Geyser Day

Today was geyser day. We woke up in the Old Faithful Inn and watch Old Faithful again. We then hit the boardwalks to see the Upper Geyser Basin features.

Shield Spring

Daisy Geyser

Chromatic Pool

Castle Geyser

But the best part was that we hit beehive geyser just as it went off. We spent 5 minutes getting soaked watching it.

We then headed up the road to Midway Geyser Basin to see some more features.

Wall Pool

Sapphire Pool

We then drove the Firehole road and headed to Canyon. Along the way, we saw some buffalo.

We made it to Canyon and were staying there the next several nights. Much better place than Old Faithful Inn.

Best Seat in the House

June 22nd was the transition day from Grand Teton to Yellowstone on the Great American Road Trip.

It was a full day.

Leaving Dornan's to the north, we stopped first at Signal Mountain.

We then paused at Oxbow Bend before heading to Yellowstone.

If it is a very calm day, you can get an amazing reflection of the Tetons off the oxbow bend. We did not have that.

Arriving in Yellowstone, we stopped for the traditional sign picture.

A look across the Snake River at the park sign pullout gave us not only our first bear of the trip, but our first grizzly as well.

There was a long line at the entrance station, but having a national park pass let us move on through. Lunch at the Snake River picnic loop, then on to West Thumb.

West Thumb is interesting. It doesn't have the large geysers of other basins, but has some very pretty pools and paint pots. We also had the added benefit of a brief cold rain shower on us. If you stood downwind of a boiling pot, it wasn't quite as bad.

West Thumb

Big Cone

Black Pool

Paint Pots

We did not hear the mysterious Yellowstone Lake whispers. Interestingly enough, after returning home from Yellowstone, we read the Cubby in Wonderland books with our youngest children. In Cubby Returns to Yellowstone, the whispers are heard by Cubby and Mama Bear.

Then we headed west to our destination for the night, Old Faithful Inn. Look, if you are looking for a room to sleep, this place has that. If you are looking for a nice amenities, good views from the room, WiFi, or even a room you can enjoy, you aren't going to find that at Old Faithful.

Then, out to Old Faithful we went.



This is the highlight of the trip for me. No matter how many times I've seen Old Faithful, I never tire of it.

We got some food scraped together for the kids and headed down on a date night to the Old Faithful Inn Dining Room. The dining room does have good food and service. Afterwards, we hung out in the lobby for a bit.

But the best part of the evening? The bar in the lobby has a balcony that looks out at Old Faithful. A bottle of wine, some plastic glasses, a a wonderful evening was in the making.

Here's to you, Old Faithful

Summer Solstice, Snow, and Rafting

Woke up and went for a drive again with my brother to see wildlife. This morning my 4 year old daughter joined us.

We went drove Mormon Row first. Beautiful drive and saw buffalo and a coyote.

We then drove over to Schwabacher Landing. No wildlife, but a beautiful place.

Then after breakfast, we headed to Jackson to Dave Hansen White Water. We were doing the 21 mile combo trip, which has a 13 mile scenic trip and an 8 mile white water rafting trip down the Snake River. Lunch was included inbetween.

During our scenic ride, we didn't see much wildlife, though it was scenic. Wildlife was limited to birds.

Then we noticed the weather changing. A few snow showers were passing through the area.

On the summer solstice, we got caught in a snow shower, graupel to be specific.

Then after lunch, it was time for the white water trip. My 7 year old boy isn't much for excitement like this, but after I showed him a video of it, he said he wanted to do it. I signed him up, but expected the worst. The worst happened.

We hit the first bump and he burst into tears. Luckily my sister-in-law sat in the back and held him for the rest of the trip. The guide was excellent and talked to him the entire time and warned my SIL when big drops or rapids were coming. We hit the "lunch table" and this picture captures the moment beautifully.

Afterwards we got back on the bus and tried to warm up. Pro tip, bring a set of dry clothes with you on the bus.

That night we went for a wildlife drive between Moose and Jackson down Spring Gulch road. Saw some moose and beautiful country.

Another beautiful day in the Grand Tetons.

Let the adventure begin

Today we begin our adventures in Grand Teton National Park.

My brother and I got up early to drive and go look for wildlife. We saw some elk this morning.

After making breakfast for the family, we loaded up and headed first to Menors Ferry Historical District which includes the Church of the Transfiguration. The view out the window behind the altar is better than any stained glass window I've ever seen.

We then headed to Jenny Lake. We hit the Jenny Lake Loop trail westbound from the South Jenny Lake Junction. Coming to the Moose Ponds, we took the loop around them. No moose were seen, but we did see a marmot.

We continued along the Jenny Lake trail and came across one spot that had quite a few people nervous. The trail went across a rock slide and had a steep drop off on the lake side of the trail.

The trail has tons of openings to see the beautiful lake.

                                                

We made it to our destination, Hidden Falls. We took the obligatory family pic, but the kids were more interested in turning a log into a slide.

Afterwards, we hiked down to the dock. We paid our one-way fare and rode the shuttle across the lake on a cold windy day.