Day 11 (Meet the Bakers)

Today we meet up with our friends the Baker’s. The Baker’s moved from Elmhurst to Seattle 2 years ago, and they drove down to spend a few days with us.

They have 3 kids Kaelani, Toria, and Bailey. Toria and Alyssa are the same age and so are August and Bailey. Here are the kids before we started the South Jenny lake /Hidden Falls hike.

 

This hike takes you up on the Grand Teton mountain.

 

 

 

 

 

Marshal Baker is training to climb Mt. Reiner in Seattle, so he offered to carry Ashley.

 

 

 

 

We hiked up to the Hidden Falls.

 

 

 

 

 

And then we continued on to Inspiration Point.

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a picture of the kids at Inspiration Point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Instead of continuing on the 5 mile trail we hiked around the mountain which turned out to be a good thing because we got to see a Moose.

 

 

On the way back the kids wanted to go swimming. We found a spot and jumped in. We found out later the lake was frozen over only a couple of weeks ago, and the temperature was probably 38.

 

 

August though it was cold.

 

 

 

 

 

After we went swimming it started to rain/sleet/hail. Nothing we weren't use to.

 

 

 

After the hike (that turned out to be 8 miles) we stopped by the grocery store, and bought some food for dinner. We cooked up eggs, bacon, hash browns, hotdogs, and Mac&Cheese. We were a little hungry.

The girls volunteered to clean up the dishes.  We wanted to start a fire and roast marshmallows, but it started to rain.

Day 10 (Grand Teton National Park)

We started out the day by attending a Ranger Program about places to see in the park. It seams that most rangers probably don’t get into this line of work because they want to be public speakers. All kidding aside we got a bunch of great ideas about places to see.

We started by stopping by the Jackson Lake Lodge. It is really cool and has a great view of the Teton’s. After the lodge we stopped at the Willow Flats Overlook.  This is supposed to be a great place to see wild life, but we didn’t see anything.

 

 

 

Our next stop was by the Jackson Lake Dam and Reservoir.

The dam raises the level of Jackson Lake by 39 feet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we drove up Signal Mountain. The drive is 5-miles and it is 800 feet above the valley. The summit overlook provides a great panoramic view of the entire Teton Range.

 

After Signal Mountain we took the scenic road along Jenny Lake.

 

 

 

 

At the end of the day Ashley was wiped out.

 

It was a nice relaxing day with some spectacular views of the Tetons.

Day 9 (Yellowstone)

Today we drove into Yellowstone. It is over 60 miles from our campsite to Old Faithfull. I overheard a ranger say this is the most precipitation for the month since 1948. As a result the mosquitoes are out of control.  We were completely swarmed when we took this picture.

 

Take a look at the next picture, because so far this is the only animal we have seen.

 

 

 

 

There was some awesome views along the way.

 

 

 

 

 

When we were in the Rocky Mountains we saw a lot of brown pine trees. It turns out the forests are infected with the pine beetle. Eventually all of the trees are going to die, because they are all the same age. Past practice has been to put out forest fires when they start so all of the trees are the same age. Yellowstone is further along  here is something we saw a lot of.

 

We got to Old Faithfull just as it erupted, and we caught a glimpse of it from the car.

Here are the kids waiting for the next eruption (every 94 minutes).

 

 

Here is Old Faithfull erupting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We walked all around the area and saw some cool geysers and hot springs. There was a ranger that told us that bison some times fall into the pools. Some one asked what do you do, and she said nothing. The pools are so acidic that a bison calf will completely disintegrate in 12 hours (only 10 hours for a human).

Day 8 (Hail)

Today it rained and hailed and rained and hailed again. We were all pretty tired from traveling, so we really did not mind spending a day in the camper. We watched a movie, played cards and read. It stopped raining around 3 and we thought the rain was gone for the day. Around 5 Colleen and Alyssa decided to do some laundry. A few minutes after they left it started to hail. Colleen drove back to the camper because she thought we were going to blow away, but we were fine. We hade pasta, with spaghetti  sauce, green beans, peaches, and salad for dinner. It was cold out so I turned the heat up before we went to bed. Some time around midnight it started to hail. There is nothing as loud as a popup camper in a hail storm. Because it had been raining the end bunds of the camper were soaking wet, and when the hail started it was knocking the water off the canvas onto us. I got up and put towels on everyone to keep them dry. Around 3:30 AM. The battery for the furnace died and we had no heat. It was a long cold wet night.

We were able to go 4 night in Colorado with temperatures in the 40’s at night and the battery never died, but we were only able to get 2 night in Wyoming before the battery died. So I guess you can’t keep the camper at 60 when it is 30 outside.

When we were driving to Wyoming Ashley blurted out “For some reason I thought we were almost home, I don’t know why I just did.”

Day 7 (500 miles)

Today we left Colorado and headed to Wyoming. We actually got up early and we left the campground by 8. On our way out of the campground Ashley had to use the restroom, and when we were waiting we saw 3 dear cross the road right in front of us.

We stopped in Estes Park at a rock shop and the kids got some souvenirs. Then we stopped to fill up the propane tank. We only used 1 gallon of propane (the tank holds 4.5) for the first 6 days. We left Estes at 9. The GPS on my computer said we would not get to the Tetons until 6 PM. I thought we would get there earlier but it was right on.

Here is a picture of the Big Thompson River on our way out of Estes Park.

 

 

 

 

Most of the trip was uneventful and kind of boring. There isn’t much to look at in Wyoming. Until we got close to the Tetons. Here is a picture with some amazing colors.

 

 

Finally at our campsite I am starting the refrigerator and Ashley is lowering on of the jacks on the camper.

 

 

 

One bad thing about driving through Wyoming is there is no place to stop. The rest areas are at least 100 miles apart and gas stations aren’t any closer. We ended up stopping at a gas station in the middle of nowhere, and it was a little scary.