September 14, 2014

So by now you might be seeing a trend, I tend to think in song titles and lyrics – can’t sing on tune but in my head I’m a Rock Star (or maybe country star depending on the song)!!

On the drive from Laramie to the Grand Tetons, that song “Wide Open Spaces” just kept going through my head.  It was so beautiful and open – amazing compared to most of the country where we try to squeeze just one more building or neighborhood into an already crowded area.  We tried and tried to take pictures to show the grandeur of it and no matter what we did it just wasn’t translating through the lens.  On these open ranges herds of Prong Horn Antelope play right alongside herds of cattle and horses.  We have seen huge hawks spying their meals from the power lines and poles.  We even saw a coyote walking along the highway, our animal count for the drive is pretty impressive so far, we can’t wait to see all of the wild life at Grand Tetons and Yellowstone!

We can tell we are getting closer to Jackson and the Grand Tetons because the price of gas is getting crazy – $4.20 for diesel now, holy cow what will be once we are actually up in the park??

There are 2 basic routes into the Tetons from Laramie, either stay on 287 and wind through various other highways and come into the East side of the park at the Moran gate, or continue on I-80 to Rock Springs and into the park through Jackson.  Since we had never see Jackson – we decided to take that route.   We drove through the Bridger-Teton National Forest, it was beautiful to see the Aspen trees as they were changing to gold and their leaves flickered in the wind.  The Hoback River winds along the road, passing under the road and winding back and forth – we can see the mountains in the distance!  Our excitement is gaining with every mile, I have heard for years how beautiful the Grand Tetons are – but honestly I really don’t know what to expect.

We rolled into Jackson around 6:00pm and figured while we had cell service it would be a good time to call and find a campsite.  For the entire trip, the only reservation we do have is for Yellowstone – everything else has been “late arrivals” or “space available”.  Our plan for Teton was to come into the park and find a spot, we had both read that several of the campgrounds inside the park were on a first come basis. I wasn’t too worried, being late in the season and a Sunday night figured we should be good.  We called a couple of places near Jackson but decided we wanted to be closer or in the park – so we found a spot at Teton RV Campground ($65 no discounts except military) – just a few miles outside of the Moran gate (guess maybe we should have gone the other way) while on the phone with their reservation person, he told us that there were not many places that could fit a rig our size so we felt that our best bet was to make the reservation.  The campground was in the process of closing or the season, and had already closed down one section, we stayed on the back side right next to the laundry facility.  Most sites seemed to be pull through with full hookups, good wifi but no TV.  We arrived just before sunset and since we were outside of the park, we had a beautiful view of the mountains as the sky turned pink.  We were so busy getting set up and ready for dinner that we didn’t get a picture (fail) – we just have it in our memories.

Dinner time – Brisket with mashed potatoes and corn, yummy!

BTW – did you know that there is no town called Jackson Hole?  Apparently, the town is  Jackson the airport is Jackson Hole Airport and on the map, it shows the area being called Jackson Hole … strange not quite sure the deal. We drove through the town, it was very nice – lots of shops, restaurants and things to do, unfortunately we didn’t have time to stop we wanted to find a campsite before dark.  We did manage to get a quick picture of the famous Jackson archways made of elk antlers on our way through.

That’s all for tonight …

Tomorrow first full day exploring the Grand Tetons!

Thanks for following us!
Sharon