Driving to Devil’s Tower

Today we spent most of the day driving across Wyoming.  We finally reached Devil’s Tower.  We spent an hour or so exploring the odd formation (but didn’t see any signs of alien life!).

 

Then we headed out to Downtown Rapid City, where we found the cutest little boutique hotel called the “Alex Johnson Hotel'”.  It’s in the heart of downtown and was built in 1927.  It’s adorable and our “deluxe double” room has two rooms each with double beds.  It’s really adorable.  We’ll use this as a home base for the next two nights while we explore the Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, and Wind Caves National Park.

Leaving Yellowstone into the Wild West

The hope this morning was to leave our cabin early to see wildlife in the Lamar Valley.  However, after a long day and late night last night, I simply didn’t want to wake everyone up early.  So we didn’t get up and get going until around 9am.

We then explored the Canyon Visitor’s Center and learned all about the volcano activity around Yellowstone. Then we spent a bit of time in the gift shop looking for just the right souvenir.  We wished we had room for this moose in the car.

Next we headed to a picnic spot where we cooked up some hot dogs on the grill.

Then on to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.  So beautiful!

I had hoped to take a hike along the rim, but we decided not to because of the threat of rain.  It didn’t rain on us for a while, but when it started raining, oh boy!  It rained hard for about 15 minutes. Fortunately, we were getting gas at the Eastern exit of the park, so we just hung out at the gift shop.

We didn’t really have a plan for the night since we didn’t have Internet or Cell service in Yellowstone.  So we actually had to (UGHH!) look at a paper map to get out of the park.  We made it to Cody, WY for dinner.  There we found it was Rodeo Night (in fact they have a rodeo every night in the summer).  We simply couldn’t resist.  So we ponied up for the Cody Night Rodeo.  What a kick!

We saw bareback riding, barrel riding, calf roping, and of course bull-riding.  It was a lot of fun for the whole family.  The best part, was the clown.  Despite several offensive, misogynist jokes, he put on a good show.

When it ended at 10pm, we still didn’t have any plans for lodging.  I couldn’t get AT&T service out here (apparently they don’t really do Wyoming), so we flying blind.  We pulled into a local hotel and they only had a “vacation house” left.  We took it and found it was a “double-wide” about 7 miles outside of town.  A bit scary to pull up to this strange home in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night.  But the kids liked it and it was a cozy night’s sleep. Plus, it has laundry facilities, so we got caught up on the dirty laundry.

Hopefully we’ll get AT&T reception somewhere today.  It’s been weird being completely “unplugged”.  It’s not so much the email/news that we miss.  But it’s the travel planning tools that we’ve come to rely on like Google Maps, Kayak, & Priceline.  How did they take vacations in the old days? 

Geyser gazing and a guided fishing tour

After two straight nights of fishing on the local lakes with absolutely nothing…not even a nibble… we decided we needed a bit of expert assistance.  So first thing this morning we headed off to the Lake Lodge and made a reservation for a Guided Fishing Tour.  We scheduled it for 6-8pm on Lake Yellowstone with a guide and a boat for our entire family. 

With the fishing tour as one bookend, we were ready to fill the rest of the day.  We headed over to Old Faithful.  It took a little over an hour in the car to get from the Lake to Old Faithful.  We arrived in time to walk around Geyser Hill and see Anemone, Plume, and Sponge Geysers erupting before finding a seat for the the big show.

 

We were all delighted when it erupted.  What a show!

We watched from the other side of Geyser Hill where the Ranger said it would give us a better view of the height of the blast.  Sure enough, it was enormous!

After the show we went on a tour of Old Faithful Inn.  So cute.  I think I prefer staying at the Lake Area, but Old Faithful was pretty nice.

We took in a few more features, like Old Faithful from up close, Grand Prismatic Springs, Fountain Paint Pots and the Firehole River.  Then we started heading back to the other side of the park to check into our cabin at Canyon Lodge and head to our fishing trip on the lake.  Unfortunately, it took us two hours to get back across the park because of traffic and construction.  So we pulled into the marina at 5:55 and went straight to our trip.

First we sped across the lake.

 

Then we started fishing.  On Madi’s first cast she pulled one up, but with the barbless hook rule in Yellowstone, the fish slipped off before our Fishing Guide could get it in the net.  We all saw it though and it looked great.  Eventually Matt caught two, I caught one, and Madi brought one onto the boat on her very last cast (when our fishing guide said “OK, guys, last cast then we need to head back).

 

By the time the fishing trip was over we were super satisfied with the day even if we were freezing and hungry enough to eat a moose.  We headed up to Canyon Lodge just stopping long enough to get some photos of Mule Deer, and a Grizzly.

We got to the cabin and cooked up some Ravioli on the stove and ate around 10pm then went right to bed.  Tomorrow we’re off to Cody, WY to take in a rodeo then head to Mt. Rushmore and points east…

Bears, and bison, and beer. Oh my!

Today we checked out of our quaint little cabin in the woods by Lake Jackson and explored some of the rest of the Grand Tetons before heading up to Yellowstone.

First, we drove to the Signal Mountain summit.  Such amazing views from the peak.

 

Then we drove down Jenny Lake and splashed around a bit.

Then, onto a 1.5 mile hike in the Lupine Meadows.

Until we reached a beautiful mountain stream to splash around in and have a snack.

 

Then we packed up and headed on to Yellowstone. This was at our arrival into the park, but since the sun was better on this side, we took a photo on the “leaving Yellowstone” side.

Between the parks is the John D. Rockefeller Memorial Highway, on which we saw our first grizzly bear.

 

Then onto Lake Yellowstone for some fishing and dinner.

When we arrived at the Lake Cabins, we were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the lodging.  Our cabin is essentially a modern hotel room with fine furnishings and amenities.  We can’t quite see the lake from our front porch, but it’s really pretty. Of course, as we approached our cabin we saw a full-grown bison walking beside the cabins grazing outside one of the doors. We didn’t get a photo, but it was pretty funny.

The Lake Lodge is beautiful.  It’s a huge log lodge with an enormous front porch overlooking the lake.  The kids were beat, so we let them crash in the cabin while Michelle and I went and watched the sunset and had a little time together by one of the fireplaces at Lake Lodge. 

What an amazing day.  Tomorrow we intend to head down to Old Faithful and the Geyser areas of the park for the day. 

Grand Teton, Day 2

Wow. What an amazingly beautiful place.  I can’t count the number of times I heard someone in our family say something like that today.  We started our day with a walk to the marina and visitor’s center to see what was going on in Colter Bay. 

Then after a quick walk around, we decided to rent canoes and spend the morning on the lake.

Oh my, the canoeing was incredibly beautiful.  The quiet bay, the beautiful vista, the clean, cold mountain water. None of the rest of the family had ever been in a canoe, but they learned quickly how to get around.  Matt took right to it anchoring one canoe with Michelle, and I anchored the second canoe with Madi in front and Marcus with a map as the navigator.

We landed a number of times to explore little islands out in the middle of Lake Jackson.  It was so neat to be the only humans on these islands full of so much life.  We saw a wide variety of squirrels, small animals, and birds. We found scat from several larger animals, but didn’t see anything very big out there. The wildlife viewing of the day was definitely the bald eagle.  Michelle spotted it and we rode right under it’s watchful eye in our canoes.  I don’t remember having seen one before, so it was truly magical.

After a while, the kids wanted to get in the water.  Rather than swim out from shore, they wanted to go off the boats.  Matt went first and swam about 20 feet to shore.  He did great, but said it was freezing. Then Marcus went about 15-feet to shore. Madi went last and went about 10 feet.  But she had a great time doing it while the boys were cold and done.  She kept getting back in the boat and going further out. Until she finally decided she wanted to swim across the entire bay. Here’s a picture of us paddling out to the other side of the bay.

When we finally got over there, she was a bit nervous and moved a bit too quickly towards the edge…SPLASH! Our canoe went right over!  Holy Moly the water was so freaking cold!  I immediately went into hypothermic shock.  Breathing so hard and fast and my heart rate went to about 130 BPM.

Madi was a total trooper and took instruction very well without any fear or freaking out.  She helped me to flip the canoe, but it was too full of water and started sinking.  So, we flipped it back upside down and pulled it back across the bay to the rest of the family.  Truth be told, she pretty much pulled it herself.  I was trying to gather the oars, cushions and so on that was floating in the water.  About 15 feet from shore, I caught up to her and helped her pull it in.  Of course, she was in her swimming gear, and I was in my clean clothes for the day!  Ughh… I was so wet and cold.  But it was certainly a lifetime memory.  Matt & Michelle loaded back into the canoe and paddled out to pick up the rest of the stuff.  Then we went to land and dried off a bit before paddling back to the marina. All in all we were out canoeing for about four hours.  It cost $120, which seems like a lot. Until Michelle said, “that’s the same as our family going to two movies.”.  In comparison, this was a much better way to spend a day.

When we landed at the marina, we went back to our cabin to change into dry clothes (at this point we were all grateful to be in a cabin, not a tent).

We ended the day with some fishing (though we  never even got a nibble!) and a cookout by the lake.  What a wonderful day.

 

Our cabin in Grand Teton

Of course, one of the things we heard from all of our friends when we told them we were going to Yellowstone was

“how did you find a place to stay? I thought you needed reservations a year in advance.?”

When we looked online we couldn’t find anything nearby that looked decent.  However, Michelle read in one of her books that there were frequently last-minute cancellations so we woke up early the day before we left and called the Grand Teton Lodge Company and asked about any last-minute openings.  Sure enough, they had a large cabin available both days in Colter Bay for only $155/night.  That’s less than a simple double room in nearby Jackson, WY Super 8!.

It’s absolutely adorable.

Here’s Madison in front of our cabin.  Michelle and my bed is just under the big window. 

 

The kids have a double bed for the boys and a single for Tiny.

 

We had similar luck with Yellowstone.  They had places available both nights, but in different locations.  The only spot with two nights back-to-back was the Old Faithful Inn, which looks amazing, but at $515/night it was not worth it. So we’re at the Lake Lodge Western Cabins one night and the Canyon Lodge Pioneer Cabins the next.  It should be wonderful.

Oh, and one more thing.  Because our cabin is literally adjacent to the Lounge, we have WiFi in our cabin!  WOOT!

Summer Vacation Day 2

What a wonderful day!  Many fewer miles today, but just about as many hours in the car.

We rose early from our hotel in Salt Lake City to get an early start to Grand Teton.

We piled into the car and spent the next hour or so trying to get out of SLC (don’t even ask about it.  I’ll just say lost pillows and confusion over the GPS instructions were a frustrating way to start the day).

An hour or so later, we crossed over into Idaho for the first time . I remember spending a little bit of time in Idaho when I was a kid, but haven’t been back since.  We all liked Idaho quite a bit.  Beautiful land and so green.  We would like to go back and spend some time there.

 

We finally arrived at Grand Teton about 4pm and just couldn’t believe it.  It is so beautiful it defies description.  Despite the fact that we took almost a hundred photos, we couldn’t do it justice.

We spent the first few hours driving around the park and admiring the wildlife.  For instance we found a dead woodchuck, a half a leg of a deer, and we personally killed a snake.  There were plenty of living animals too…

We ended with a picnic of chili/Frito Pies beside Jackson Lake.  Wow…what an amazing day.  We’re looking forward to some fishing, canoeing, and hiking tomorrow.

The sunset over the lake was breathtaking.