Snowmobiling West Yellowstone, 2021

Q: So what do you when your RV home breaks down and will take a week to fix? 

A: Go snowmobiling in West Yellowstone, of course!

Actually, we had been planning a snowmobiling trip for some time. Vicki, who has always been the driving force in our snowmobile adventures, but rarely the driver, needs a fix every few years. We had sold our former snowmobile back in March of 2016, so it was time. From Escondido, we rented a AWD Jeep and drove to West Yellowstone forthwith. As noted in the previous post, we had already planned to do this trip this week, with motel and snowmobile reservations already in place.

It was a marvelous trip. The 2-day driving from California to Montana and back bookended a week of great weather, great snow and grooming, and sparse company both in town and on the trails. The government and citizens of West Yellowstone pretty rigorously observed relevant Covid-19 protocols, although their tourist/yahoo visitors were not so rigorous. More American exceptionalism; nothing new. Historian Patricia Limerick once observed that about 10% of any population are jerks. In the US, it's about 35%, I'd say. And not just jerks, either.

We stayed at the Day's Inn, enjoying ample nice accommodations, socially-distanced hot breakfasts, and a soothing hot-tub to ourselves after our three day-long rides. Temps were in the single digits over-night, but up into the 30s by the afternoons. Skies were mostly clear every day. Snow levels were fine in the valleys as well as in the high country. Trail grooming from West Yellowstone and from Island Park, ID, is done almost nightly, and on several occasions we were clearly the first to hit an extra virgin, cold-pressed trail. In this snowmobiling mecca, trail signage is excellent, and one is never out of cell-phone range. 

We were five full days in West Yellowstone, three on the trail, two resting back in town. Our snowmobile rentals were from High Mark and Yellowstone Adventures, both four-cycle Ski-Doo Grand Touring machines, two-ups (two seats), 900cc and 600cc respectively. We've been dealing with Yellowstone Adventures since the turn of the century, first rentals, later actually buying one of their lightly-used four-cycle 1000cc Ski-Doos in 2003, and having it serviced by them periodically. The only downer was the expected fatigue and soreness resulting from hours on the sleds. But at our age, fatigue and soreness are expected from almost any activity.

West Yellowstone street scene; all the streets are kept snow-
covered, except for the two highways that intersect: US 20
and US 287

First day out, first picture

Heading for Two Top, a perennial favorite

Winter Wonderland, what Vicki likes most, en route to Two Top

Tetons in the distance (magnified)

Atop Two Top; as high as the trail goes

The top of Two Top; we learned in 2003 not to take a heavy
two-up off the groomed trail

Panning around

Another view of the trail and the Tetons

Us on Two Top

Vicki in a cold but happy place

Looking toward Yellowstone country

Big Spring

In Island Park, a pretty good indication of the snow level

Extra virgin, cold-pressed freshly groomed trail

Me, drinking to that; unfortunately it was just 
black coffee

Another day, heading for Mesa Falls, Tetons again, from Idaho

Thus, Lower Falls

Up closer

Along Henry's Fork (of the Snake River)(which issues from 
Henry's Lake): Henry's Swan

Headed for Lion's Head...behold! we are on the Continental

Divide Trail...our favorite snowmobile adventures were on the

CDT, a hundred or so miles east of here, in Wyoming; too

high and isolated for us nowadays; plus no one would rent a

two-up for solo use

Looking toward Lion's Head

Looking out across Lake Hegben; not our tracks

Looking back toward Yellowstone

Extremely thin ice on Lake Hegben; note bevy of extremely
noisy swans...

We didn't get into the Park this time (we would have had to
make reservations in 2017) nor did we encounter any bison 

But we did encounter this critter, not 200 feet from town, which
we like to think was a wolf; but more likely a coyote

To see a couple dozen more such posts, just enter "snowmobiling" in the side-bar search box.

Not In Mission Bay Anymore

February 24th was an eventful day. We decamped and drove to Oceanside harbor for a pleasant lunch with Vicki's brother Bob and his wife Beth. When we began to pull out of the parking lot--very long story short--our camper's transmission failed, utterly. I managed to coax the camper into a parking space while Vicki desperately called Bob to return and take us to our 2:30 and 2:45 appointments for our second Moderna vaccinations. It would have been a really bad day had we missed those! Meantime, I called Europarts San Diego, from whom we have been buying Sprinter parts for perhaps a decade, and asked their recommendation of a shop that knows Sprinters, near Oceanside. The vehicle was undriveable. 

After spending the night where we were parked, with police permission, the tow truck took us to Big Red's Performance Auto, in Escondido. There, all the scans indicated transmission, and, even after erasing the various error codes, a test drive indicated slipping between gears and no shift beyond 3rd gear. Prognosis: new (rebuilt) transmission, which would take perhaps a week to acquire and install. 

We were not happy campers. But, as Vicki observed, it is a common Sprinter malady, ours is a 15 year old vehicle, and we do budget for (minor) catastrophes. And, as catastrophes go, it was a fortuitous one. We had already planned on putting the camper in storage the next day and driving a rental car to West Yellowstone for a week's snowmobiling; and had already reserved snowmobiles and motel rooms. So, we just left the camper with Big Red (rent-free), rented an AWD Jeep, unpacked and repacked, and set forth, much poorer and not wiser, but still very lucky, for our old sledding grounds in Montana.

A scene I've been dreading, for decades...

Moonrise over Barstow, CA

Entering Nevada; of course

Definitely not in San Diego anymore; northern Utah

Now on route 20, Idaho, nearing West Yellowstone

Mission Bay Out-Takes

We were there, at Campland on the Bay, from January 7th to February 24th. Our one departure came on January 27th, when we rented a car and drove to Oceanside for the first of our Moderna vaccinations. Through her usual ingenuity and persistence, Vicki got us early reservations on California's My Turn website. We took advantage of the car rental to see more of Mission Bay, the ocean beach, San Diego Old Town, and Oceanside harbor. Otherwise it was pretty much the same daily routine: sleep in as much as possible, read news/internet/etc., do Duolingo (I'm on a ten-week streak in French!), have brunch/lunch, go for an afternoon walk generally approaching 10,000 steps, sometimes more, rest, fix/eat dinner, watch MSNBC, read news/internet, etc. In addition, after watching The Queen's Gambit, I've taken up playing chess with the computer (lichess.org mainly). Alas, I've not progressed much in these two months: Stockfish #3 routinely routs me, and I can barely hold my own with Stockfish #2. But I pretty much know the rules, if not the strategies and tactics. Vicki watched the entire Outlander series, again, and is still disappointed in my lack of resemblance to Jamie. We are watching Men in Kilts now, together, so perhaps she still has hope. We took few pix over our nearly two months on Mission Bay, except for our outings, but enough for the customary out-takes.

The area apparently has a problem with giant rats...

Surfing on the beach south 

In Old Town, the original site of early San Diego

Excellent signage

19th century Old Town hotel

Big first shot day

In "recovery" after my first shot; neither of us had any side
effects, apart from sore arms

First sighting for me: a vertical take-off/landing craft

Dutch van?

Another first for me; I'll be really impressed when they can
train cats for paddle boarding

Near La Jolla, at the French Gourmet restaurant (with patio
dining); we liked it well enough to make the six mile round-trip
for brunch twice, en pied

N

The beach just south of La Jolla, Valentine's Day

What, your town doesn't have an indoor axe-throwing parlor?

On Mission Bay

January 6^th we decamped, bade farewells, and began our drive south to our new temporary home, Campland on the Bay, an RV park on Mission Bay, in San Diego.

January 6^th.... As I was driving, Vicki began picking up reports of the assault on the Capitol, the insurrection, just after we passed through Gilroy and began across Pacheco Pass. The reports continued all afternoon and into the evening. We were appalled, of course, though hardly surprised. It has been building toward this since Oklahoma City, or before, and Trump's encouragement, as the authoritarian wannabe and white nationalist-in-chief, has been a central feature of his administration. Wednesday, January 20th, we joined with most of the rest of the world in breathing a heavy sigh of relief as Joe Biden was inaugurated. But the dunghills of racism, extremism, and authoritarianism remain, still very much intact. Other than fixing the climate, the pandemic, and the economy—what president has ever faced greater challenges?--Biden could help us toward greater unity by seeing that Trump's manifold transgressions are fully exposed, offering his followers the opportunity to see how they have been duped by him and his political party. But I digress.

We have been at Campland now for more than two weeks, not doing much except reading and going for walks in the area. The weather is slightly warmer than Middle California, even to the point of days with short sleeves once or twice. The major change in our routine is that we hooked Le Sport's TV up to the campground cable and have been watching MSNBC in the evenings. Our other pastime is playing the national Covid19 vaccine sweepstakes. We have appointments late in February but keep hoping something earlier will open up.

Mission Bay...an entirely human-made expanse, post-WWII,
dredging the tidal wetlands, building a variety of parks, marinas,
trails, golf courses, etc. Now, of course, the city wants to take
back much of what was built and return it to wetlands; sic transit,
Gloria

Among the largest RV parks we have seen, 500 spaces; with
all the amenities, although many are closed now; the campground
is about half full; we're parked just up from the beach

Our encampment, with Clam screenhouse

We're about 200 feet from the campground beach

On one of our daily walks, local flora

Local sculpture

A building we like, near the (ocean) beach

The beach and (now disused) pier at Pacific Beach, 2 miles'
walk from our campsite

Looking south

Part of the naval presence in San Diego; an assault ship, I think

Another day, squalls moving in

Surf's up

Downtown San Diego, from Mission Bay