Since we started traveling fulltime we have had a mouse in Scoopy on three occasions and two of them have been while we are in the Teton Valley! And this time, the mouse brought his friends! We caught three in a matter of hours and though they weren’t inside for long, they sure made a mess!
That is one of the main reasons we decided to move on to Henry’s Lake State Park where we could enjoy full hook-ups and thoroughly clean Scoopy! It didn’t hurt that the setting was gorgeous! It was also fairly close to Yellowstone, which we thought we’d enjoy often, but once we got started on cleaning, the process took on a life of it’s own and kept us fairly close to home.
Every drawer and cabinet was emptied, wiped with Clorox cloths and adorned with a light-colored liner. This will make it much easier to spot any offending matter in the drawers in the future. The washing machine was in constant use as was the vacuum cleaner. Bits and pieces of stray dry goods and various and sundry foodstuffs were tossed and the trash bags piled up. That was the other great thing about staying in a FHU campground – garbage disposal!
Steven did a lot of the icky stuff, like disinfecting everything and operating Stanley. He did a great job!
We made great use of the makeshift “dumpster” at the park 🙂
The thing about this kind of deep clean is that the place gets completely trashed during the process. Then we decided to shampoo the carpet and things really got ugly. Our home was in complete disarray.
Our newest family member: Stanley!
All-in-all, it was a multi-day project that needed to be done, even if our favorite National Park was just down the road. We did manage to take a day off and visit Yellowstone which, of course, was spectacular as always. We originally intended to stay at Henry’s Lake for five days, but we extended for three more. Oh, glorious hook-ups! I’ve said it before, no matter how long we boondock, it takes about a nano-second to adjust and become addicted to FHUs!
Yellowstone was glorious, of course! We also got to see a wolf off in the high grass.
For the first few days at Henry’s Lake we kept up with our walking, trying to get at least 10k steps per day. (Now, it makes me LOL that we thought we could physically prepare ourselves for Amazon by walking 10k steps each day….we were so innocent!) It certainly helped that we were in a beautiful setting with lots of trails to walk. But, after a few days, we both kind of gave up. We got bored with walking and figured we’d just tough it out at Amazon.
Trumpeter Swans at Henry’s Lake State Park.
The views of Henry’s Lake were just wonderful with an ever-changing light.
When we left Henry’s Lake State Park, we drove through Yellowstone N.P. to Buffalo Bill State Park just outside Cody, WY. We’d never driven Scoopy through the park before and it was a gorgeous drive, kind of overcast with dramatic clouds. You know, a photographer’s dream.
We only stayed one night, but we still managed to visit a few places, including historic Old Town, a must-see attraction with beautifully preserved buildings and paraphernalia from the late 1800s. But mostly we just enjoyed the beautiful view from our campsite. At this point, we had a few stays along our route to Kentucky and, while we couldn’t stay in Cody as long as we’d like, there’s always next time!
Our spot at Buffalo Bill State Park.
And here’s the man himself in the center of downtown Cody.
Old Town was a great place to visit with lots of authentic Wild West curiosities.
UP NEXT: Custer State Park
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After 2 encounters with critters in the house, I was told (AZ ranger) that lights would discourage them. I purchased a string of solar powered LEDs and have not yet had them return, that's not a guarantee I'm sure. Cody was on our list for next year, but alas time restraints enroute to our eclipse site 🙁 Thanks for sharing your beautiful pictures!
Love your photos! I keep adding your stops to my list of "must see" places.
Mary
You guys still crack me up naming all your stuff! Love the pic of the wolf! What an amazing place Yellowstone is – can't wait for you to show it to us in person one day!
Not much worse than getting a mouse in your rig. Hopefully you got rid of them never to be seen again. Love the wolf picture, that is a rare sighting.
Thanks for taking us along on your adventures. I'm looking forward to 2017 and hoping you keep us along . Hope you have a great Christmas and a safe and happy new year. Boise Idaho
We see lot of folks with lights around their rig, but we've never tried it. Might have to next time we're in the Teton Valley. Which, BTW, we won't be for the eclipse. We thought about it, but it's a long way from the east coast. We'll have to see photos!
Lots to see in Idaho and the Teton Valley, Mary! Put it on your bucket list!
We look forward to showing you around our stompin' grounds! That's gonna be a blast!
You can't tell from the photo, but that wolf was gigantic. First one we've seen in Yellowstone that wasn't through bins or a spotting scope!
Thanks for following along! 2017 is going to be very different for us, I can't quite wrap my head around the plan. I guess we'll just see how it plays out!
How did we miss Old Town? A reason to return to Cody – yay! Love the mist over the water, but the wolf……really? What a grand life we live :-)))))
I've had this issue with mice, just like you – particularly when I go away on holiday. I find that using natural methods such as peppermint oil and wire wool can do the trick if you want to repel them. Nevertheless, I'm glad you all managed to enjoy your holiday. And a productive one at that after the garbage disposal!
We are loaded up with peppermint, so I like to put out cotton balls when there might be an issue. I guess it's just something we will always have to look out for!