Yellowstone, Tetons, and Jackson Hole

Yellowstone, Tetons, and Jackson Hole - July 17

Yes, we did all of those things in one day! Although, I am sure we missed some sights, we still got to see a lot, get out of the car, and make some new friends! The evening before we left we went to the office at Red Rock RV where we are staying to get some ideas on how to see these places.  Extra lucky for us, the owners of Red Rock, Karen and her husband Gordon, gave us perfect directions and the best roads to make sure we hit all of our spots and some extras they wanted us to be sure to see.

We fought with the GPS as we made our route, deciding to go to Yellowstone early in the morning so we would be in Jackson Hole in the mid-afternoon for lunch. Anyway, we won (surprisingly) and with a lot of via points inserted in the route we were confident that we had a good, but VERY long day ahead of us.

Dad woke me up at 6 or so and by 7 we were on the way to the West Entrance of Yellowstone which was already busy when we arrived and only about 22 miles from Red Rock. Oh, and was it cold! It was about 37 or so when we got up, and I had the window open in the Newell. I don't know how I didn't freeze, but I didn't and was quite toasty all snuggled up with my blankets.

Early morning temps!

So into the park we go with our maps and cameras at the ready to see some more wildlife to add to our oh so long, long list. Pictures, pictures, pictures!!!

Some of the Yellowstone National Park scenery as we drove.

Beautiful lake in Yellowstone

We saw so many early morning fly fisherman. I hope they caught something. Looks so pretty when they cast. Uncle George, do you look this good when you fly fish??

Although this drive was nice the exciting stuff was still to come. We were really hoping to see some moose with some large racks near our campground, but hadn't yet (even though everyone else in the park had!) We are driving along and all of sudden see probably 15 cars pulled off on the side of the road. Aha! This means something and usually wildlife. And there on the right side of the road were MOOSE! All girls which are called cows.

Oh, hello!!!

Ignoring their admirers and continuing to eat.

More moose.

Well, everyone knows that the geysers are what to see at Yellowstone (well, also the Hot Springs, but we didn't make it there). So the geysers were next to find. I kept thinking about what it would have been like to discover those things coming out of the ground. Really amazing to see....and to smell too! We got out at a few places to walk around and take the following pictures, but man was it chilly out there. We looked dumb in shorts, but like on the way to Canada on the ferry, I was prepared for the afternoon weather!!

The geysers from afar - just wafting up from the ground!!!

Another view of the geysers.

The stunning blue water! It looks like a hot tub but smells like rotten eggs if you get your nose too close to it.

This one was bubbling because it is boiling water and there were pockets of sand/mud/dirt popping up and making noise.

Obviously this is the most awesome hat of all time ever. And I told him so.

A baby geyser - pre Old Faithful. I was surprised at how much noise they made.

Our next stop was to the famous Old Faithful. Well, the park service really made all the right decisions about the parking lot and area around the geyser. There were SO many parking spots, a gas station, and I think a few lodges along with the brand new visitor center. We got to Old Faithful about 8:45 or so and found out the next time it would go off would be around 10:00 AM. So we decided to walk around and see some other geysers. All of the signs, of course, said "stay off of thermal rock" so that made me want to jump right on it!!

My favorite hot spring near Old Faithful. This one had the most beautiful color water.

The name of the gorgeous spring.

At Old Faithful - finally!!! So excited.

All of the seating for Old Faithful. There was more behind us too.

The new Yellowstone Visitor Center

Waiting for Old Faithful!!!

While we were waiting for the geyser to go off, we met two girls that go to the University of Tennessee, too! Thank goodness for my UT shirt. They are traveling west for a month and camping the whole way. Good for them - but glad I am not tent camping every night!!

Half of the people waiting for Old Faithful

The other half of the people waiting. SO many people!!!

Here it goes....

Half way....

All the way! Amazing.

After Old Faithful we headed on to the Tetons National Park which was just south of the south end of Yellowstone. The Tetons were amazing! I think everything we have seen so far just keeps getting better and better and these were breathtaking. Again, pictures!!

The amazing Teton Mountains. They define what I thought the west would be.

The Teton Mountain range

Loving this amazing place!

I could post pictures all day.

More wildlife - the buffalo!

Ok, so maybe not "wild" but animals none the less!

From the Tetons we headed on towards Jackson Hole, WY. We went near Teton Village where we could see all of the ski chalets for the winter skiers as well as the paths cut for the skiers themselves. At some part of Teton Village, we took a road that was mostly gravel just at the base of the Tetons and saw trail heads for many of the trails. I tried to look through the binoculars to see if I could see any hikers, but it was just too bouncy to see anything.

A shot of the road we took towards Jackson

Yay!! We made it!

Since we got to Jackson around 1:30 or 2, we thought it was time for lunch. The night before I had done some research and found this restaurant/bar place that had great reviews so we went to the Bird. It's definitely more of a "bar" and had that atmosphere. What was so interesting and different about this place was that the owner had written a TON of literature about the burgers, how they cook them, how to control your kids, how he wants you to pay in cash, etc. etc. Very witty and entertaining. We ordered the quarter pound "ghetto burger" which was the basic burger, and it came with hand cut fries. Delicious. We also each had this light German beer which was way too much $$$ but so tasty.

The view from the porch of the Bird

Yum. Love this picture.

Tasty burger!!

Since we have stayed off the beaten path for the past few days we haven't had the chance to do any grocery shopping so we stopped at Albertson's in Jackson to stock up. Also, we were out of the Jack Daniel's (regular...it's like the single barrel is there for looks...) and we met a fellow Tennessean working at the liquor store! Another reason to always wear something from home because you never know who you'll meet. Anyway, it was great to meet someone from Tennessee out here, and today I met three people! What are the odds?? After finishing the shopping, we had to take a quick stop at the town square where the famous elk arches are. There are four, one at each corner. I would have loved to have done some other type of shopping besides the grocery kind, but we had even more to see and had to get on with it.

With my new moose friend. I'm a moose too!!

I'd really like to come here and explore the whole place. Anybody else in with me?

This is the place. A quaint town square with lush grass to hang out on.

We took MT 22 out of Jackson which is a 10% grade! A great road and a fun Jeep ride. We also stopped at the Upper and Lower Mesa Falls on the Scenic Byway Highway 47. We did all of this in one day! A great day, double Gold Star day!!

Wahoo!

View from the top of the road.

Now ya'll, this is real farming. Miles and miles of farm land. And no traffic.

All the potatoes this place is famous for.

The Upper Mesa Falls - we stopped at the lower as well, but we could get right up next to these and feel the mist.

At the Mesa Falls

Dad at the Mesa Falls

More Mesa Falls

Well, if you are still reading and you're not my mother, I'm shocked. Keeping up with this takes a while, but I am loving it! I'm glad I can share this trip with lots of people at the same time while helping my memory. Thank goodness it's on the internet so it's out there forever!! By the end of this day we had been in Idaho, Montana (I think), and Wyoming. Great states with so many things to check out.

Who is going to come visit us??

**correction: the moose are ELK!