Day 36: Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Visited: Grand Teton National Park
Miles Driven Today: 94
Total Miles: 5,504

Grand. That’s an appropriate, albeit modest, description of the Tetons. In reality, the Tetons blew us away.

We started the day making breakfast in the room and then heading out towards the Tetons. The resort we’re staying at provided us with a ‘guided’ scenic driving tour that gave us some really great spots to see and explore.

We started with the park entrance and sign. We got a great shot of the sign with the magnificent Tetons in the background. A German couple was kind enough to take our picture. The views from the highway were incredible. The day was partly cloudy, adding drama to the scenery. I was simply in awe of the beauty of this place.

Entrance to Grand Teton National Park

Entrance to Grand Teton National Park

Majestic Tetons

We went on to the Mormon barn, one of ‘the most photographed’ buildings. I (of course) skirted the trend and took a picture of one of the homesteads. 🙂 Stunning.

Mormon Village w/Teton Backdrop

Mormon Homestead Cabin in the Tetons

We headed over to the park, where I got my National Park stamp. If you didn’t know, there are National Park passports and stamps. Each park has a stamp with their location and the date. You can keep track of the parks you visited. I’m getting quite a collection. However, I almost blew it by leaving my passport in the Visitor’s center. Luckily, I discovered that it was missing and was able to retrieve it!

National Park Passport

We drove the park loop road and decide to stop for a picnic lunch at the very large Jackson Lake. But before we got there, we found a friend. This little guy wasn’t afraid of us at all. He kept munching away on the grass as I took pictures.

Hello little mule deer

We bought some sandwiches and sat on the shores of Jackson Lake. The day was a bit cool, but we hardly noticed…we were enthralled at what we were seeing and experiencing at this magical place.

Jackson Lake reflecting the Tetons

Picnic spot at Jackson Lake

After lunch, we decided to go searching for some of the ‘residents’ of this area. We encountered a herd of bison, but they were so far off that they were hard to see (and photograph). We really wanted to see a moose, so I referred back to my ‘scenic drive guide’ and we headed on to Moose-Wilson road behind the Visitor’s Center. Within ten minutes, we spotted a collection of cars along the road…and YES…there he was! My first MOOSE!

Hello Mr. Moose!

Mr. Moose unconcerned by the paparazzi

We moseyed after waving ‘bye’ to the moose and stopped to view the lovely Snake River. It just so happens that one of the views was a favorite of Ansel Adams. Of course, I’m no Ansel Adams, but my iPhone very adequately captured the serene beauty of this valley.

Snake River and Tetons – An Ansel Adams View

It doesn’t get any better than this

We headed back to the resort and then walked to downtown Jackson. Yes, it’s touristy. Yes, we’re tourists. So, we happily window shopped and looked at restaurants in search of a decent meal. One of the shop owners told us that at 6pm, there would be a shoot-out show at the town square. So we moseyed on over and watched the show. Cheesy, but still…fun!

Stagecoach in downtown Jackson

Shootout show in downtown Jackson

We had a nice dinner and an ice cream at the local parlor and headed back to the resort. We actually have changed our plans a bit. We liked this place so much that we are staying two more nights and using Jackson for our ‘home’ base for our Yellowstone visit. It’s not much further of a drive than Bozeman to Yellowstone, and we really love our quiet and comfy log cabin. We’ll leave on Friday for parts unknown…we’re still discussing where to go next. But that’s the beauty of an unstructured vacation. We love it!

Today was a great day. But then again, we’ve had over a month of great days…and more to come.

Today’s open road

All this sightseeing and sniffing make the dogs sleepy