This morning my alarm went off at 6 a.m. Those of you who know me well know I am NOT a morning person (and even that is an understatement), so I must have really wanted to see some wildlife! Turns out I was pretty disappointed. I did get some great views of the Tetons and took some beautiful photos along the way… but sadly no wildlife, apart from elk in the same place as last night. I could have taken an identical, zoomed in picture!
Then I came back to the hotel and got Mom. We drove to Jenny Lake although didn’t hike out to it. I already know I will be back, and next time I will for sure take the boat across Jenny Lake and hike to Inspiration Point. I did find this beautiful bridge area right next to Jenny Lake, and this may be my favorite picture of the trip so far…
After Jenny Lake we took the road up Signal Mountain. This was a very narrow road, and supposedly campers and RVs weren’t allowed but people clearly don’t follow the rules. It was winding and steep, with some quick views on the way up, including this wild turkey! (Look closely)
The view at the top was absolutely worth it. The pictures don’t do it justice!
After we came back down the mountain, we headed to the Signal Mountain general store where we found these ice cream sammies for a pre-lunch treat. I’m not sure we will find them again on this trip since they were made in Jackson Hole, but I will say that I will 100% buy them again if we see them!
We stopped to see Chapel of the Sacred Heart and then went to Colter Bay to get stamps in our National Park passports. We had considered getting lunch in Colter Bay, but Oliver (our Gypsy app tour guide!) encouraged us to go to the next pulloff for the marina and pizzeria. I walked up to the pizzeria first to find closed signs, and since we had already passed up other lunch options, I started pulling sandwich makings and lunch sides out of the trunk. Mom noticed that people were going in even though it said closed so she went to check it out. She found it to be open, and we placed our order. Boy were we glad we did! The pizza was delicious. We enjoyed lunch with a beautiful view of the water and the Tetons in the background.
When we left lunch, we headed to Yellowstone. We were surprised at how quickly that trip went, and before long we were in the park. I was amazed from the start at the views and was taking lots of pictures. One of my favorite scenes from today were the lily pads in Isa Lake, which happened to be at one of the several times we crossed the continental divide. Stunningly beautiful!
We continued to drive along, stopping as needed for photo ops, and stopped to get our passport stamps for Yellowstone. Then we headed on to check into our hotel, Old Faithful Inn. We decided to grab dinner and then went out to see the eruption of Old Faithful.
We had planned that tonight was the night we would head to Idaho just to add that state to my list! So we drove north and then through West Yellowstone and made the trek to Idaho. Bonus: we went through Montana on the way so I got that state a day early!
We kept our eyes peeled for wildlife the whole way, but still saw nothing with the exception of two elk, a deer running across the street, and a chipmunk!
When we got back to the hotel, I quickly threw on a sweatshirt and went out to see the Old Faithful eruption at night.
Now we are ready for some good sleep. Not setting a 6 a.m. alarm tomorrow!
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