Vacay Day 7 ~ The Grand Tetons (cont)

This was Friday and was to be the day we started the trip home. But, as soon as we arrived on Day 6 we just knew that we wanted to stay one more night.

Here's why ....

These are the official Grand Tetons. Do you know what "Tetons" stands for? I'll give you a hint ... I just had surgery to create some ... Funny, huh?

On this last day in the Tetons we decided to make the hour drive to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and around to the Teton Village (ski area) to ride the aerial tramway, Big Red, up to Rendezvous Point.

I fell in love with Jackson Hole. In fact, I told Rick that I would really like to (and I'm not kidding) sell our house, buy a cheaper one and work toward getting a vacation home there that we could retire to someday. It is a stunning place! And the town is adorable! So many cool shops down on the square. They have everything you can think of. There's an airport within 30 miles. There's a golf course. And, the skiing. I don't like to ski, but Rick does. And, I love winter so the harsh winters wouldn't bother me a bit .. not in the middle of that beauty!

We rode Big Red and the kids loved it! Eli especially loved it!

Once we got to the top (it was so windy and cold), we went into the little cafe area and ate our picnic lunch. We took a couple of photos and rode back down.

Then the kids did what was probably their favorite thing all trip .. they jumped on the bungee trampoline. 

On the way back we stopped at String Lake so the kids could swim. The water was freezing but that didn't stop them!

Here we are with the Thomasons ...

We decided to call it an early day because the Thomasons were heading back to Yellowstone for a couple of days and wanted to get there before dark. We hugged them goodbye and went back to our campsite for spaghetti and an early night to bed. We were getting up the next day to start the 22 hour trip home.

Vacay Day 6 ~ The Grand Tetons

On our last morning at Yellowstone, you could see your breath inside the camper, and that was with or portable propane heater! Rick got up at 6:30 a.m. and started the Suburban to get it warmed up. He moved the boys out there to sleep and moved the propane heater to the girls' side of the camper. He and I started packing up to move to the Grand Tetons. I have to say, I was happy to leave Yellowstone.

We had heard from the Thomasons and they were on their way to the Tetons. It looked like we were going to get to hook back up with them for a couple of days!

The drive there was amazing! It was going to be a beautiful place, I could tell! And as the weather warmed up on our drive there, our moods lifted and you could just tell that peace had been restored!

We found our campground, at Colter Bay, and were assigned our spot. We instantly loved it! No showers, again, but the campground was just better. (BTW, we paid for one shower in Yellowstone and two more in the Tetons at paid shower sites. Those were the best $15 showers our family has ever taken!). The girls and I went to take showers and when we got back we learned that the Thomasons had checked into their site. Soon, here they came!

We set up our two tents for the kids to sleep in that night, and then took off to Jenny Lake. This may have been my favorite thing we did!

We rode the ferry across the beautiful lake and then hiked way up the mountain! We stopped about 3/4 of the way up, but Matt, Jaden, Rick and Eli wanted to hike the rest of the way up to Inspiration Point. It was 7,000+ feet! While we waited for them, the kids played with the little chipmunks. Apparently they are often fed, because they came right up to your fingers. So cute!

This is a zoomed up photo of Rick and Eli at the top of Inspiration Point. You can barely see Eli to Rick's right in the white shirt.

On the way down we stopped off for some more photos.

After Jenny Lake we went moose hunting. We saw a large herd from far away, and believe they were herds of female moose. They were dark brown, instead of the light brown of the elk. We couldn't get close enough to tell for sure. We ate chili at the Thomason's that night, but were just exhausted by the end of the day so we headed to bed.

Vacay Day 5 ~ Yellowstone (cont)

The next day we got up and drove to North Yellowstone to see Mammoth Hot Springs. On the way we stopped to look at the canyons and rushing river. It was beautiful!

Mammoth Hot Springs was a little boring, but still really amazing that nature can do such a thing! We hiked the boardwalks to the top and back down.

Then we stopped in a grassy area and had a picnic. The kids played hide-n-seek. We just enjoyed some downtime!

On the way back we were planning to stop at Uncle Tom's Trail and walk the 350+ steps down to see the huge falls (and come back up!) Brynne was really looking foward to this! When we got there, however, the trail was closed because of storm damage. So, we ventured off the left and got to see one of the smaller falls. It was really cool!

We hiked around a bit and then drove over to the North Rim to stand right at the top of the fall. That was cool! And, the rainbow over the water was amazing!

After some quick photos, we headed back to camp again.

We got back early, and still had plenty of daylight. Eli was a little tired from all of the activity, and Rick wanted a break, so I took Kyndal, Dawson and Brynne back up past Old Faithful to go see the Black Sand Basin and Firehole Lake.

We stopped off at Old Faithful to get some pizza and souvenirs. When we were leaving we got to see a mama Bison and her baby on the side of the road.

On that note, it is super cool to be at your campsite and see some mule deer eating grass just 3 feet away, or to see a black bear walk into the woods, or a brown bear up on a hill, or a wild bison living in the field in your campsite. You just don't see that in Oklahoma!

The Black Sand Basin had some cool sites.

But Firehole Lake was really cool! It was STINKY! The bubbling sulphur is quite a sight to see! The kids took some funny pictures there.

After a long day of sight seeing, we went back to bed (for our coldest night yet) and planned to get up bright and early the next morning to head to the Grand Tetons.