We drove all. night. to get from Denver to Jackson Hole, Wyoming and the Grand Tetons. All night long. (Note: Never. Again. Whatwerewethinking???)
We got there around 6:00 a.m. and Brian had a spot he had looked up where the sunrise was supposed to be spectacular. It's the same spot where Ansel Adams took his famous photo over the Snake River. But because of some forest fires and the weather, the gargantuan Grand Teton Mountain, which was right in front of us, was basically invisible. Bummer. I felt bad because Brian was really looking forward to it. You could smell a lot of smoke while we were driving in the area.
It was freezing that morning! The mountain is right in front of us...crazy that you can't see it. Finally we could see the very tip of the snowed peak but not enough to show up in the camera well.
After traveling all night the kids were still hanging in there...
(fyi what it was supposed to look like)
The best I could get was this view on the other side of the road...
Silly traveling boys shortly after changing our clothes, washing faces, and brushing teeth at a visitor's center. We are adventurous folk, that we are.
Later in the day we did have some awesome views but nothing like it could have been if it was clear. This is over the famous Jenny Lake. Which normally looks like this:
Again, bummer.
Eh, I guess that's what the postcards are for...and it gives us reason to maybe go back because you could totally spend a week here in the wilderness riding horses and hiking and climbing. It is so pure and crisp and just spectacular and that was just our impression with our hazy view.
We went back to Jackson Hole for breakfast and found this quaint organic cafe which had all sorts of crazy crunchy breakfast food like blue corn griddlecakes and spelt pancakes and tempura lots of things that I couldn't decipher. But it made me happy and filled our stomachs with good food.
And they had coffee. Blessed delicious organic coffee.
After driving through much of the Tetons it was afternoon and we were desperate to just crash at our cabin in Yellowstone. On the way out of the Tetons we stopped at a random pull off in between the Tetons and Yellowstone where the boys could stretch their legs along the Snake River. I think they enjoyed this more than any other part of the trip thus far. Recipe for next family vacation: less car, more water, sticks, rocks.
We spent the next few hours driving through Yellowstone to get to the cabin and again crashed for the night, exhausted beyond anything.
Wonderful pictures and great captions. It looks like all of you are having an amazing trip. I think everyone who reads your blog will start trying to plan their own trip to the West. I am.
ReplyDeleteStay safe and continue to enjoy every moment.
Love
Grandma & Grumpy
You drove all night???? Y'all be cray cray!
ReplyDeleteNever ever again. Once upon a time when John Paul was a baby we did this a few times and it worked well...baby slept most of the night and we were tired in the morning but we felt it was worth the extra day you saved. Realized this time that a big part of why it worked is that we only HAD one child at that time. Oh, and we're old now...it takes longer to bounce back from that lack of sleep!!
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