, so I need to go back to eating much better/smarter.
My older one's bday was this Saturday. She's all excited because she just made a select ball team. So, we're going to have 0 free time between the girls and sports/music. We took her on a shopping spree for her bday and I almost lost it in the Disney Store when I heard the voice of the parks come on over the PA system. Probably a symptom of all of my stress.
Speaking of her bday, it was a weekend of cake work. It's supposed to be a tribute to the national parks. I was going to make the emblem, but my white food coloring dried up. I was also going to sculpt some of the park icons and put them in 3d relief form on the map...but that looked dumb. I did find my blue rock candy and used it to make lakes. I also found some colored candies to make map pins to show where we've been, where we want to go, etc.
Beyond this, I've been trying to stay sane with school. We're on week 2 and things just keep getting crazier. I just visited the high school for the very first time and I was overwhelmed. We're also prepping to redo the first of the bathrooms. I hope my sanity doesn't dip too much from adding on this chaos. All of the bathrooms are in dire need of a full redo and the one going first is the worst.
And if anyone else finds fish as soothing as I do...you might like this. The audio is a loop, but during daylight hours, the fish are live. Conditions vary, but there are usually plenty of fish. You really never know what you're going to see on here. Some things you see all of the time, but this morning there were baracuda hunting massive schools of scad and quite a few angelfish and tangs. Yesterday, I saw a trigger and a cowfish. Last week, several tarpon were hunting here. Recently, they even had a hammerhead wind up on the camera.
The have an ID guide if you want to watch and figure out what you're seeing. http://www.deerfield-beach.com/1737/DFB-Fish-Guide
Hope everyone is well
MinnieM123
Premium Member
Checking in with all sorts of stuff...mainly because I need to vent/share...
I won't tell the full tale of drama with the car...just that the new dealer I was trying was awful. They claimed to have gotten a loaner in early, I drove 30+ miles at the crack of dawn the next day (got there before 7am) to get it and turn in my vehicle for service, just to watch them offer up my loaner to the guy in front of me. No other dealers had loaners, so I ended up going back to the original dealer. Dropped it off on Friday and had it back by late afternoon on Monday. Fingers crossed this finally fixes it.
Got a clean bill of health from the dr this Monday, minus my stress, but she's helping me with that. Still waiting on some stuff from radiology, and hopefully that will be good too. I'm at least feeling a bit better. Still a lot of stress, but back to workouts this week. I'm on day 3 of getting back to being good. The scale also said horrible things, so I need to go back to eating much better/smarter.
My older one's bday was this Saturday. She's all excited because she just made a select ball team. So, we're going to have 0 free time between the girls and sports/music. We took her on a shopping spree for her bday and I almost lost it in the Disney Store when I heard the voice of the parks come on over the PA system. Probably a symptom of all of my stress.
Speaking of her bday, it was a weekend of cake work. It's supposed to be a tribute to the national parks. I was going to make the emblem, but my white food coloring dried up. I was also going to sculpt some of the park icons and put them in 3d relief form on the map...but that looked dumb. I did find my blue rock candy and used it to make lakes. I also found some colored candies to make map pins to show where we've been, where we want to go, etc.
Beyond this, I've been trying to stay sane with school. We're on week 2 and things just keep getting crazier. I just visited the high school for the very first time and I was overwhelmed. We're also prepping to redo the first of the bathrooms. I hope my sanity doesn't dip too much from adding on this chaos. All of the bathrooms are in dire need of a full redo and the one going first is the worst.
And if anyone else finds fish as soothing as I do...you might like this. The audio is a loop, but during daylight hours, the fish are live. Conditions vary, but there are usually plenty of fish. You really never know what you're going to see on here. Some things you see all of the time, but this morning there were baracuda hunting massive schools of scad and quite a few angelfish and tangs. Yesterday, I saw a trigger and a cowfish. Last week, several tarpon were hunting here. Recently, they even had a hammerhead wind up on the camera.
The have an ID guide if you want to watch and figure out what you're seeing. http://www.deerfield-beach.com/1737/DFB-Fish-Guide
Hope everyone is well
My goodness -- you have so much going on! With the stress and so many moving parts in your life, let me just say that I'm very impressed that you managed to create such an awesome national parks, decorated cake for your daughter's birthday. Really, kudos for pulling that one off amid all else that you're dealing with. Hope your daughter had a happy birthday. Hang in there.
HouCuseChickie
Well-Known Member
We do and that makes this such a mental challenge. Thank you! I still liked how the cake came together and she said it tasted great. Huckleberry was the lead flavor...in tribute to many of the northern parks.
Songbird76
Well-Known Member
Well, I'm REALLY late, but happy belated birthday! I hope you managed to get to a hotel! Sounds like you deserve some down time!Staples was a bit of a shock. I submitted a complaint after the fact and I got a canned response about how they will pass my suggestions on to the appropriate party, along with a dose of that's just how they do things. I received a survey from them as well and detailed my issues in that too. Somebody has to read it? Right?
It's unfortunate that the dealer and other rental facilities aren't following along with the governor's orders. If they were, it will probably be at least 6 months before I'd be in a "have to renew right now" situation. On the bright side, minus a crazy man in line and standing in that socially distanced line in the full sun for about 10 minutes, the process went very quickly. I guess the only blessing with the car issue is that it's the same issue. I love the vehicle, aside from the a/c, but it should be a clear lemon law case if I have four failed attempts to fix the same issue.
And if I can't get to a hotel, maybe our first bathroom renovation will go quickly. I can just sit in the jetted tub and relax to Disney sounds for a while.
Songbird76
Well-Known Member
What, are the boys not home?
Songbird76
Well-Known Member
Checking in with all sorts of stuff...mainly because I need to vent/share...
I won't tell the full tale of drama with the car...just that the new dealer I was trying was awful. They claimed to have gotten a loaner in early, I drove 30+ miles at the crack of dawn the next day (got there before 7am) to get it and turn in my vehicle for service, just to watch them offer up my loaner to the guy in front of me. No other dealers had loaners, so I ended up going back to the original dealer. Dropped it off on Friday and had it back by late afternoon on Monday. Fingers crossed this finally fixes it.
Got a clean bill of health from the dr this Monday, minus my stress, but she's helping me with that. Still waiting on some stuff from radiology, and hopefully that will be good too. I'm at least feeling a bit better. Still a lot of stress, but back to workouts this week. I'm on day 3 of getting back to being good. The scale also said horrible things, so I need to go back to eating much better/smarter.
My older one's bday was this Saturday. She's all excited because she just made a select ball team. So, we're going to have 0 free time between the girls and sports/music. We took her on a shopping spree for her bday and I almost lost it in the Disney Store when I heard the voice of the parks come on over the PA system. Probably a symptom of all of my stress.
Speaking of her bday, it was a weekend of cake work. It's supposed to be a tribute to the national parks. I was going to make the emblem, but my white food coloring dried up. I was also going to sculpt some of the park icons and put them in 3d relief form on the map...but that looked dumb. I did find my blue rock candy and used it to make lakes. I also found some colored candies to make map pins to show where we've been, where we want to go, etc.
Beyond this, I've been trying to stay sane with school. We're on week 2 and things just keep getting crazier. I just visited the high school for the very first time and I was overwhelmed. We're also prepping to redo the first of the bathrooms. I hope my sanity doesn't dip too much from adding on this chaos. All of the bathrooms are in dire need of a full redo and the one going first is the worst.
And if anyone else finds fish as soothing as I do...you might like this. The audio is a loop, but during daylight hours, the fish are live. Conditions vary, but there are usually plenty of fish. You really never know what you're going to see on here. Some things you see all of the time, but this morning there were baracuda hunting massive schools of scad and quite a few angelfish and tangs. Yesterday, I saw a trigger and a cowfish. Last week, several tarpon were hunting here. Recently, they even had a hammerhead wind up on the camera.
The have an ID guide if you want to watch and figure out what you're seeing. http://www.deerfield-beach.com/1737/DFB-Fish-Guide
Hope everyone is well
Love the cake!! I was thinking about you this week as I was going through my Wyoming guidebook, planning our big Wyoming/Yellowstone trip for next Summer. How many days were you actually in Yellowstone and where did you stay? I was trying to look for places in the park to stay, but the only place that has rooms for under $300 per night is up by mammoth hot springs....it's not centrally located, so it would be a real trek to get down to the Southern part of the park. I think we'll end up staying one night at a cabin just outside the East gate, then one night in Gardiner, Montana, and then we'll have to see about maybe something outside the west gate, but it doesn't look like there's much in that part of Idaho. But I'm thinking we won't need more than about 4 days in the park. Did you have any problems with the lack of AC in the hotels? I haven't been to Yellowstone since I was about 12 and I know we did a cabin then, but I really don't remember if it was hot. We'd be going in late July or in August, so that's the hottest part of the year, but it's also in the mountains. I just don't remember enough about the weather, but I think $300 is WAY too much to spend on an average room with no AC. That's even more than we pay at Disney!
Stay safe and dry @HouCuseChickie
HouCuseChickie
Well-Known Member
Thank you!!! Sadly, no hotel time. Things are just too crazy right now. I really need that down time, but not sure when it's going to happen.
Thanks!!! I love when they pick different things like this and it was a fairly easy cake.
I have all kinds of thoughts on Yellowstone. We went once before the kids were born and spent a week and a half there. I could have easily spent another week. When we took the kids in 2018, we booked a week in the park. I was worried it wouldn't be enough, but I'd say we were ready to go by day 5 and we wound up cutting it early because of road issues and flight changes. Our 2005 trip was after Labor Day, so crowds were much lighter. The 2005 trip also had cooler weather. Our 2018 trip had highs in the 90s every day and huge crowds. So, crowds and timing definitely impacted our feelings on length of stay. I also think we've become more dependent on technology. It's not that I planned to have us on our phones all of the time, but at night or early in the morning, it would be nice to pull up the weather app to see how to pack for the day in terms of layers and potentially inclement weather. My parents also like touching base with us when we travel just to make sure we're ok. It's crazy that we had an easier time reaching them by cell phone from YNP in 2005 than we did in 2018. Crowds and wireless carrier may have also been a factor with that.
As for where to stay... on our 2005 trip, we spent a few nights in a cabin in the Lake area (our least favorite spot), a few nights in a cabin in the Mammoth area, one night at the Old Faithful Inn (it was all I could get), and finally a few nights in a cabin in Canyon. Last trip, all I could get was Canyon...so we stayed the entire time at Canyon. Park lodging is ridiculously difficult to secure if you don't book right when it opens up and it's not cheap. I opted for a cabin in Canyon over a hotel room because like you, I refused to spend that on a room without more modern amenities and a/c. The cabin wasn't cheap, but it was cheaper. We noticed the lack of a/c during the day if we came back to the room to rest and sometimes at bed time, but it really cools off overnight. I'd say we were in the 30s-40s most nights, so it wasn't a problem for long. I know we turned on the heat a few times in 2005, but I think there was still enough heat trapped in the room in 2018 that we didn't need it. As for room availability, they open up everything for the next season right around Memorial Day. So, things can book solid over a year out. I also don't know if Xanterra has everything open for booking because certain lodging didn't open at all this year and they may be undecided on what to do for 2021.
Now as far as places to stay go, we really liked staying in Mammoth, and while I do see your concerns with accessing the southern side of the park, I don't think it's a deal breaker. It just may be a bit of advance planning to decide which days you'll get an early start to get to another area of the park and eat lunch over there. My husband expressed multiple times last trip that he wished I was able to get Mammoth over Canyon. We're also torn on being in one place vs. moving around. It was nice to unpack a bit and not live like nomads, but it definitely is more convenient to stay around the key areas of the park. Still, you'll wind up driving to any number of popular spots, so I'm not sure it makes a huge difference. Hayden Valley, Lamar Valley, Tower, Norris, West Thumb, etc. are all get in the car and drive a bit. So, at some point, you're driving far for something. We even had that day where we drove down from Canyon through Grand Teton...and back...and still had lots of time for more Yellowstone. I guess it just depends on what works best for your plans. Everyone is different, but we find that we just don't spend as much time in the southern portion of the park, so Mammoth wouldn't be as much of an issue for our preferences.
We've discussed staying outside of the park whenever we go back. I agree that there's not much in that part of Idaho (at least from the looks of thing), and it's why I skipped taking a day trip to drive that way. Although, there are some things in Idaho that I'm really hoping to see at some point. Still, we've talked about Gardiner, West Yellowstone, Cody, Silver Gate/Cooke City and Jackson Hole for lodging options the next time we visit.
Long post, but it's a hard choice. After our last visit, we're not sure we see the value in spending to stay inside of the park. It's a cool experience and it makes it a little bit easier/safer to make it to certain key spots around sunrise and sunset (animals on pitch black roads/steep drop offs/etc.), but you're still doing a lot of driving no matter where you stay and you're still pretty likely to see wildlife out and about in these small towns outside of the park. I bring that up because I thought it was so cool (and a bit scary) to have elk and bison around our in park cabins and hotels on our first visit, but you could just as easily see this in places like Gardiner. They get a lot of wildlife hanging out just outside of the north entrance. I don't know if any of this helps...but hopefully it'll help some.
HouCuseChickie
Well-Known Member
Thank you! We're really hoping it all just misses us completely.
Songbird76
Well-Known Member
That helps a LOT, actually! Thank you! After going through my guide book and looking at maps and pictures, I was thinking 4 days will probably suffice...sounds like that's about right. It gives us enough time to see everything, and even go back to favorites or things that were too busy earlier. So that should work. And it's WAY cheaper to stay outside the park...there are some cabins only 3 miles from the East gate. I thought about just staying in Cody, but it says it's a 2 hour drive from Cody to Old Faithful...and a little over an hour from Cody to the gate, so the cabins might be a better bet, IF they have vacancy. The thing I'm worried about is we won't be able to book flights for a bit, but I don't want things to fill up. I guess I'm going to have to make an actual plan for what we want to see each day and make lodging reservations in that area to figure out when exactly we'll be in Yellowstone. We'll be flying into Denver and starting in the South Eastern corner of Wyoming, then driving North, taking a detour to the Badlands in South Dakota, then heading West through the Bighorns toward Yellowstone. But I am wondering how busy it's going to be. Are people likely to flock there as soon as Covid is not as dangerous, or are they going to be more hesitant and give it more time? It really makes me wish we weren't obligated to go during the Summer vacation. There's very little leeway. I also want to hit the State Fair in Douglas, and possibly Cheyenne Frontier Days, but the State Fair hasn't announced their dates yet, so I don't know when we'll be there. But I figure we'll need several days to a week to get to Yellowstone if we want to see all the sites along the way and have a day at the state fair, and then a day or 2 in South Dakota.Thank you!!! Sadly, no hotel time. Things are just too crazy right now. I really need that down time, but not sure when it's going to happen.
Thanks!!! I love when they pick different things like this and it was a fairly easy cake.
I have all kinds of thoughts on Yellowstone. We went once before the kids were born and spent a week and a half there. I could have easily spent another week. When we took the kids in 2018, we booked a week in the park. I was worried it wouldn't be enough, but I'd say we were ready to go by day 5 and we wound up cutting it early because of road issues and flight changes. Our 2005 trip was after Labor Day, so crowds were much lighter. The 2005 trip also had cooler weather. Our 2018 trip had highs in the 90s every day and huge crowds. So, crowds and timing definitely impacted our feelings on length of stay. I also think we've become more dependent on technology. It's not that I planned to have us on our phones all of the time, but at night or early in the morning, it would be nice to pull up the weather app to see how to pack for the day in terms of layers and potentially inclement weather. My parents also like touching base with us when we travel just to make sure we're ok. It's crazy that we had an easier time reaching them by cell phone from YNP in 2005 than we did in 2018. Crowds and wireless carrier may have also been a factor with that.
As for where to stay... on our 2005 trip, we spent a few nights in a cabin in the Lake area (our least favorite spot), a few nights in a cabin in the Mammoth area, one night at the Old Faithful Inn (it was all I could get), and finally a few nights in a cabin in Canyon. Last trip, all I could get was Canyon...so we stayed the entire time at Canyon. Park lodging is ridiculously difficult to secure if you don't book right when it opens up and it's not cheap. I opted for a cabin in Canyon over a hotel room because like you, I refused to spend that on a room without more modern amenities and a/c. The cabin wasn't cheap, but it was cheaper. We noticed the lack of a/c during the day if we came back to the room to rest and sometimes at bed time, but it really cools off overnight. I'd say we were in the 30s-40s most nights, so it wasn't a problem for long. I know we turned on the heat a few times in 2005, but I think there was still enough heat trapped in the room in 2018 that we didn't need it. As for room availability, they open up everything for the next season right around Memorial Day. So, things can book solid over a year out. I also don't know if Xanterra has everything open for booking because certain lodging didn't open at all this year and they may be undecided on what to do for 2021.
Now as far as places to stay go, we really liked staying in Mammoth, and while I do see your concerns with accessing the southern side of the park, I don't think it's a deal breaker. It just may be a bit of advance planning to decide which days you'll get an early start to get to another area of the park and eat lunch over there. My husband expressed multiple times last trip that he wished I was able to get Mammoth over Canyon. We're also torn on being in one place vs. moving around. It was nice to unpack a bit and not live like nomads, but it definitely is more convenient to stay around the key areas of the park. Still, you'll wind up driving to any number of popular spots, so I'm not sure it makes a huge difference. Hayden Valley, Lamar Valley, Tower, Norris, West Thumb, etc. are all get in the car and drive a bit. So, at some point, you're driving far for something. We even had that day where we drove down from Canyon through Grand Teton...and back...and still had lots of time for more Yellowstone. I guess it just depends on what works best for your plans. Everyone is different, but we find that we just don't spend as much time in the southern portion of the park, so Mammoth wouldn't be as much of an issue for our preferences.
We've discussed staying outside of the park whenever we go back. I agree that there's not much in that part of Idaho (at least from the looks of thing), and it's why I skipped taking a day trip to drive that way. Although, there are some things in Idaho that I'm really hoping to see at some point. Still, we've talked about Gardiner, West Yellowstone, Cody, Silver Gate/Cooke City and Jackson Hole for lodging options the next time we visit.
Long post, but it's a hard choice. After our last visit, we're not sure we see the value in spending to stay inside of the park. It's a cool experience and it makes it a little bit easier/safer to make it to certain key spots around sunrise and sunset (animals on pitch black roads/steep drop offs/etc.), but you're still doing a lot of driving no matter where you stay and you're still pretty likely to see wildlife out and about in these small towns outside of the park. I bring that up because I thought it was so cool (and a bit scary) to have elk and bison around our in park cabins and hotels on our first visit, but you could just as easily see this in places like Gardiner. They get a lot of wildlife hanging out just outside of the north entrance. I don't know if any of this helps...but hopefully it'll help some.
It's kind of a catch 22....you can't really plan until you know where you want to be, but you don't really know what's realistic and how far you'll get and where to plan your stops. And until flights open up, you don't know when you'll be flying out or arriving, but you need to know where you're going to be when in order to plan your flight schedule.
As for wildlife, I grew up across the highway from one of the largest Bison ranches in the world. My bedroom window looked out onto the herd. And we often had antelope or deer in our yard grazing. But it will definitely be a novelty to the kids.
HouCuseChickie
Well-Known Member
For what it's worth, this is where we stayed "in" Cody.
RIVER BEND CABINS - Campground Reviews (Cody, WY)
River Bend Cabins, Cody: See 25 traveler reviews, 64 candid photos, and great deals for River Bend Cabins, ranked #18 of 29 specialty lodging in Cody and rated 4 of 5 at Tripadvisor.
www.tripadvisor.com
The summer crowds we experienced in 2018 were something I just didn't plan on. So, we had to regroup a bit after arrival and come up with day plans and plan Bs in case we couldn't find parking or didn't want to deal with traffic jams. We had none of this when we went in 2005. I recall hitting Lamar Valley, Old Faithful, and Grand Prismatic really early to help deal with crowds. We pressed our luck with Canyon and had to loop parking lots a number of times for parking. We got lucky with West Thumb and Mammoth. Hayden Valley, Lake, Swan Lake, Mud Volcano, and Grant were never issues...as well as a few others. We ran out of time for Norris, but they at least had overflow parking areas that extended pretty far out. We couldn't get parking in several areas, like Artist and Fountain Paint Pots. Sorry...rambling...but I just remember having to plot out some of these biggies and hoping to be lucky on others.
As far as crowds go, most of the national parks have seen heavy crowds this summer since outdoor vacations and road trips have been perceived to be safer. Back in April, I read about towns like Jackson Hole and Gardiner fearing how they'd get by without the summer tourists. Late last month, I read a follow up article talking about how they're now fearing the virus because they are mobbed with visitors. The Yellowstone webcams also show pretty decent crowds. The only crowds they're not seeing these days are from international travelers, which may be back by next summer.
I kind of figured the animals would be nothing new for you
, but if your kids are anything like mine, animals are a huge appeal factor with these parks. Obviously, it's not the only cool thing to see, but squirrels make up most of our home wildlife. 
Songbird76
Well-Known Member
Well, we don't have squirrels, so my kids will probably be just as excited about those as they are for the bison. Bighorn sheep are going to be what A wants to see. Any kind of sheep, but in that area, it will be bighorn sheep. There is actually a museum somewhere just about Bighorn sheep. It's on my list....I don't remember which part of Wyoming, but we'll definitely go there.For what it's worth, this is where we stayed "in" Cody.
It's on the far western outskirts of Cody, to the point where I have a hard time calling it Cody. I want to say it took us about 35-40 min to get to Yellowstone's eastern gate from here. We were only here for a night, but it's where we stayed after that long drive from the Mt. Rushmore area through the Bighorns. The scenery around the cabins was absolutely stunning and it had a full kitchen and grill, so it would have been a nice set up for a longer stay, but it's also like more of an efficiency. For a longer stay, I probably would have looked for something that had private bedrooms. It was also a pretty hefty drive into Cody if you wanted to go out to eat (easily 20-25 min into town...at least). I suspect they get a lot of people interested in water sports in the area and not strictly Yellowstone, but it's an option.RIVER BEND CABINS - Campground Reviews (Cody, WY)
River Bend Cabins, Cody: See 25 traveler reviews, 64 candid photos, and great deals for River Bend Cabins, ranked #18 of 29 specialty lodging in Cody and rated 4 of 5 at Tripadvisor.
The summer crowds we experienced in 2018 were something I just didn't plan on. So, we had to regroup a bit after arrival and come up with day plans and plan Bs in case we couldn't find parking or didn't want to deal with traffic jams. We had none of this when we went in 2005. I recall hitting Lamar Valley, Old Faithful, and Grand Prismatic really early to help deal with crowds. We pressed our luck with Canyon and had to loop parking lots a number of times for parking. We got lucky with West Thumb and Mammoth. Hayden Valley, Lake, Swan Lake, Mud Volcano, and Grant were never issues...as well as a few others. We ran out of time for Norris, but they at least had overflow parking areas that extended pretty far out. We couldn't get parking in several areas, like Artist and Fountain Paint Pots. Sorry...rambling...but I just remember having to plot out some of these biggies and hoping to be lucky on others.
As far as crowds go, most of the national parks have seen heavy crowds this summer since outdoor vacations and road trips have been perceived to be safer. Back in April, I read about towns like Jackson Hole and Gardiner fearing how they'd get by without the summer tourists. Late last month, I read a follow up article talking about how they're now fearing the virus because they are mobbed with visitors. The Yellowstone webcams also show pretty decent crowds. The only crowds they're not seeing these days are from international travelers, which may be back by next summer.
I kind of figured the animals would be nothing new for you
I am planning to stay in Cody itself for a couple of days. For one, one of my friends lives in Lovell, which is really close to Cody, so I want to see her. For another, there's lots to do in that area without Yellowstone. There's the Buffalo Bill museum, the Irma hotel (where I plan to eat once for each meal, because they have a prime rib dinner, which is one of my favorites that I can't get here, and they have buffets for breakfast, and they have french dip for lunch). So we'll stay in town for those things.
The cabins I found that are 3 miles from the gate are like the one you posted...there are some with kitchenettes so you could conceivably make your own dinner. The thing for me about vacation is that I want a vacation, too. I'm already the only one who still has to do chores like laundry, and I end up being the one who packs for at least A, and a bit for E...I am not cooking, too! I don't mind having a microwave and fridge...I can get pizza rolls, or hot pockets or toaster strudel, but actual cooking? Nope! Not going to happen. If everyone else gets to play Dobby and be a free elf, I do too.
But it doesn't surprise me that the cabins where you stayed were further out. Wyoming is largely rural...lots of people live on ranches outside of towns. My dad's ranch was about 30-40 miles from Gillette, and he had a Gillette address. He was actually closer to Wright, but Wright didn't exist yet when my grandfather homesteaded, and the closest town was Gillette, so that's what the address said. Most of these towns sprang up around the 1850s when the railroad was built, so any residence or business in that area will be considered part of that town unless they were established after another town popped up. And given that towns are few and far between....you can drive from Gillette to Douglas....over 100 miles, and the only town is Wright, with 2000 people There's also Bill, but that only has like...3 people who live there and there's a hotel and restaurant for the railroad workers coming through to and from the coal mines. That's it. So people 50 miles away can still be considered Douglas.
I hadn't thought about that...people flocking to the outdoor areas because they are considered safe. It was just in our news this morning that people are getting Covid more than once. Now they want to see how long immunity lasts. If that's a widespread issue, I don't know how that will play out for future travel. Right now, international travel isn't allowed to or from the US. All this planning might go down the tubes. If we're not even allowed in the country, we'll have to wait. But I really don't see how they can realistically ban travel for years to come. They'll have to get a handle on it eventually, right?
Artist...that's the viewing point of the lower falls, right? What time were you there? That's one of my must do places...I have a picture I took from there when I was like...10, and it was soooo beautiful. It's one of the only things I remember from that trip, besides seeing bears. Should I plan on that one early morning? Are there opening and closing times for the parking areas or are they accessible all the time?
HouCuseChickie
Well-Known Member
***Somehow, I doubled my replies. It's all the same, I think...except for the last picture, which is a map vs. a squirrel
Come to think of it, the kids did get excited about Yellowstone's squirrels since they aren't the same as our local variety.
Aside from what I think was a baby bighorn, we've never seen them in Yellowstone. Still, I know plenty of other people have. At the bottom, I'm going to try and paste a pic of a map a park ranger put together for us showing best spots to find certain animals. Hopefully you can see enough of it for it to be useful.
Makes sense to spend some extra time in Cody. I remember seeing the Irma. I believe we got ice cream at the saloon next door/across the street from the hotel. I looked at it for lodging, but I think the bed situation was an issue. We thought about going to the museum before heading into Yellowstone, but everyone was eager to get into the park. So, we skipped it. It gets decent reviews though and it looks like it would be interesting.
I totally hear where you're coming from on cooking during vacation. We've stayed a few places with full kitchens and on the rare occasion that we use them, it always makes it feel like less of a vacation. It's part of my reluctance of planning too heavily for food in our room for our February Disney trip. Plus, prime rib at a restaurant sounds a heck of a lot better!
That makes sense with the town name. I mapped it and it looked like we were still a few miles from Wapiti, which sits between Cody and YNP. So, I guess it was still Cody for a while after where we were.
I had seen the story about the woman getting it twice. Apparently she had a mild version of the strain circulating in her part of the world, fully recovered, traveled and came back with a different strain, but also asymptomatic this second time. There are so many unknowns and this raises more questions. The intel circulating in the US on the vaccine keeps pointing to multiple doses being required and some are wondering if we'll need some kind of annual or periodic booster even after that. It's anyone's guess. But yeah...travel may still be restricted and derail plans. I agree that they can't ban things forever. I obviously don't want to see anyone get sick, I don't want to see people die, and I don't want healthcare systems overwhelmed, but if there's no end in sight...I think we have to find safer ways to live with it and ultimately open up things like borders for travel. I know not everyone agrees with that and that's fine.
We took our chances with Artists Point and other areas around the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone/the falls. We figured we were staying in that area, so we would have more chances to get there than anything else. I want to say we tried going to these spots after lunch one day. It took several rounds of circling, but I got a spot for Artists Point. Some areas were closed for construction, other areas were a bit easier for parking, and I was never able to get a space near the brink of the lower falls during the trip...which is too bad, because I think that's one of the coolest things in the park.
As for park hours, stores and dining areas will have set hours, but the park gates and areas are open 24/7 as far as I know. In 2005, we did a private photography tour with a ranger and our meet up time was before 6am. I recall having to get an early start in the dark back to Jackson Hole that same trip and no restrictions on the way out either. I remember stopping around West Thumb or Grant as the sun was coming up for sunrise pics. So, getting out early...as long as you're good with the driving...is fine. Oh...and I've still never seen a bear...any kind of bear...in any park or wild area!
Come to think of it, the kids did get excited about Yellowstone's squirrels since they aren't the same as our local variety.
Aside from what I think was a baby bighorn, we've never seen them in Yellowstone. Still, I know plenty of other people have. At the bottom, I'm going to try and paste a pic of a map a park ranger put together for us showing best spots to find certain animals. Hopefully you can see enough of it for it to be useful.
Makes sense to spend some extra time in Cody. I remember seeing the Irma. I believe we got ice cream at the saloon next door/across the street from the hotel. I looked at it for lodging, but I think the bed situation was an issue. We thought about going to the museum before heading into Yellowstone, but everyone was eager to get into the park. So, we skipped it. It gets decent reviews though and it looks like it would be interesting.
I totally hear where you're coming from on cooking during vacation. We've stayed a few places with full kitchens and on the rare occasion that we use them, it always makes it feel like less of a vacation. It's part of my reluctance of planning too heavily for food in our room for our February Disney trip. Plus, prime rib at a restaurant sounds a heck of a lot better!
That makes sense with the town name. I mapped it and it looked like we were still a few miles from Wapiti, which sits between Cody and YNP. So, I guess it was still Cody for a while after where we were.
I had seen the story about the woman getting it twice. Apparently she had a mild version of the strain circulating in her part of the world, fully recovered, traveled and came back with a different strain, but also asymptomatic this second time. There are so many unknowns and this raises more questions. The intel circulating in the US on the vaccine keeps pointing to multiple doses being required and some are wondering if we'll need some kind of annual or periodic booster even after that. It's anyone's guess. But yeah...travel may still be restricted and derail plans. I agree that they can't ban things forever. I obviously don't want to see anyone get sick, I don't want to see people die, and I don't want healthcare systems overwhelmed, but if there's no end in sight...I think we have to find safer ways to live with it and ultimately open up things like borders for travel. I know not everyone agrees with that and that's fine.
We took our chances with Artists Point and other areas around the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone/the falls. We figured we were staying in that area, so we would have more chances to get there than anything else. I want to say we tried going to these spots after lunch one day. It took several rounds of circling, but I got a spot for Artists Point. Some areas were closed for construction, other areas were a bit easier for parking, and I was never able to get a space near the brink of the lower falls during the trip...which is too bad, because I think that's one of the coolest things in the park.
As for park hours, stores and dining areas will have set hours, but the park gates and areas are open 24/7 as far as I know. In 2005, we did a private photography tour with a ranger and our meet up time was before 6am. I recall having to get an early start in the dark back to Jackson Hole that same trip and no restrictions on the way out either. I remember stopping around West Thumb or Grant as the sun was coming up for sunrise pics. So, getting out early...as long as you're good with the driving...is fine. Oh...and I've still never seen a bear...any kind of bear...in any park or wild area!
Last edited:
HouCuseChickie
Well-Known Member
Come to think of it, the kids did get excited about Yellowstone's squirrels since they aren't the same as our local variety.
Aside from what I think was a baby bighorn, we've never seen them in Yellowstone. Still, I know plenty of other people have. At the bottom, I'm going to try and paste a pic of a map a park ranger put together for us showing best spots to find certain animals. Hopefully you can see enough of it for it to be useful.
Makes sense to spend some extra time in Cody. I remember seeing the Irma. I believe we got ice cream at the saloon next door/across the street from the hotel. I looked at it for lodging, but I think the bed situation was an issue. We thought about going to the museum before heading into Yellowstone, but everyone was eager to get into the park. So, we skipped it. It gets decent reviews though and it looks like it would be interesting.
I totally hear where you're coming from on cooking during vacation. We've stayed a few places with full kitchens and on the rare occasion that we use them, it always makes it feel like less of a vacation. It's part of my reluctance of planning too heavily for food in our room for our February Disney trip. Plus, prime rib at a restaurant sounds a heck of a lot better!
That makes sense with the town name. I mapped it and it looked like we were still a few miles from Wapiti, which sits between Cody and YNP. So, I guess it was still Cody for a while after where we were.
I had seen the story about the woman getting it twice. Apparently she had a mild version of the strain circulating in her part of the world, fully recovered, traveled and came back with a different strain, but also asymptomatic this second time. There are so many unknowns and this raises more questions. The intel circulating in the US on the vaccine keeps pointing to multiple doses being required and some are wondering if we'll need some kind of annual or periodic booster even after that. It's anyone's guess. But yeah...travel may still be restricted and derail plans. I agree that they can't ban things forever. I obviously don't want to see anyone get sick, I don't want to see people die, and I don't want healthcare systems overwhelmed, but if there's no end in sight...I think we have to find safer ways to live with it and ultimately open up things like borders for travel. I know not everyone agrees with that and that's fine.
We took our chances with Artists Point and other areas around the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone/the falls. We figured we were staying in that area, so we would have more chances to get there than anything else. I want to say we tried going to these spots after lunch one day. It took several rounds of circling, but I got a spot for Artists Point. Some areas were closed for construction, other areas were a bit easier for parking, and I was never able to get a space near the brink of the lower falls during the trip...which is too bad, because I think that's one of the coolest things in the park.
As for park hours, stores and dining areas will have set hours, but the park gates and areas are open 24/7 as far as I know. In 2005, we did a private photography tour with a ranger and our meet up time was before 6am. I recall having to get an early start in the dark back to Jackson Hole that same trip and no restrictions on the way out either. I remember stopping around West Thumb or Grant as the sun was coming up for sunrise pics. So, getting out early...as long as you're good with the driving...is fine. Oh...and I've still never seen a bear...any kind of bear...in any park or wild area!
Songbird76
Well-Known Member
Well, if we don't find bighorn sheep in Yellowstone, we'll find them in Dubois. That's where the National Bighorn Sheep Center is, and they have viewing areas, etc. So we'll find them. Bears are pretty uncommon anymore. They're there, but not usually in the more well-traveled areas. People used to feed them, and they'd come right up to the cars, but they put a stop to that in like...the 60s or 70s I think. When we went in the 80s, we saw a mama grizzly and two cubs, but they were SOOOOOO far away, even with mom's opera glasses (we didn't have binoculars) they were just dots. But that's probably a good thing, as a mama protecting her cubs is more dangerous....best to stay a distance away. We decided to go further up the road to a shop to buy some real binoculars. We didn't make it far before we saw a black bear just on the side of the road, across a narrow creek, and people all over the place. People were being so stupid. There was a kid about 10 who was on the other side of the creek with a marshmallow on a stick, trying to feed it....only 5 feet away or so. If that bear had decided that single marshmallow wasn't that interesting, the kid would have been a goner, and you can't outrun a bear! Especially if you have to cross a stream to get away! Mom let us roll our windows down a couple of inches to snap a picture and then we drove on...there was no getting out of the car for us!***Somehow, I doubled my replies. It's all the same, I think...except for the last picture, which is a map vs. a squirrel
Come to think of it, the kids did get excited about Yellowstone's squirrels since they aren't the same as our local variety.
Aside from what I think was a baby bighorn, we've never seen them in Yellowstone. Still, I know plenty of other people have. At the bottom, I'm going to try and paste a pic of a map a park ranger put together for us showing best spots to find certain animals. Hopefully you can see enough of it for it to be useful.
Makes sense to spend some extra time in Cody. I remember seeing the Irma. I believe we got ice cream at the saloon next door/across the street from the hotel. I looked at it for lodging, but I think the bed situation was an issue. We thought about going to the museum before heading into Yellowstone, but everyone was eager to get into the park. So, we skipped it. It gets decent reviews though and it looks like it would be interesting.
I totally hear where you're coming from on cooking during vacation. We've stayed a few places with full kitchens and on the rare occasion that we use them, it always makes it feel like less of a vacation. It's part of my reluctance of planning too heavily for food in our room for our February Disney trip. Plus, prime rib at a restaurant sounds a heck of a lot better!
That makes sense with the town name. I mapped it and it looked like we were still a few miles from Wapiti, which sits between Cody and YNP. So, I guess it was still Cody for a while after where we were.
I had seen the story about the woman getting it twice. Apparently she had a mild version of the strain circulating in her part of the world, fully recovered, traveled and came back with a different strain, but also asymptomatic this second time. There are so many unknowns and this raises more questions. The intel circulating in the US on the vaccine keeps pointing to multiple doses being required and some are wondering if we'll need some kind of annual or periodic booster even after that. It's anyone's guess. But yeah...travel may still be restricted and derail plans. I agree that they can't ban things forever. I obviously don't want to see anyone get sick, I don't want to see people die, and I don't want healthcare systems overwhelmed, but if there's no end in sight...I think we have to find safer ways to live with it and ultimately open up things like borders for travel. I know not everyone agrees with that and that's fine.
We took our chances with Artists Point and other areas around the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone/the falls. We figured we were staying in that area, so we would have more chances to get there than anything else. I want to say we tried going to these spots after lunch one day. It took several rounds of circling, but I got a spot for Artists Point. Some areas were closed for construction, other areas were a bit easier for parking, and I was never able to get a space near the brink of the lower falls during the trip...which is too bad, because I think that's one of the coolest things in the park.
As for park hours, stores and dining areas will have set hours, but the park gates and areas are open 24/7 as far as I know. In 2005, we did a private photography tour with a ranger and our meet up time was before 6am. I recall having to get an early start in the dark back to Jackson Hole that same trip and no restrictions on the way out either. I remember stopping around West Thumb or Grant as the sun was coming up for sunrise pics. So, getting out early...as long as you're good with the driving...is fine. Oh...and I've still never seen a bear...any kind of bear...in any park or wild area!
Mom also told the story of how she and her cousin went camping in Yellowstone before she was married. So it would have been 60s. They had set up their tent and everything and they decided to clean out the car. Her cousin was chatting away and suddenly my mom was telling her to be quiet and get in the car and shut the door. My mom had a tendency to be very bossy and not very tactful...she expected people to jump when she said to. Being adults, and the cousin actually being older than my mom, she didn't take kindly to my mom giving her orders to shut up and get in the car. She hadn't seen the bear who came to investigate their tent. So she starts arguing with my mom...stop being so bossy! Why are you always telling me what to do! Finally my mom pointed at the bear and she got the message. It's an amusing anecdote now....no one got hurt and they saw a bear in Yellowstone. But I totally understand her cousin's reaction. It's kind of like the boy who cried wolf, except with my mom, it's the girl who always ordered people around. After a while, people get annoyed with you always thinking you know best and they won't listen anymore. But I think that was towards the end of the bears being close to the main areas.
I'll ask at the gates about viewing areas and what times are best to beat crowds, etc. My crew doesn't like to get up early, but I think for things like this, they might have to.
HouCuseChickie
Well-Known Member
The place in Dubois looks neat and relatively easy to get to from the parks. Looks like you drive down into Grand Teton and cut over around the Moran junction.
When we were going through my FIL's stuff, we found some old albums from his mom and I recall a picture of her in Yellowstone and she was feeding a bear...or something like that. Of course, that was the norm back then. Now that bears aren't used to being fed, it seems most attacks are from bears being startled and protecting their cubs. Of course, some is also the people being ridiculous. It's amazing how stupid some people are with animals.
Wow! What a Yellowstone story for your mom. Thankfully nobody was hurt and the point was conveyed before anything bad could happen. I've seen a number of people come back with bear pictures and a number of bear sightings posted to boards while we were there, but we just weren't in the right place at the right time. It's also partly the heat on our last visit. The bears usually go up to higher elevations in the park when it's hot like that.
If things are more normal when you go, you can also head into a visitor center and a ranger should be able to help guide you.