A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 136 miles from Alpine, Wyoming to Yellowstone, Wyoming.
Travel from Alpine to Yellowstone, Wyoming
We drove our coach 270 miles, over four hours of very scenic driving, from Alpine, Wyoming to Yellowstone, Wyoming.
Here’s the map route, heading north:
An interactive map, with potential stops; we only actually stopped at Flagg Ranch:
Leaving our site:
Leaving the RV park:
Alpine:
Snake River:
Interesting rocks:
Snowmobile:
Jackson:
HQ of the rafting company we patronized:
Entering Grand Teton National Park:
Paladin in his safe space:
For some reason, the entrance station for Grand Teton National Park is nowhere near the entrance:
The built-in GPS in our coach claimed that no RVs were allowed (and the wrong speed limit); bad data:
We stopped at Flagg Ranch for lunch, since it had a huge mostly empty parking lot:
Paladin on upturned dining chairs:
Entering Yellowstone National Park (with people taking selfies in front of the sign, thanks for that):
The Yellowstone south entrance station:
Lewis River:
Roadworks:
Continental Divide:
West Thumb of Lake Yellowstone:
Fishing Bridge over Yellowstone River:
Yellowstone General Store:
Checking in to Fishing Bridge RV Park:
Arriving at our site for the next two weeks:
Such a scenic drive!
Replacing bathroom faucets and soap dispensers
Jenn didn’t like the bathroom faucets and soap dispensers that came with our coach, as the faucets were rather splashy, and the dispensers let water into them, diluting the soap.
So we bought replacements from Home Depot, and I installed them.
Here’s the old faucet in the rear bathroom:
The new faucet:
Looking under the sink, one can see manifolds of hoses to various parts of the bathroom (sink, toilet, shower, and washing machine); the sink hot and cold connectors are on the top:
This being an RV, of course the hose for the faucet was non-standard, so I needed to get a “hex nipple” to adapt the 1/2 inch MIP hose connectors:
Disconnected:
The old and new faucets:
A new hose, with the hex nipple adapter on the left, and the adapter that came with the faucet on the right:
Holes in the counter for the faucet and dispenser:
New hoses connected:
New soap dispenser:
The soap dispenser bottle installed:
The new faucet and soap dispenser installed:
Similarly, the old soap dispenser and faucet in the half bath:
Hoses under the half bath sink, nicely labeled:
Disconnected hoses:
The new faucet mounted:
Connected hoses under the half bath sink:
The installed new soap dispenser and faucet in the half bath:
Finally, I also replaced the soap dispenser in the kitchen. That was the most difficult to get to. I accessed it by removing the drawers:
A peek of the old soap bottle:
To install the new one, I reached back through the drawers space and poked the assembled soap bottle and tube up through the hole, before screwing the top on:
The new soap dispenser in the kitchen:
Snake River whitewater rafting
While staying in Alpine, Wyoming, we did a whitewater rafting experience on the Snake River. My first time.
The rafting trip was between West Table Boat Ramp and Sheep Gulch Boat Ramp:
A nice thing about staying at Alpine Valley RV Resort was a van to take us to the starting point, instead of having to go all the way to Jackson. We had the van to ourselves:
Everyone else arrived by bus from Jackson:
Boats:
Jenn with a life vest:
Ready to go:
On the river:
Selfie:
Swimming stop:
Our guide:
Pulling people back in:
GIFs:
Beaver den:
A slo-mo video of going over some rapids:
Professional pictures; Jenn and I are at the back:
Finishing:
Us afterwards:
Grand Teton National Park
We visited Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming on three days while staying in Alpine, about an hour south of the park.
Passing through Jackson with its antler arches:
A stop at the National Elk Refuge visitor center just north of Jackson (where we didn’t see any live elk):
Entering Grand Teton National Park:
Park map:
Craig Thomas Discovery & Visitor Center:
Colter Bay Visitor Center:
Mormon Row, and the iconic barn:
Bison:
Rockefeller Parkway Visitor Information Station:
Flagg Ranch:
Jackson Lake dam:
Jenny Lake:
A scenic national park.
Craters of the Moon National Monument
A first for us: we visited Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho with our coach on a travel day. We parked our coach at the visitor center, unhooked our truck, and drove around the park, plus walked around a bit.
Visitor center:
Relief map; the red circle lights show the moving magma hot spot that is currently under Yellowstone:
Old lava:
Crater:
Snow in the crater:
Alpine Valley RV Resort
We stayed at Alpine Valley RV Resort in Alpine, Wyoming. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A new RV resort at 5,670 feet elevation, where we stayed to visit Grand Teton National Park, an hour north.
Dates:
- Check in: 2023-07-13
- Check out: 2023-07-22
- 9 nights
Weather:
- Sunny
- High temps ranging between 79-88°F, lows around 50-58°F
- Some wind, 26 MPH gusts
Noise:
- Some road noise
- No train noise
- Some neighbor noise (kids)
Site:
- #20, pull-through, concrete
- Kinda needed to disconnect toad; parked in front of coach
- Level
- Asphalt driveway and concrete pad about 70 feet long by about 10 feet wide (rather narrow)
- Grass between sites about 12 feet wide
- Young trees
- Concrete patio with table and chairs
- Fire pit
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, conveniently located
- 75 PSI water, conveniently located
- Good sewer connection, somewhat conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)
Internet (in usage priority order):
- Campground Wi-Fi: 80 Mbps down, 90 Mbps up, 5 ms ping
- T-Mobile: 21-40 Mbps down, 7-16 Mbps up, 80 ms ping
- Verizon: 3 Mbps down, 1-5 Mbps up, 200-1000 ms ping
- AT&T: negligible service (phones work, MiFi didn’t)
- Starlink: not used
Amenities:
- Garbage pickup from site
- Package delivery to site
- Coffee shop and grocery store in walking distance
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Beautiful new park, beautiful mountain views
This is a very nice, new park that definitely has had a lot of care and attention put into it. Sites were immaculate, with spacious grassy areas and concrete patios. When the trees grow up a bit, they’ll provide nice shade, but for now, you get really nice views of the surrounding mountains. At check-in, we were escorted to our site and guided in, which is always a nice touch. When folks checked out, each site was cleaned and prepped for the next arrival. Not every place does this, but the best ones do. Another small thing that makes a huge difference is the frequent trash pickup from your site. My only regret was not getting a back-in site so we’d have fewer neighbors and better views, but that gives me something to aspire to for next time. We camped at Alpine Valley RV Resort in a Motorhome.
Tip for Other Campers: Book a whitewater rafting trip with Dave Hansen with pickup from the resort. You basically get concierge service between the resort and the river, which makes for a fantastic experience. Broulim’s is a nice grocery store within walking distance from the resort. Good coffee at Punkins, also within walking distance.
The campground map:
Our site:
Interesting water faucet; looks like they can remove the tap for winterizing:
Adding the Teton sticker to our coach:
Other sites:
A path to a river overlook:
Snake River (no access from the campground; there’s a steep bank):
The park is still under construction; they have a temporary building for the office currently:
A white-water rafting water feature also under construction:
Playground:
Bathrooms:
Nearby gas station:
A nice nearby grocery store; it was very convenient to walk to get groceries:
Nearby Subway etc, also in walking distance:
Nearby mercantile:
Nearby coffee shop:
A nice park. We’d stay here again, though would choose a back-in site next time, for an un-obstructed view over the river to the mountains.
Video: Glenns Ferry, Idaho to Alpine, Wyoming motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 270 miles from Glenns Ferry, Idaho to Alpine, Wyoming.
Travel from Glenns Ferry, Idaho to Alpine, Wyoming
We drove our coach 270 miles, over four hours of driving, from Glenns Ferry, Idaho to Alpine, Wyoming.
Here’s the map route, heading east:
An interactive map, with potential stops marked:
Our actual stops:
Preparing to leave:
Mural:
Snake River:
Love’s travel centers have been adding RV parks; this looks like a decent one, with pull-through sites:
Wide load:
Shoshone:
Zoomed perspective of the road (highway 26):
Another wide load:
We chose this route so we could visit Craters of the Moon National Monument:
It has some RV parking, which barely fits us, so we were able to visit on a travel day — a first for us:
We unhooked our truck, and drove around the park (see a forthcoming post about that):
When we got back, the RV parking was full:
Onward on US-20:
Arco, Idaho, the first city in the world to be lit by atomic power:
We made an unplanned stop at a rest area, to take a break from unnervingly high wind gusts:
Peaks:
Fuel stop:
We had to wait for a long time due to an inconsiderate truck driver that had parked and gone inside; the convention at truck stops is after fueling you can pull forward and stop for up to 15 minutes, but this driver was gone much longer than that:
Potato fields:
Snake River:
Palisades Dam:
Palisades Reservoir:
“Welcome to Wyoming”:
Our destination:
Basement subwoofer
In a basement compartment of our coach was a subwoofer, presumably synced with the outside TV. We hardly ever use that TV, and wouldn’t want to be booming loud bass sounds when we do, so I’ve had the subwoofer unplugged for ages, and recently removed it and put it into storage.
Here’s the subwoofer, nicely mounted on a shelf:
It is a wireless subwoofer, so the only attachment is a power cord:
The empty shelf:
That seemed like a good place to put a fire extinguisher and first aid kit, so they’re out of the way, but always reachable:
A much better use of that space!