Checkout Them Grand Tetons

[July 10]
We decided that we would head out of Yellowstone today and go to the Grand Teton National Park. The two parks are actually connected on the southern side of Yellowstone. It was a pretty drive. We spoke to a woman at the Visitor’s Center and she told us to take a look at both String Lake and Jenny Lake, so we did. We stopped and had a lunch at a picnic table right near String Lake. The lady also told us that this would be the best place for swimming, if we were looking to do that. We decided to go test the water and it was crazy cold, so we decided just to wade in it. It was beautiful, just at the base of the Tetons themselves. There were some families there with a whole bunch of rafts and kayaks and they were having a good time in the water. The only people we actually saw swimming were two men who had to have been training for a triathlon, sporting wet suits. We got some pictures of us wading with the mountains behind us then we decided to head for a waterfall area.

We drove a little further south to Jenny Lake and took a pontoon boat ride across the lake, this took about 15 minutes. From where the boat docks it’s about a ½ mile hike up the mountain to the waterfall. It was kind of a chilly walk. There was a river and rapids all throughout the area that gave off a really nice breeze. We then made it to the falls, they were fantastic. We sat there for a really long time just staring at it. We decided that waterfalls were our favorite things in nature. This one gave off a fantastic mist that kept us cool.

We then decided to head back to the boat docking area. We didn’t get far when we saw a sign for Inspiration Point. This was another ½ mile hike up the mountain. It was a fairly good path to climb, until you came to just about the end. We were right on the edge of a steep drop off and it was just a pile of rocks you had to climb over. Because she was so afraid, Anna was holding Terry’s hand so tight that he thought that she was going to break his fingers—she didn’t though. So we got to the top and it was a beautiful view. A great overlook of the lake and surrounding mountains. The hike down was just about as scary as the walk up, if not more. When we got to the bottom, we headed for the boat dock and waited awhile for our turn. Because we are geniuses, we didn’t bring anything to drink with us. We really thought that it was going to be a quick run across the lake and back, silly us. By the time we got back, we were soooo thirsty. We headed straight for the store and downed some Gatorade right there. We thought that as a reward for the tough climb, we should also get some ice cream. It sure did taste good.

After a little break we decided to head to Jackson, WY. This was about a 40 minute scenic drive. Not really knowing much about Jackson, it was a surprise to see how cute and lively it was. There is a huge downtown area and a big grassy mall area. There were people everywhere and we felt very underdressed everywhere we went. It seemed like a really hoity area. We stopped at a sporting goods shop and Anna bought a big brimmed hat. After having been burned for the past few days, she had had enough. Then we went to another store and purchased two long sleeve shirts for her too. She looks a lot darker now than she did just a few days ago.

After those quick shopping trips, we went to Billy’s Diner. It was a place that looked like the 1950’s inside. Terry had a super huge burger and Anna had a grilled turkey and swiss sandwich. They were both really really good.

After dinner we decided to head out back to Yellowstone. We got back around 11:00 pm and headed straight to bed.