day 11: fairy falls hike, grand prismatic spring, drive to jackson hole, wyoming.

In reflecting on our four days in Yellowstone, I’d like to say that I feel very loyal to the park.

We’ve heard several people knock it, and I think I’d feel similarly if all we’d done is the really tourist-y sites. Actually, that’s what our family says about the Grand Canyon, because we just remember it as hot and crowded with gimmicky tourist shops every few yards it seemed. But we only saw a portion of the South Rim, so it’s not really fair. People I know who’ve hiked to the bottom of the canyon or visited the North Rim feel differently.

Though we wouldn’t have traded the more famous landmarks we saw in Yellowstone, every time we got away from the crowds, we were so happy. If you can believe it, David and I are already scheming our next road trip (apparently road trips are like tattoos: addictive), and next time, we’ll skip the lookouts in Yellowstone, and spend more time in our favorite spots: Lamar Valley. Hayden Valley at sunset. The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

The park is enormous, and full of beauty, diversity, and more wildlife sightings than we could’ve hoped for. Upon leaving, our whole family pronounced it our favorite national park thus far.

 

 

We had just one hike left on Saturday morning before leaving for Jackson Hole. It was a 5-mile round trip hike to Fairy Falls that included a lookout over Grand Prismatic Spring. It was a bit early in the morning to get a good view of the geyser basin due to all the steam, but we were able to see it from the bottom later on.

 

 

 

On the way to the falls, Gabe and Noah found a “seesaw.”

 

 

Skipping rocks has become the favorite road trip pastime of the boys. Amie and I are pretty hopeless at it. But the guys can get several skips.

 

 

Amie made a little chipmunk friend. Clearly he’s been fed often, because he was tame enough to come searching our hands for food.

After the hike, we drove around the corner for our last geyser basin in Yellowstone. This was my favorite. The colors are so vivid, and the blue mist that hovers over them is ethereal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grand Teton National Park, Jackson Hole, Wyoming

And then we drove to Jackson Hole.

This is a valley that includes Grand Teton National Park. It takes about an hour and a half to drive from the south entrance of Yellowstone to Jackson Hole, and most of that time is due to the 45-mile-an-hour speed limit.

The main difference in the terrain of Grand Teton is the majestic mountain peaks that rise on either side of the valley. They are breathtaking.

We ate a sweaty, dusty picnic lunch at a rather depressing pull off as we entered the park, with a person smoking at the picnic table right next to us, and noticing that the salami in our cooler tasted off. We loaded up in the van as quickly as possible and thought, “I hope Grand Teton gets better than this.”

It does!

Once again we found ourselves in the position of trying to kill time before check-in, so we followed the signs to Coulter Bay for a dip in the lake. More on dips in the lake in Grand Teton soon.

We drove through the very posh ski town of Jackson, Wyoming, and decided to stop for a cup of coffee and a perfunctory picture at the Jackson Hole antler arch.

 

 

 

We stopped at a grocery store to load up on real food for the week. And then, a 15-minute drive to our Airbnb. You guys, I almost shed real tears as we walked inside the studio apartment. It’s all one room, save for the bathroom, but feels palatial after nights and nights of hotel rooms.

 

 

 

It’s adorable! There’s a full kitchen! A table with 6 chairs! A washer and dryer! A little patch of grass outside for the kids to play!

We did one final huge unload of the van and began to settle into our home for the next 5 nights. I happily washed everything. Clothes. Hoodies. Throw blankets from the van. My grubby baseball cap. David made us taco salad for dinner. Amie decorated the mantle with our postcard collection and the books we brought from home. Judah texted his friends. And Gabe and Noah developed a strange new game involving empty trash bags, faux sheepskin throw rugs, and the oscillating fan.

We were all in our happy place.