After three glorious days in the Grand Teton National Park it was time to move on.
We woke up to another brisk morning. We didn't need to turn on the heat when we went to bed because it was 70 degrees in the Minnie but when Larry woke up he turned it on because it was cold. I crawled out of bed at 7:30 and made pancakes. We turned on the furnace to get the chill out of the air.
After breakfast we got the Minnie ready to go and I did a dumpster run. We got the Minnie off its blocks. Larry put them away. We were on the road.
The drive to Jackson was gorgeous because we had super views of the Tetons.
Over the years the Minnie has had a belt squeal issue when it is started, it's caused by one of the belts slipping on the pulley. Years ago Larry removed the crankshaft pulley and had it sand blasted, that mostly fixed the issue, once in awhile it would squeal for a second or two. The squeal returned after Larry replaced the belts last spring. Using a pumice stone he roughened up the pulley and the squeal went away. Well, it is back and worse than ever, in the mornings when he starts the Minnie it will squeal for a minute or more before it stops, a bit embarrassing and not good for the belt. So we stopped in Jackson to get a few things to work on the problem.
We went to Target and bought a pumice stone and some alcohol, Larry parked away from the store and removed the belts, using the pumice stone he again roughed up the pulley, cleaned up the belts and pulleys and then put everything back together. It took about an hour and a half and the squeal is gone. It will return but maybe this will last until we get home and Larry can do a more permanent repair. He did try to locate a new pulley but Ford has discontinued it and none of the normal parts places can get one.
Afterwards we walked over to the Subway and brought a Spicy Italian sandwich for lunch. We took it back to the Minnie and shared it. Then we were back on the road.
Our destination was Mike Harris Campground in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest. It was 20 miles from Jackson. The drive was very nice. It went up over the Teton mountain and down it. The Aspen trees are starting to turn their fall colors.
We got to the campground around 2:00. We entered at the hike and bike parking area for the trail. There were two roads to two different campgrounds. We took the road straight ahead and it took us to a dispersed campground. We turned around and took the road to the left. Both roads are dirt. The road we took was only .25 mile but it had a lot of potholes. Larry is a great driver, he just took his time avoiding as many has he could.
We had no problem finding a site and there were no camp hosts. We parked the Minnie by the bathroom. Larry went to the neighbors and asked about paying. They told him that the host left Sunday, they had locked up the bathrooms, turned off the water and and chained up the dumpster. They even removed everything from the bulletin board. The last time we were Idaho once these things were done at the National Forest campgrounds you could stay for free. Larry had read online that this was still the practice. Some of the campgrounds will eventually get locked up and others they leave open for hunters to use.
It's a great campground with a lot of trees. Each site has a lot of privacy. The sites have a fire ring, a grill stand, picnic table and a pad for a tent. It has a lot of bathrooms.
Camping at Mike Harris Campground
For dinner we barbecued sausages. Afterwards I walked around for an hour. I walked to the main road and around the campground. While walking I saw a few bicyclists and a couple guys riding horses. I said hi to other campers. I think by the end of the day the campground was about 75% full. Then I stepped in place to finish my steps. I ended up doing 27,000 steps, which put me in 3rd place in my group.
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I would love to hear friendly comments on anything at all. Ruth