Rise and Shine in the Teton Village! We looked out our bedroom window and saw the stables. The riders were all up on their horses, ready for the morning trail ride.
National Historic Site #24 - Grand Teton National Park
We drove through the back road until we reached entered Grand Teton National Park. At the Visitor Center, we watched the movie about the park and shopped. Then we talked with the young female ranger and the boys gave her a hard time...now it is double trouble. It wasn't long before she said, "I can tell you two are troublemakers!" Let's see...we have heard that before on this trip! Before leaving the Visitor Center, we all got our pictures taken with the moose statue outside. It might be the only moose we see.
We decided to explore the 43 mile scenic drive around the park. We were in amazement at the beauty of the mountains. They were snow-covered and glistened in the sunlight.
We stopped at Jenny Lake for photo opportunities. The mountains provided the backdrop for this beautiful lake.
We drove until we reached Jackson Lake Lodge where we had lunch. The food was delicious and the view spectacular; however the conversation and company made the meal memorable. The little shops had some really unique items. We learned from one of the saleswoman about how she gets summer employment at different national parks. It definitely is worth looking into for the future.
Our next stop on our drive was to an area that we could supposedly see beavers. We got out of the car and started down the path. First thing spotted was a pika rat in the bushes. It scurried back to safety and we continued down the path. We spied a beaver lodge and watched. Soon there were movement rings, but nothing visible. We continued to watch until we finally saw a little head pop up in the water while swimming to the other side of the water. It was pretty cool! We watched a little longer, hoping he would come back, but did not see him return. We moved down the path a little and saw the beaver dam. We walked further and saw a large beaver dam and lodge. They were engineered so perfectly to their location. While we were admiring their work, we spotted 2 Uinta ground squirrels. At first, we thought they were chipmunks but they didn't have stripes. We had to compare pictures to figure out what we had seen.
As we continued on our scenic drive, we spotted an animal out in the middle of the field. We took pictures as quickly as we could, thinking it must be a deer. When we got home and zoomed in on the photos, we realized it was a coyote. It all made sense. It was out in the middle of a field all by itself. Coyotes are loners and don't travel in packs. Our photos aren't crisp but we were able to enlarge enough to identify.
We learned quickly that if cars were pulled over and people were out of them, you pulled over and stopped. This time, we saw our first herd of bison. What a thrill! Some were grazing about 10-20 yards from the road. Others were as far back as your eyes could see. There about 75-100 in the herd. We jumped back into the car after taking tons of photos, all excited to see a bison.
The next sight we saw was an art sculpture of a herd of elk running outside a museum. We pulled over to take pictures and got another surprise. Hiding behind an elk leg was a bigger rodent. We still aren't sure what it was but think it might have been a yellow-bellied marmot.
We drove on into Jackson, WY. It is the home of the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar. We had been told we needed to go just so we could experience the saddle seats at the bar. Hoping to eat dinner there, we found out that was not to be. Dinner was in the basement and the restaurant wasn't open yet. We decided to just get a drink on our saddle seats! That didn't last long because the saddles were very uncomfortable and hard to sit in. We moved to a table and enjoyed the decor.
From the Cowboy Bar, we walked around the town square, looking in all of the little shops. Robin got her picture taken with Ben Franklin. The four corners of the town square each had arches made of antlers. We got our pictures taken under one of these. We continued looking for a place to eat and finally decided on Town Square Tavern. It was a sports bar so we watched a little of the Lightning game. We finished off the evening with a trip to Moo's Gourmet Ice Cream. Yummy!
Now, it was time to head home. We took the back road back to Teton Village and spied 3 deers. It was very dark and they were in the distance so we couldn't identify what type they were. Photos again were not clear, but able to make out deer.
One of the things we did learn today was the difference between Jackson Hole and Jackson. Jackson Hole refers to the valley. A "hole" is an old fur trapper term for a valley surrounded on all sides by mountains. Jackson is the biggest city in Jackson Hole.
We again had a full day, full of adventure, good food, animals, and lots of laughs.
