- So, we drove through Yellowstone
to our first come, first serve campsite,
which is awful.
♪ Wah, wah, wah ♪
(Stacy laughs)
(soft electronic music)
- Yeah, we're sitting on the side of a road
in an RV trucker spot.
We're not sure if we can stay here all night,
but that's our plan, so we're still investigating,
but Stacy and Angie are gonna take the jeep,
go down the road to a couple campgrounds,
and see if they could shmooze their way in,
and see what happens.
- Which has been done before.
- Yeah. - Yeah, oh yeah.
- It's not likely.
Not here at Yellowstone.
- Well, they are also all first come, first serve,
so we don't know if there's gonna be anything
with those either.
- Yeah, but the drive
from the east entrance to the west entrance
was pretty spectacular, I gotta say.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
- It was fantastic. - Yeah, it was awesome.
- Beautiful. - Yeah.
- We got to see a big elk walk right in front of us,
got to see a few stray and introverted bison
(Stacy laughs)
on the side of the road, so that was pretty cool.
Cross your fingers we get away from all this road noise.
I know you can hear it.
- And your toes.
- So, I find myself sitting in the car
at 7:30 in the morning,
waiting for a site to open
at this first come, first serve.
Yesterday, when we went out
to check out the other RV parks,
they did not pan out so well.
They were two Forestry campgrounds,
and they were small, and far away,
and (chuckles) yeah, they didn't work out.
We also checked a dispersed camping area
that there's no way we could get our rigs into,
so here I sit at 7:30 in the morning,
hoping people need to leave early
so we can head into a spot.
This is our first time having to wait in line
for a first come, first serve,
so we will see how it goes today.
Cross your fingers we're not sitting here for hours,
because, technically, check out time is at 2:00,
so we'll see how much of our day gets wasted
sitting here in the car.
As you can see, we finally got a campsite,
but let me tell you, it was pretty hairy.
Before I tell you all the details
of the first come, first serve frenzy,
let me tell you about this campground,
'cause we really do love it.
It is actually three miles
from the west gate of Yellowstone.
It has 73 sites, 33 of which are electric.
There are no showers here,
but there are plenty of vault toilets.
Now, the price for this campground is 20 bucks a night.
If you get electric, add another eight bucks to that.
But, since it is Forestry Service,
if you have an access pass or a senior pass,
you can take $10 off your site fee,
so it would be 10 bucks a night.
Now, electric is not divided in half,
so, if you have an electric site,
it's 18 bucks a night.
Also, there is no water here to fill your tanks,
and also, there's no dump site,
so make sure you come with your black tank empty
and your water tank full.
There are water spigots throughout the campground.
If you need to fill up a bucket or a bottle of water,
you can do that at one of these,
but you cannot connect your rig to it
and fill your rig.
Now, for us, they had turned off the water
a couple of days after we got here
because temperatures dropped below freezing.
What I love most about this campground
is the feeling that you're just tucked into your site.
There are so many trees around you,
you don't really feel
like your neighbors are right next to you.
Oh, and don't forget, each site is well equipped
with a bear box.
Bears are not frequent here,
but they have been spotted here,
so make sure, if you leave anything outside
that the bears might wanna nibble on,
it always goes in the bear box.
Like with most Forestry Service campgrounds,
this one is first come, first serve,
and we've done a lot of first come, first serve campgrounds,
but this is the first one where we actually had a problem.
Now, it has been really crazy here because of COVID.
Yellowstone, a lot of their campgrounds
didn't open this year,
and a lot of their hotels never opened,
so a lot of people are on the outskirts of Yellowstone,
looking for places to stay,
so they've been busier this year than they ever have.
I was told by the host that, before this year,
most of the time, if you drove through,
no matter what time of day, you could get a site,
but not this year.
So, we came in at 7:30,
and we were driving around, looking for a place.
Angie parked her jeep into a spot,
but didn't have a paper, so, the spot was empty,
there was no one there, she pulled her jeep into the site,
ran over to get a paper
to put it on the little stand to mark your site,
and when she got back, there were a couple
of 20-something guys there
that started giving her a hard time.
They told her just because her jeep was there
does not mean she could claim the site.
They're gonna take the site
because they have the paper,
she didn't have the paper first, they did.
So it was totally ridiculous.
We were talking over walkie talkies,
as we usually do, and as she was looking at the site
with them badgering her in the background,
she kinda thought the site would be a little small
for either of our rigs,
so she just walked away,
and said, fine, if you guys want it, you can have it.
She didn't get into the little contest
they were trying to spur up.
Luckily, we found two other sites
that were much bigger and much better,
but this whole first come, first serve thing,
the way they do it here is crazy.
We got here at 7:30.
We were told by the host
to go find a site that we wanted,
and then stand by the post until they leave.
Now, you can check out as late as 2:00 p.m.,
so people come in as early as 5:30 in the morning,
and they stand by a post,
or bring their chair, and just cop a squat by the post
in front of the people who are in the site
until they leave.
I am not a fan.
It was insane.
Like, totally ridiculous.
I'm not sure if I'll be doing this again.
In the future, I just might say forget it,
because I'm not gonna fight somebody for a site,
and I am not gonna spend 5:30 until two o'clock
sitting in front of somebody's site
while they're still enjoying their last day at the site.
I wanna really know what you guys think.
Have you ever witnessed anything totally out of line
with people fighting over campsites?
What's your experience with first come, first serve?
Like I said, this is the first time
we've ever had a issue with anybody being rude.
And I'm sure we will experience more first come,
first serve sites, but a lot
of the sites we've been to before
actually have some kind of system
where you go in, and the host gives you a number,
or a tag, and it's an orderly thing.
First one in gets the campsite,
they assign it to you as long as you fit,
so that's what I prefer.
I don't prefer this running around,
driving at high speeds through the campgrounds,
looking for a site,
and then making the people feel bad
because they're packing up, and you want their space.
I don't know, I don't know,
this was probably the first time
I've ever been aggravated by any
of the campground experiences that we've had.
It is our third day going into Yellowstone,
and we're still just excited as day one.
- [Phil] Woo-woo.
- So, today, I thought we would give you some tips
to navigate Yellowstone,
because the first time here,
your first few days is just figuring out,
you know, everything it's about,
and how you're gonna do things.
So, tip number one,
bring your own food and drinks.
One, it's pretty expensive, just like most vacation areas,
and two, the food is not all that great at normal times.
So, it's got a really bad reputation
for really fast food, frozen-y, not great food.
- [Phil] Cafeteria-style.
- Yeah, and now, with COVID,
this year, it's even worse.
Almost all restaurants are closed.
We found one cafeteria to be open,
and it's all takeout.
You can't sit in there and eat it.
So, my recommendation is, pack lots of snacks.
Pack your lunch.
As you can see, we have plenty of things here
for us to munch on,
all healthy food, minus our stop
at the coffee shop on the way in.
Who knows what Phil will pick up there?
We interrupt our Yellowstone fun
to bring you an update with Homes for Our Troops.
- That's right, thanks to your generosity,
we raised $3,824, and most of that came from the tip jar.
- That's right, so thank you, thank you, thank you.
Our community is the best,
and again, you guys have proven it.
Now, 3,824 bucks, that's such a random number.
- It is.
- So we decided to round up.
- That's right. - And if you wanna know
what we rounded up to,
well, you're gonna have to check out
our brand new Homes for Our Troops fundraising page.
So, I will put the link down below,
and for anyone who wanted to donate,
but didn't really want a T-shirt,
well, here's your chance.
You can go to our official page
and donate without having to spend extra money on a T-shirt.
- That's right.
There were a handful of people that emailed us,
and said, you know, I already bought a shirt last time,
how can I just donate some money?
So, you went directly to the charity itself,
so we appreciate that as well.
- Yes, and that is recorded in our grand total
when you go to our page.
That has been added in,
along with our previous T-shirt campaign
with all the donations you guys donated
with that campaign.
Now, we're gonna ask one more favor from you.
Will you take this page,
and put it on your social media,
link it on Facebook, link it on Instagram,
wherever you choose to link it,
and please ask your friends to pop over,
check out the charity, and make a donation of their own.
Our goal is to raise $15,000 for our veterans by Christmas.
- Yeah, that's right, and at the end, we all win,
because we're doing something
out of the kindness of our hearts,
and that, to me, to us, is a huge deal.
- And just so you know,
we have gotten a little bit of backlash,
and we've been accused of sounding like a telethon,
but I'm gonna tell you right now,
for our active duty and our veterans,
we don't care.
- That's right. - We love them,
we know what their sacrifice is,
we've been through it, so we will preach,
and preach, and encourage people
to take care of our veterans as long as we can.
- That's right, and we will continue
to bang the drum from here on out.
- So, again, thank you to our community.
You guys are absolutely, hands down the best.
We so appreciate you guys hanging out with us,
and supporting us, and supporting our troops.
- Yeah, well said, I can't say it any better than that.
- He could never say it better than that.
- No, I can't.
(Stacy laughs)
Another tip, bring a set of binos with you,
'cause, inevitably, you're gonna spot wildlife,
but they're gonna be too far off in the distance
for you to really make out what it is
with the naked eye.
- And most of the animals,
you're not allowed to approach anyway.
You safely can't approach them,
so, if you wanna get a good look,
use those binoculars.
(soft acoustic guitar music)
♪ This is a good a day as any ♪
♪ To start the rebuilding of life ♪
♪ The roads that lay open are many ♪
♪ When the old one's gone under the knife ♪
♪ And I can feel the sun on my skin ♪
♪ Beginning to thaw from within ♪
- You can find a visitor information center
at most of the gates.
However, you'll find that most of them are closed.
- Actually, all of them are closed thanks to COVID.
Most things here on the Yellowstone campus is closed,
so make sure you do most of your research
before you get here.
- While you have internet,
because, once you get in the park,
you're not gonna have internet.
But there are visitor centers in some
of the little towns outside of the park
that you can stop at, that are open.
My first tip is, make sure,
before you leave your rig in the morning,
to have everything you want or need for the day,
like your wallet.
That way, you don't have to backtrack.
- [Phil] Too soon.
(Stacy laughs)
(soft acoustic guitar music)
♪ Today and not tomorrow ♪
♪ There's no time to borrow ♪
♪ Today is a good day to live ♪
- Let's do a animal update.
It is day three at Yellowstone,
and we have checked all the boxes except for the moose.
- Yep, we just witnessed a bear down here by the river.
That was pretty cool.
- It was really awesome.
- Yeah, it was a grizzly bear,
and we'd already decided we weren't gonna see one.
- Yeah, we were just driving through,
we saw a bunch of people stopped.
Ang rolled down the window,
and asked what they were looking at,
and some guy says, "Oh, there's a bear down there,"
so we quickly pulled over and jumped out.
- Yeah. - But that was pretty cool.
- Yeah, it was. - Got some good views of it.
Binoculars, again.
- Yep.
- Wonderful addition.
- Awesome, all right, moose, moose.
♪ Just loving this moment ♪
♪ Can we stay here forever ♪
♪ I'm loving this moment ♪
♪ Can we stay here together ♪
♪ If I could stop the time ♪
♪ Don't you know that I would ♪
♪ 'Cause I'm just loving this moment ♪
One of the most important things
to have in Yellowstone is a lot of patience.
Remember, people are coming to see the animals,
and when they show up,
everyone is excited to see them.
Also, if they're crossing the road or beside the road,
traffic will come to a complete stop,
so just take your time, be patient,
and enjoy the scenery.
I'm sitting here, updating our RV Trip Wizard,
so I thought it would be a good time
to tell you about a coupon we have for you.
For those of you new to the channel,
or for those of you who don't know
what RV Trip Wizard is,
it is my favorite RV trip planner.
I've been using it since before we hit the road.
I actually compared several trip planners,
and this one was my favorite,
and trust me, it is worth every penny.
Now, RV Trip Wizard is a part
of an overall bundle called RV Life.
If you already have a subscription to RV Trip Wizard,
then you have a subscription to RV Life.
All you have to do is download the app
and use your current RV Trip Wizard log on and password,
and that'll get you in.
Now, its features include RV-safe GPS,
RV park reviews, and of course,
RV Trip Wizard itself.
Now, RV Life just added something new to the bundle
called Maintain My RV.
It'll help you track RV maintenance,
maintenance cost, and it'll let you upload receipts
and stuff like that.
For those of you who wanted
to use our maintenance spreadsheet,
but don't have access to Excel,
or you don't like Excel,
this might be a good option for you.
Now, if you prefer free.99,
and you don't have a maintenance spreadsheet,
you can still download our free Excel spreadsheet,
and I'll put a link for that down below.
Now, with the addition of this new feature
called Maintain My RV,
the price did go up for the bundle
from $39 to $49,
so, if you wanna check it out
to see if it's something that you would use,
you can do a free seven-day trial,
and you can use our coupon and save 10 bucks,
which takes it back down to the original $39 price.
So, I will put links for the bundle down below,
as well as drop in the coupon code for you,
so, if it's something you're interested in,
you can go check out.
Welcome to day four of Yellowstone.
We figure we'll continue our tips from day three.
- Yeah, one good thing to do
is to make sure, for your maps,
download your maps for offline use,
because most people don't have signal,
and if you do, it isn't gonna last very long,
so download those maps
so you can track your way through the park,
and see where you're going.
- Yeah, when you come into the park,
at the entrance, they're gonna give you a couple brochures
and a couple paper maps,
but that's so 1980s.
You wanna go with Al's tip there, for sure.
(soft acoustic guitar music)
(footsteps crunch)
If you're coming to see the Prismatic Geyser,
you need to go on the trail.
You have to go past it, and park,
and then take the trail in.
- It's at the Fairy Falls.
- Yeah. - Overlook trail.
- Yeah, that's right.
I'm out of breath, holy crap.
(women laugh) (lively orchestral music)
♪ I wanna go with you ♪
♪ On a grand adventure ♪
♪ I'm along for the ride ♪
♪ And I feel it all again ♪
♪ For the very first time ♪
♪ On a grand adventure ♪
♪ With you by my side ♪
♪ 'Cause I love to see ♪
♪ The world through your eyes ♪
♪ Through your eyes ♪
- After four days in Yellowstone,
it's time to say goodbye.
- Yeah, we didn't even scratch the surface
of this 2.2-million-acre park.
- Yeah, we will definitely have to come back
and spend a little bit longer.
- Yeah, and I think, next time we come back,
we will have a better map laid out
on the areas that we wanna go to, and trust me,
there's a lot of driving involved in this park.
- That's right, and if you wanna learn all of our tips
and tricks for Yellowstone,
drop right down to that description, and hit that link.
- Yeah, the video's not gonna do this place justice.
You have to come for yourself.
The park is beautiful.
There were so many things here
that I did not expect, but I'm amazed at this park.
- Absolutely, and anything from Life Beyond the Burbs?
- It was a life experience.
I'm so glad we came.
- Yeah, it wasn't what I expected at all,
but I can't wait to come back
and actually get in some hiking,
and see more animal watching,
and just, there's just so much to do here.
I'm just hoping, next time,
things will be opened up more.
- Oh, true that.
- That wraps up Yellowstone for us for this year.
Thanks so much for watching.
Don't forget, we have links below for you,
including the link to RV Life/RV Trip Wizard,
and that coupon to save 10 bucks,
as well as the free maintenance spreadsheet Phil created
a few months ago.
- And don't forget to pop over to our website
to check out our blog on our top 10 Yellowstone tips.
- And that link is also below.
- That's right.
- Don't forget, you can find us on Instagram,
Facebook, and RVillage.
Wait, wait, don't go yet.
Before you go, hit that Subscribe button right there.
- That's right, give us a thumbs up,
and hit the notification bell over here in the corner.
- And hopefully, once this COVID stuff goes away,
we will be able to meet you.
- On the road. (soft acoustic guitar music)