USA Loop

Let me start by introducing you to my (Liz’s) (no longer) secret hobby, my Instagram account @jarvis_the_bear – it’s an account featuring our adventures through the beaded eyes of my plushies. You’ll see some pictures of Jarvis, Janet, Little Burt & Little Burtina featured in our trip reports too.

You can see more cuteness and if you happen to have a plushie account too you can also join Jarvis’s Plushie Wildlife Watching Club.

Now onto the trip report…

Day 1 - London to Chicago to Las Vegas

We had a morning departure because we were not flying directly to Las Vegas, so we spent the night before at the Sofitel near to Terminal 5.

We were up early and walked over to the First Wing, checked in and made our way through security to the Concord Room (British Airways First Lounge) for breakfast. The novelty has worn off a little and honestly, it’s fine when it’s a voucher trip (two for one with AVIOS) but when you are paying to fly first class it’s not really as good as some other airlines. Other than the Champagne, the breakfast was pretty average.

We were escorted to our seats and, as we are Gold Tier, were asked what our meal choices were (they sometimes run low on some options so the crew will rank passengers asking those with higher loyalty membership first). We settled in and enjoyed the First service on the 8 hour flight to Chicago.

During the flight Jarvis was given the opportunity to go into the flight deck for a photoshoot.

The flight landed on time and after passing through immigration and customs we had a 3 hour layover, before the joys of American Airlines lounge and then a 4.5 hour leg to Las Vegas.

We landed ahead of schedule and did not have too long a wait for the bags. Then on the shuttle to the car rental center to collect our Avis ride for this trip. It was pretty quiet at around 7pm, but not a lot of inventory in the stalls.

I was allocated a 2021 Kia Sorento AWD, with just over 38k miles on the clock (and the tires!) and not a lot of bells and whistles, but it would do.

Then a short drive to our hotel, the Double Tree. A couple of drinks and then bed to try and get a few hours sleep after a long day.

Day 2 - Las Vegas to Logan - "Logan's Run"

As always we were awake at stupid o’clock, so repacked road trip style and finally left about an hour before sunrise. Avis had not emailed the contract (now paperless) so I called back into the Rental center to get a printed copy and avoided the parking fee as the attendant let me off.

Then onto I-15 which was busyish, but the traffic soon dispersed once we got north of Nellis. Dawn was just about breaking around Mesquite and I enjoyed ripping through Virgin River Canyon as the sun started to light it up.

First stop was Kolob Canyon section of Zion NP, and did our usual drive to the end and work our way back approach. There were a few other visitors doing similar, and we were there about an hour after which we made a quick gas station stop south of Cedar City for a drink and snack for later and onwards up I-15. We topped for gas at Meadow and ate our fantastic gas station sarnies.

Kolob Canyon - Zion National Park

Once we got to Provo, the traffic started building and it was busy, if not slow (speed limits just a suggestion in Utah?!!) all the way until we got north of Salt Lake City.

We had considered going to Golden Spike as a photo opportunity for Jarvis but Liz decided she had spent enough time in the car, now called No’I, as when Liz asked me for a name I said I had ‘No idea?’ so he became No’I Kia!

We turned onto US89 near Brigham City and headed for our overnight in Logan.

We checked in then set off to the local Walmart to get our road trip supplies, and still in shock at the impacts of inflation and weak £.

As we left, I missed the turn and as a result had to do a ‘round the block’ trip to get back, but found no left turn possible. So I turned right and pulled straight over to the left lane to take a left so I could do a virtual U turn. At this point I noticed the red and blue flashing lights in my rear view mirror. Not sure if it was for me or

I was in his way, I continued into the next left turn lane and waited at the intersection.

The cop car followed me and again and turned off his lights, I guess to stop from blocking the junction should I have been stupid enough to stop there. Once we had both turned left he put the lights on again and my low speed getaway had not lost him! I pulled over at a safe location, remembering to stay in the vehicle and keep my hands on show (although as a middle aged white bloke I suppose my chances of getting shot were pretty low anyway).

He took a while to get out of his car and walk over to my window. Apparently, my manoeuvre had caused him to break, but seeing as I could not see him as I turned out he must have been moving quickly. Anyway, I was suitably apologetic and he was very friendly, so after checking my details (just licence, no rental papers etc) he let me off with a warning and a smile.

I then had Liz singing ‘Bad Boys, Bad Boys’ all the way back to the hotel!

After my brush with the law, we went to the local Prodigy Brew pub for some beer and dinner, and again bit of punishment for the credit card!

Today's mileage: 525 miles

Day 3 - Logan to West Yellowstone - "Who’s kidnapped all the wildlife? "

Again we were up early, but as we had decided we would take advantage of any included hotel breakfasts on this trip, helped by the lateness of dawn, we hung around until 6am.

I started perfecting my waffle making technique, given I would have plenty of practise and we had slow breakfast, but still packed and left in the dark. I like Logan, and I like the drive through Logan Canyon, and there was still a bit of Fall colour around as dawn broke. However, the low early sun made the view from Bear Lake overlook a glary experience.

At Montpelier, we took a divert on US30 to drive the route from Soda Springs to Freedom via Waylan as an alternative to staying on US89. It was ok, last 10 miles were better, but I would not go out of my way to drive it again.

Then back up US89, to Alpine and on to Hoback, including seeing an accident unfold when a trailer came loose and appeared to hit a Uhaul truck in front of us, no one injured fortunately.

At Hoback Junction, we joined US191 and followed this through Jackson (no Moose Wilson Road into Grand Teton NP as closed for works) and on to Moran Junction.

There was both a herd of Bison and Pronghorn alongside the road and we hoped this would be the start of some good wildlife spotting, but no, nothing much else spotted roadside all the way from the entrance to Grand Teton NP, through Yellowstone NP to West Yellowstone,(including no Elk along the Madison River). Pretty much a first for us in our 10 visits!

There were a few sections of roadworks, including what appeared to be drainage works following the flooding earlier in the year.

We checked into our hotel. October in Yellowstone means limited accommodation options and the closures due to the June floods had exacerbated this, including ruling out our preferred choice of Gardiner.

Given we had seen nothing close to the West Entrance, we decided to leave going back into the park (for sunset) until tomorrow and headed into town for dinner at the Wild West. It was ok if overpriced for what it was and the server was put out then we insisted on sitting in the restaurant, not in the bar.

Today's mileage: 346 miles

Day 4 - Yellowstone National Park Southern Loop - "wildlife on strike?"

After yesterday’s wildlife blow out, we were hoping toady would be a bit better, although we decided to focus today on the southern loop and the geothermal sites, not our normal MO in Yellowstone.

Ate breakfast in the hotel, defrosted No’I and we were still into the park before sunrise. Again, nothing alongside the Madison River and we headed for the Fountain Paint Pot area. Only one other car in the car park and a nice dawn stroll around the boardwalk, remembering to tread warily on the lethal recycled boarding, noticing how dry some of the features were.

Then to Prismatic Spring, but after a slippy slidy walk up the ramp and seeing it was basically the outdoor equivalent of a Turkish bath in the cold morning air, we abandoned that plan and set off for Old Faithful…..just missing the eruption!

We would have about an hour to wait once we got there. But Liz decided she wanted a spot for Jarvis so we enjoyed the early morning and chatted about the rest of the day. Old Faithfull eventually performed about on schedule and we set off towards Yellowstone Lake.

This side of the park was deserted this early. We pulled into a pull out next to the river and while I tried to photograph a raptor, Liz went for a plushie photo shoot. I looked round and could not see her. Just as I was about to go looking, Jarvis came flying over the bank, followed by Liz looking a bit dishevelled. Apparently, she had slipped trying to get down the bank and had a few bruises and a muddy landing. I don’t think she was impressed that my sympathy lasted about a millisecond before I pointed out how draft it was attempting that.

A stop at Fishing Bridge provided no otters as usual, and again wildlife was at a premium all over.

Nothing much in Hyden Valley either but that’s not unusual for us, and then a visit to Canyon South Rim for a while and a few short trails. A comfort stop at Canyon Village, everything shut as expected and Liz decided we were going to run up to Tower Roosevelt, to see if our wildlife viewing would pick up.

Well it did slightly at Calcite springs with a family of Bighorn Sheep but nothing much else. So we headed back to Canyon, saw a coyote, and towards Norris Junction through the Pineous Monotonous zone.

We decided to go back to the Firehole River drive and Grand Prismatic Spring, but by now it was packed so that visit lasted about 30 seconds! Then back to West Yellowstone, again through a wildlife free zone alongside the Madison River.

Dinner tonight was in the slippery Otter Pub which was pretty good if a bit on the pricy side for what it was, beer was fine though.

Today's mileage: 169