christabir

I think Dayle is overstating the problem. We humans have gotten much better about discouraging bears from our areas in their park. The car attacks are less frequent now than they used to be. And as you said, if you don't have food in your car they will choose a car with a cooler in it. I'm glad you went with the convertible. I'm a bit jealous.

I have the Frommers and Time Out YS/GTNP books. They were helpful. If you check the dates we were there (May 5-12, 2010), the Weather Channel said we had highs in the 50's - but we had highs in the 70's. I don't trust their reports at all.

Those are really long drives to YS and the south entrance road has half hour delays due to construction. I agree with starrs - stay in the park or West Yellowstone 1-2 nts if possible. GTNP is close.

bkluvsNola

mapquest says it's 2.5 hours from Snowking to Old Faithful. That's doable but a long day - 5 hours of driving. However, I don't know when I'll return to Yellowstone so it's a must do even if I get tired.

starrs, unfortunately she booked this long before she knew I could make it, in fact we're even taking separate flights as I couldn't get on hers. We only have Wednesday thru Saturday, so really I only have 2 days of full touring. Not much but better than nothing. Hopefully I'll have time in the evenings to drive around the local area or maybe walk around downtown Jackson and see things with her...

That's the thing about business trips, the person on them never gets to really do much. For many years I was the one on them and my wife/gf would be the one touring, but now the reverse will be true.

starrs

You said you needed to get back to dinner each night. It's a long haul from Jackson to the Upper Loop in Yellowstone. Do what you want to do, but if she's in meetings all day and you are playing and you are supposed to get back in time for dinner...well, I think you are running the risk of getting caught up in traffic (including animal). I spent several years in Island Park with a full week to explore while the "menfolks" fished. Sometimes my SIL would join me on an adventure, but mostly not. Some days I'd just head out on a highway (away from Yellowstone) and go as far as I thought I'd have time for and then return. I'd venture into Yellowstone and do hikes on my own or ranger led hikes. I'd do all sorts of things. I'll be back out that way again this year. I doubt you'll head my advice, but I'll say it again...if she's expecting you back in Jackson for dinner, I think it's pushing it to go deep into Yellowstone. Heavens knows there's a lot to explore in the Tetons and surrounding areas. Hike. Fish. Kayak. Explore. IMHO a good way to lose a new girlfriend is to push too far and end up being late - while you're a tagalong on HER business meeting.

If you DON'T have to be back for dinner, get an early start and go for it! I'm just basing my advice on the information you've given.

bkluvsNola

I figure if I leave by 8 AM, I'll be there by 10:30. I can then leave by 4:00 PM which will get me back by 6:30 PM. That leaves me 5.5 hours in Yellowstone, are you still saying that I would be risking it?

I'm heading to get a Fodor's book right now to try to do some more investigation. By the way, she's not a "one strike and you're out" kind of woman, in fact not many women are that unforgiving...

starrs

"By the way, she's not a "one strike and you're out" kind of woman, in fact not many women are that unforgiving..."

Who said she is? But, you've said that this is a new girlfriend. You are a tagalong on her business trip. If she doesn't expect you back at a certain time, that opens lots of time for you to see lots of Yellowstone.

If she DOES expect you to be back in time to eat dinner and spend the evening with her, then...well, she's watching. You are at the doorstep of Grand Tetons NP. There's lots to do there. You may have time for a little bit of Yellowstone. You're a big boy. You can figure it out.

FWIW, if she WERE a "one strike and you're out kind of woman", you might be out if she overheard your "my woman" comment - and it bothered her.

starrs

Oh, by the way. I had dinner tonight with three men who have spent a lot of time in Yellowstone and the surrounding area. One owns property not too far away. I asked the question - "Would you rent a convertible in Yellowstone?". The response was a low, guttural "Noooooooooo" in unison.

FWIW.

bkluvsNola

starrs, why do you have such a vested interest in this?

If the weather sucks I'll put the top on. I've talked to my girlfriend and she would like for me to be back for dinner and I'll do my best to be back by then, but I plan to see Yellowstone and WILL SEE IT, even if it means waking up at 5 AM To do so (and I'm not a morning person).

starrs

Have a great trip

Dayle

bkluvsNola,

One good thing about getting up really early - no traffic and lots more animals!

spirobulldog

I say get up as early as possible and get going. Parks energize me and I can go into overdrive just to see as much as I can. I haven't totally made up my mind about the convertible. Pros and cons either way. The first thing that crossed my mind was bears and other wildlife. Now with all the previous posts, I am thinking that at least one bison is bound to stick his head in the car. But a little bison slobber would be a great souvenir. There was actually a security guard, myself and another man that did our best to keep a bison out of Lake Hotel. It kindof butted its head around and near the door, then finally left. It did knock over a sign that was in the ground.

bkluvsNola

Well, I'm so glad I got the convertible. Forecast is for highs of 77 and lows of 49. That is definitely convertible weather. Top will be down!

starrs

It snowed on us last week - during the day.
Today was the first day we wore anything other than "winter clothes".
Good luck.

starrs

ps - the snow was not in the forecast.

bkluvsNola

Just back from the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. By the way, a convertible was a great idea and I fully enjoyed it. I'll post the trip report soon, but I did want to comment on what it was like having a convertible.

The temp in Jackson was around 75-80 the whole time I was there, except for the last day when it was rainy and in the 60's. Since I was returning the convertible I had to have the top up anyway so that wasn't a problem. The evenings were okay to have the top down, up until around 7:30 PM when it got too cold and we had to put the top up.

The first day the temp was around 83 on the floor of the Tetons, warm enough that I had to use the A/C (top down windows down) while waiting 20 minutes in the sun for a parking spot at Lake Jenny. Oddly enough it started clouding up around Lake Jenny so I parked the car with the top up while taking the cruise to the other side and hiking up to Inspiration Point. On the ride back on the boat, the weather turned cold and rainy, in the 50's and we were getting soaked by rain. Of course, I had not brought a jacket because I never would have thought it would drop 30 degrees in 20 minutes - learned a lesson that day. I then kept the top up for around 2 hours until the sun came back out and it warmed back up to 75 again, then the top went down. So, my advice is to put the top up anytime you park for more than 10 minutes, but other than that you'll enjoy.

For the next day, it was rainy and 65 starting out and got into the upper 50's as I got to the upper elevations going into Yellowstone. So the top was up that time. However, as I got closer to Old Faithful, the weather turned warm and I took the top down. It was around 65 and sunny, so the top was down and the windows up and heat on a bit to combat the wind. Beautiful all around.

On the trip back to Jackson, the weather got warmer and warmer as I descended in elevation, went from mid 60's to upper 70's by the time I got to Jackson. Top was down the whole way, went from windows up with heat to windows up with no heat to windows down.

The views from the convertible with the top down were fantastic. It was a marvelous experience. However, due to the fickleness of the weather, I would only consider a convertible from mid June to late August. Not worth it any other time I'd think...

Overall I feel like the convertible greatly added to my experience.