Refreshed after a much needed night of sleep, we started our third day bright and early. The fire near Jackson seemed to be creating allergy issues for me, but I certainly wasn’t going to let that stop me. We got up, packed the car, enjoyed our breakfast and then hit the road. Well, sort of…
once in the car we stopped moments later for pictures with the famous antler arches.
then we stopped for gas.
we were then caught in a construction stop for about 15 minutes.
finally, we were moving along…
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| Mommy and the Girls underneath the famous Jackson antler arches. |
once we were moving we crossed into Grand Teton National Park.
we stopped for pictures in front of the sign.
we stopped for a lot of pictures on our way to Moose Junction.
from Moose Junction we took the road in towards Jenny Lake.
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| Mommy and the girls about to enter Grand Teton National Park |
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| Auntie Kelli and the girls about to enter Grand Teton National Park. |
the road towards Jenny Lake gave us spectacular views.
you couldn’t tell there were fires nearby.
it also gave us a lot of places to stop and take some great pictures.
the day was perfect. the skies were blue with the perfect wisps of clouds.
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| The Tetons approaching Jenny Lake |
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| The Tetons are growing as we get closer to Jenny Lake. |
we decided to take the Jenny Lake Loop Drive.
we made a stop at Jenny Lake for some pictures.
the girls were cranky so Kelli was the only one to get out for pictures. it was a beautiful view though.
by the time we reached Hoback Junction, the girls were growing restless.
we quickly drove to Oxbow Bend, which looked beautiful with the willows starting to change color.
after our photo op, we hit the road and began the quick trip to Yellowstone.
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| It almost doesnt look real. The willows are starting to turn at Oxbow Bend. |
on the road out of Teton and through the John D. Rockefeller Memorial Parkway we hit construction.
two construction stops along the way slowed us a bit.
after the last construction stop, we decided to take a break at Colter Bay.
we stopped to shop and I found two replacements for my favorite key chain.
after a potty break, lunch and souvenirs we were back on the road and only 20 miles from Yellowstone.
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| The girls at the South Entrance of Yellowstone National Park. This would be Kelli’s first time entering this wonderful National Park. I did not get a picture of her at the sign on my camera, so I will have to get one from Kelli. |
after a quick drive we arrived at the South Entrance of Yellowstone National Park.
this would be Kelli’s first time in Yellowstone, so we had to stop for pictures.
we took pictures of Kelli, the girls, the girls and I and more.
we also watched several men from back East fish the Yellowstone. they caught a few too!
after taking it all in, we got back into the car and crossed the boundary into Yellowstone.
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| Kelli crossing the Continental Divide over Craig’s Pass. Another first for Kelli! |
our first stop was Lewis Falls. one of my favorites.
we then drove to Grants Village and around Yellowstone Lake to Fishing Bridge.
on our way we stopped to see the Lake Hotel. Such a pretty place and not well known either.
from Fishing Bridge we drove a few miles out towards the East Entrance.
we didn’t see Wolves or Bear as we hoped, but we saw a lot of Bison.
from there we turned around and headed back the way we came, diverting our travel towards Old Faithful.
on our way over Craig’s Pass, we stopped at one of the two markers for the Continental Divide.
this was another first for Auntie Kelli, so we had to stop and document it.
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| One of many beautiful thermal pools along Firehole Lake Drive. |
we reached the junction at Old Faithful and headed towards the West Entrance.
we had a bit of extra time so we decided to explore the Firehole Lake Drive loop.
the thermal pools were gorgeous in the afternoon sun.
fall means that water levels are low but Firehole Lake and its surrounding pools were spectacular.
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| A lone Coyote out for an afternoon hunt. Our first non-hoofed animal sighting of the trip. |
after finishing our drive around Firehole Lake, we headed towards the West Entrance.
along the way we saw our first animal that didn’t have hooves, a lone Coyote hunting rodents in a meadow.
we cut off at Madison Junction and headed towards West Yellowstone.
along the way, we saw a Bald Eagle perched at the top of a pine tree.
from this point we drove and didn’t stop. our destination was my parents house in Bozeman.ft
The drive through Gallatin Canyon and the outer borders of the park was beautiful, especially at the time of the afternoon that we did it in. Within an hour and a half we had arrived at my parents house and boy were we happy to see them. I have to say I was a little sad, because it meant the big road trip portion of our trip was over but we still have a long weekend in Yellowstone and some down time in Bozeman to enjoy. What a great day! I certainly hope Kelli felt the same way!
The Wharton Adventures 