Yellowstone to Grand Teton

Jackson, Wyoming: We have reached one of my favorite places on the planet! I just love Jackson and The Tetons. But, I am way ahead of myself.

We left our campsite in West Yellowstone just after 7a, and entered Yellowstone National Park with very few other tourists. Again, it was a warm sunny day, with few/no clouds. Driving along the Madison River we saw a deer (first deer of the week!) and an Osprey scouting-out brunch along the river. We pulled over to a vista point along a wide meadow along the river and saw a small herd (10?) female bison and their babies walking across the meadow. Then, as about five cars were stopped to photograph the herd, the bison began RUNNING toward us!

At the same time, everyone in the turnout yelled: GET IN YOUR CARS! Everyone did get in their cars, and we were just inside the safety of our vehicles, when the herd jogged through the turn-out area and began walking/jogging on the road.

After crossing through the turn-out, the bison ran along the road for a few hundred yards, before returning to the meadow. They just took a short-cut!

After that exciting "are you awake now" moment, we continued towards Jackson and Grand Teton National Park. It was a long drive this morning due to several road construction delays. We stopped at Kepler Cascades and had great views to the falls and were also treated to a Downy Headed Woodpecker feeding her babies in a hollow tree!

After even more road construction (tourists cannot be upset about road construction - we need to get around the national parks and they can only do road construction in the summer, the rest of the time, park roads are covered in feet of snow) - we entered Grand Teton National Park and made lunch camp in the Mount Moran view point. I prepared DT a sandwich using the leftover chicken from last night and I stir-fried the leftover rice and tofu from the night before for myself. Our lunch time view:

As we approached the Jenny Lake area in the park, we saw cars and RVs parked for about 600m from the visitor center on the main highway. Wow, this was much crazier than the crazy crowds we had found in Yellowstone. We decided to circle the parking area, just in case, and were lucky to find a spot in the RV parking area - NEVERMIND CARS HAD PARKED IN RV-ONLY SITES. Jerks. Dave and I (and Lisa) have been to Jenny Lake several times previously, and have hiked around the lake twice. Never have we seen crowds like this. I am worried this is just not sustainable for our American natural wild places (though we are part of the problem, obviously). Lottery system?

We walked along the shoreline of pretty Jenny Lake and snapped photos of the Teton range rising above the lake, and a kind stranger snapped our photo as well.

After fighting through the crowds at Jenny Lake, we continued to Jackson, stopped at a huge supermarket, and then checked into our campsite at The Virginian RV Park. A poorly-placed tree will stop DT from watching any Giants games via our satellite television (but I can get the games on my iPad in an emergency).

Dave took off on his bike (as he had not worked-out this morning) and I proceeded to put the groceries away and prep dinner. Margaritas and guacamole for appetizers. Chicken Fajitas, from the same package of chicken thighs that provided us with grilled chicken last night)... which turned into chicken quesadillas (or something like that), with fruit.

Big adventure planned for tomorrow!

Until my next update, I remain, your Jackson correspondent.

Campground Information: The Virginian RV Park - This is the only game in town. Less than a mile to town. Full-service sites, bathhouse, laundry, pool at the attached hotel. Restaurants. I will write my review after we leave. We have a back-in gravel site and are paying $170 per night. Not a typo. I will post a review after we leave.

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