Our Big Road Trip July 2008!

Slept in for the first time in a long time til 7am!!! and missed the morning moose herd in the meadow but I've seen enough moose on this trip to last a few years,all had breakfast together which is a rarity then headed south to [b]MOOSE/[b] Wyoming (When will it end) to visit the N.P. visitors center so the girls can get there N.P. Passport book stamped then head to Jackson Hole.

Jackson Hole is a madhouse in the summer with all the tourist's and plus there was the county rodeo going on to add to the mess so we headed straight to the hotelthen it started to rain so we hunkered down for the night.

Woke up to a fog bank which I was told is normal but will burn off around 10,had breakfast and then headed into town before the rest of the tourist descended. Parked at the town park and the famous antler archesand took a tour of downtown Jackson via a stagecoachthen headed to the mountain for some tobogganing summer style on Jackson Hole Mountain

After our fill of the Winter Olympics we headed south for Salt Lake City for the night before we head to Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks

After an overnight rain storm we headed south though the park again to our new destination Grand Tetons N.P. Didn't stop at to many places since we had seen them already and we wanted to get to the Tetons and our hotel early to start a new adventure. Seeing the Tetons up close and in person is amazing. they seem to just rise from the floor. We stayed at the Jackson Lake Lodge which is in front of a large meadow where many elk and moose grazethe 30 by 60 foot windows circled in the picture have a great view of the Tetons from the lobbythe view was hazy caused by the fires from California but got much better the next day.Had a rain shower that evening so it helped with the haze.

Next day we went to Jenny Lake which is south of the hotel and much closer to the mountain,the views were fantasticlater that day Cheryl set up a fishing trip on Jackson Lake with Capt Pat,it started out slow as in no bites and Capt Jack said he has never been skunked so he added an extra hour and we moved to the other side of the lake and with the girls singing to the fish the bites started to happen.we ended up catching six,5 mackinaw and 1 rainbow.What a great way to end our stay in the Tetons,Thanks Cheryl.Got back to the lodge just in time for a BBQ they put on and then hit the sack for tomorrow it is on to Jackson Hole.

To the chagrin of Trinity it was an early wake up(8 am) for the trek to Mammoth Hot Spring at the northern part of the park,the thing with driving around the park is that it is a relatively short distance of 85 miles but at 45 mph and many other distractions( Bison on the road,bear and moose jams,etc ) it will take us 2 hours to get there plus a stop at West Thumb Geyser Basin for our daily intake of sulfur.

With the car packed and are bellies full we head up north to West Thumb to see Fishing Geyser,Fish Geyser is in Lake Yellowstone and is named because in the early days fishermen would cook there catch in the geyser from their boat but unbeknown to them arsenic is in the water from the geyser,a very slight amount but enough to make them sick.Also it is underwater because of the extra water from the late snow fall

After a tour of the basin and a ranger talk about the area so the girls can have him sign their junior ranger book it was off to Mammoth.Well that's what we thought,like I said there are many distractions you may have to deal with and we had two on the way up,first was a bison wallow,a wallow is a bison rolling and rubbing in dirt to take off his old coat but the bonus was that a bear was lurking in the distant about a mile from the bison and us so the crowds got big.

then there was a bull elk wandering on the road so that slowed everyone down on the road.After a few bathroom stops we arrived a Mammoth.

The Mammoth Hotel was built in 1911 and is one of only two that stay open year round,interesting hot spring features with travertine that has been created over thousands of years as hot water from the spring cooled and deposited calcium carbonate (over 2 tons of calcium carbonate flows into Mammoth each day in a solution).

After a good night sleep we headed 5 miles north to the north entrance to see the stone archway that was built for the parks opening. then it was off to the Grand Tetons for two days.

To make it easier on you and me I'm going to do the first three days at the park in one blog,less emails for you and less uploading for me. I took over 300 pictures just on the first day so don't expect all of them but just a few highlights.I will provide a link to all the photos later.

I would just like to thank the person who invented memory foam bed toppers because the beds in Grants Village are HARD,I read in Tripadvisor.com that they were so we bought 3 twin toppers for the trip and they did the trick. We reserved a tour of the park to get a overview to see what we did or did not want to spend extra time at,it was called "The Ring of Fire" tour and it lasted all day with 4-5 long stops and a lunch break.Stopped at all the geyser basins and "The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone".

Our first stop was at Lake Yellowstone and it's hotel,the lake is the largest lake above 7,000 ft in North America at 7,732 and with 110 miles of shoreline it took us 3 hour to drive around it.The Yellowstone Hotel was first built in 1891 but renovated in 1903,1929 and 1981. After 45 mins we boarded the bus for the trip to the Canyon Area but first we stopped at the first of many waterfalls on the Yellowstone River The Upper Falls of Yellowstone River The water level is high for this time of year because of a June snow storm so the flow is strong. We then headed to the Canyon area of the park to see there version of our canyonnot as spectacular but interesting water falls into the canyon

Had lunch at the Canyon Visitor Center then it was off to Norris Geyser Basin for Mud Pots,Hot Springs and Geysers.When you get their you feel you are not on earth or on earth thousands of years ago,with mud boiling up from below

and hot springs with water over 175 degrees the orange color is bacteria growing in the cool 120 degree water.Then there is the geysers with hot water traveling through cracks in the earth until the pressure is to great and they explode

After getting our fill of the hot stuff we are off to see what most people come to Yellowstone for,Old Faithful.Most geysers are sporadic when it comes to eruptions,some once a day,some once a year or some have not stopped but Old Faithful goes off every 90 min +or- 10 minutes. They measure the height of the geyser and the length of the eruption to predict the next one.A short height and a long duration means a shorter span between eruptions..

This was the last tour stop so we headed back to Grants Village and our room for the night,the next blog will be on Mammoth Hot Springs in the northern part of the park.

Missoula is a collage town so most of the staff are from the collage so no hurry on service,got on the road at 9am and a half hour later we got a call from Mel(my niece) wondering when we would get to her house in Big Sky and what we wanted to do when we got there,half hour later I ended the conversation with no answers to her question.Stopped in Butte for gas and later had a conversation with our GPS unit on the right way to get to Big Sky and I lost.

Arrived at Mel's office and she escorted us to the home of Mitch and Mel and Bogie(the dog) Mel went back to work and we waited for Mitch to arrive so Cheryl did some wash(getting low) and the girls and I played with Bogey.Mitch arrived and it was off to play a few holes of golf with the girls and shop for food for a BBQ.Girls rode with Mitch on his ATV then it was off to Yellowstone before dark.

Entered the West Gate of Yellowstone and the ranger said the sun goes down around 9:30 so we have plenty of time to get to Grants Village our home for three days.Not more than a half mile past the gate we encountered this one of hundreds we will see in three days.Got to Grants Village before dark and unpacked and hit the sack,for tomorrow we rise early for our tour of the park.