2022-05-25 Today we spent more time in the car than we did actually driving here - or it felt like it anyway. But what an amazing day! After finding the EXACT spot where an iconic picture of the Tetons was taken, Micki Jo was able to recreate it with her camera, and I can't wait until she downloads her pictures so we can show you. That was first on the agenda, then we headed to Yellowstone.
Our first stop was by the side of the road in the Grand Teton National Park, where a ranger had a bear display laid out and was sharing facts about bears. The girls got to touch one of the stuffed ones, got a sticker and we took pictures. We laughingly joked that she needed to roll that bear out in the woods so we could take pictures and say we saw one. Not FIVE minutes after we left, we came across a 5 year old sow on the side of the road. Only two other cars were stopped when we did, and then suddenly the road was filled, while we watched her amble along the side of the road, dig in the ground, and just amaze everyone!
After that, we rode some more, stopped at many pull-offs to take pictures, and finally made it to the Yellowstone National Forest - the first national forest in the US. We made it to Old Faithful around 12:15 or so, and we walked around the geyser and several others on the nice boardwalks they have around them. I didn't realize there was more than one geyser, or even that they had the prism springs. It was all so pretty - and cold. The temperature was nice, but the wind was blowing and several of us had wind burn on our face after the day was over. Old Faithful finally erupted about 1:20 and it was impressive. A stop by the gift shop and we were on our way again!
Next stop, Grand Prism Springs, where we hoped to see the beautiful springs with all the colors, but I think it was a bad time of the year. There was so much condensation/fog around the springs that you couldn't really see the colors, after the long walk to get there. I was impressed with them still, but I really wanted to see more of the colors, without the dense fog blocking them.
More riding, more sights! We have seen every animal on our bucket list now except moose, and we hope to see one of those tomorrow on our Snake River float. Today we saw BEAR, bison, coyote, chipmunk, ground squirrel, elk, deer, antelope, wolf and otter. OK OK I cheated some - we went to the Wildlife Discovery center for bear and wolves and that is where we saw the wolves (and more bear and otter, of course) but it was very interesting and the discovery center was so well taken care of - a nice place for these animals to call home.
We left to come home after that, I think about 5:30, and we got home at 11:30. Of course, we made lots more stops at pull-overs but we were still a long way from Jackson. Today, we went through Wyoming, Idaho and Montana, and then back to Jackson WY again to get 'home'. We found cascading waters, animals, trails, ice-covered waters, snow-covered hills, crazy people who brake for cars stopped on the side of the road (what do they see - I want to see too!), and just nice people all around, who volunteer to take your family's pictures in front of landmarks, just to be neighborly. We are having such a great time - I can't believe we have already been gone a week tomorrow!
All future pictures, until I get home, will be only pictures from my cell phone. I can't find my little cable that connects my camera to my computer, so those good pictures will have to stay on my camera until I get home and can replace it. But my Pixel takes good pictures too!
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