States 42 & 43: Wyoming & Montana plus Idaho

Day 7: (click here to see Day 7 pictures) Our final day on vacation was spent quickly packing up to head to the airport at 6:30. We dropped of the rental car and passed through security easily. Our flight to Salt Lake City was around 30 minutes and after a short layover (just enough time to go to the bathroom and change everyones diapers) we were on the plane to Little Rock. We were in the back of the plane but Reagan did get her own seat so we had a little room to move around. We were home on time and the day went smoothly. We even decided to head to Wild River Country for the church's family fun day. Reagan loved the water and but didn't enjoy all of the kids. Anderson even enjoyed dipping his feet in the water thanks to his bumbo!

Day 6: (click here to see Day 6 pictures) Spending a lazy morning in the hotel before packing up. We drove through the National Elk Refuge in Jackson but did not see any Elk! We did see some later in the day though. Then we headed back into Grand Teton National Park for one last drive. We drove to Signal Mountain and around Moose Meadow while looking for the one last animal that we haven't seen: a moose. Unfortunatly we never found the moose but on our trip we have seen bison, deer, elk, swans, eagles and bears. After our drive through the park, we headed to Jimmy's to split some hamburgers. Then we walked through the town; they were celebrating Elkfest and auctioning off thousands of elk and moose antlers. We left Wyoming and headed into Idaho towards Idaho Falls. Surprisingly, Idaho is beautiful and Reagan, Anderson and Virginia took a walk along the river as Robby and Tara caught up on some laundry. After take out supper from Chilis, we all took another swim and began packing up to catch our early flight out tomorrow.

Day 5: (click here to see Day 5 pictures) After a little bit more restful night, we started off with a cinnamon roll breakfast in our room. We loaded up the car and headed for Grand Teton National Park via the John D. Rockefeller Memorial Parkway. The drive was beautiful along Jackson lake with the mountain range in the background. Our first stop was at the Chapel of the Sacred Heart and then another back picture spot at Jenny Lake. We continued our drive around Jenny Lake and stopped for a picnic lunch and Reagan got a chance to wade in the cold water. We toured the visitor center at Moose and the Chapel of the Transfiguration (a small Episcopal church with mountains in the background). We left the park and headed for our hotel in Teton Village, the Snake River Lodge. After checking in, we ventured to Jackson for a walk around town square. In Jackson we stopped at the Bunnery to grab breakfast for tomorrow and a snack for tonight. We ate barbaque at Bubba's which must be a local favorite. And as we left Jackson, Tara stopped for some hot chocolate at Cioccolato-another restaurant seen on the food network. We all hit the pool for a swim in the heated indoor/outdoor pool and then watched the days pictures while eating our carrot cake before heading to bed.

Day 4: (click here to see Day 4 pictures) We ate breakfast this morning in the main dining room at Old Faithful Inn after a restful night for most. Then we walked to the Visitor’s Center to get a few more stamps for our passport books. We drove towards West Thumb (even over the continental divide 2 times) and stopped for a quick snowball fight. We took a ½ mile loop around West Thumb geyser basin along Yellowstone Lake. Deer were on our path but we still made it to see fishing cone-a geyser that fishermen used to cook their fish in right after they had caught them. We continued the drive toward the lake region with a quick view of Lake Yellowstone Hotel. Our next stop was a bear sighting at Hayden Valley-this bear was very far away. Then, we visited Artist Point on the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone for a view of the lower falls. We had a quick picnic lunch before an ice cream stop. Then we made a drive along the North Rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Afterwards, we made our way back to the hotel with stops at Firehole Canyon Drive and the Fountain Paint Pots. We had supper at Snowlodge and then watched the people in our hotel before one last view of Old Faithful.

Day 3: (click here to see Day 3 pictures) After We started the morning with a waffle breakfast at our hotel and got on the road to Yellowstone National Park. Within 2 minutes of leaving the hotel, we were already inside of the park. Today we traveled the upper loop of the Grand Loop road. Our first stop was Gibbon Falls, an 84 foot waterfall. Then, Norris Geyser Basin which is the oldest geyser basin in Yellowstone. We drove around Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces before eating a picnic lunch at Fort Yellowstone. We drove to the North Entrance to view the arch dedicated by Roosevelt. We continued on to Petrified Tree and Tower Falls, just one of many wateralls that we had seen. Since some of the loop was still closed due to weather we backtracked on our way to Old Faithful. Up until then we had seen lots of bison and whitetailed deer and a bald eagld, but we had not seen the elusive grizzly bear. Virginia spotted the bear first. It was quite a distance away-we didn’t even get a picture-but we did get a picture of the traffic jam that our bear sighting caused. We made it to Old Faithful just in time to see an eruption before checking into our hotel. We are staying at Old Faithful Inn which is beautiful and a must-stay (despite the no bathrooms in the rooms or no tvs). The lobby is filled with rocking chairs and piano music. We ate supper from the deli on the observation deck and then took a walk before grabbing our places for another Old Faithful eruption. Afterwards, we celebrated the day with some ice cream and called it a night.

Day 2: (click here to see Day 2 pictures) After breakfast at the hotel, we made a quick stop at Wal-Mart and then made the drive to Craters of the Moon National Monument. We made the 7-mile loop around the moon-like landscape with a stop for a quick walk around. We made the drive back to Idaho Falls for a picnic lunch near the falls and then stopped down the road for ice cream at Reed's Dairy. We headed up Highway 20 to West Yellowstone, Montana where we checked into the Comfort Inn. Next, we went to the IMAX to watch "Yellowstone" and then supper at Wild West Pizzeria. Then it was back to the hotel for a swim and then Reagan, Grannymom and Grandpa went on a short walk.

Day 1: (click here to see Day 1 pictures) Tom picked up Tara, Reagan & Anderson and then Grannymom & Grandpa before picking up Robby from work for a quick trip to the airport. No security lines at the airport so we made it to our gate in no time and found some lunch at Burger King. Our first Delta flight took us from Little Rock to Salt Lake City in about 2 1/2 hours. After we walked from Terminal B to E, it was time to board our flight to Idaho Falls, Idaho. It was only a 30-minute flight. We arrived around 5:45 pm and picked up our rental minivan (Nissan Quest) and then drove to our hotel, Best Western Cottontree Inn. We ate supper at Smitty's Pancake House and then came back to the hotel for a quick swim and then to bed.

1 comment:

Alison said...

I linked to your blog through Kyle and Begina Proctor's blog. I work with Begina. I enjoyed reading about your trip to Wyoming area. My husband and I went with his family to Wyoming in May of 2006. It was beautiful and fun to see the pictures of others who have been there as well. We stayed in Teton Village and visted Yellowstone and all the places you all mentioned in Grand Teton National Park.
Just wanted you to know I enjoy your blog!