Three Days in the Grand Tetons

Still raining most every day. Saturday we did the scenic drive through Grand Teton National park. Lots of scenic views and bison and antelope and elk along the road. No bear's as yet. Had a great lunch at the Signal Inn Lodge on Lake Jackson. They have boat rentals for fishing and sailing, so maybe next trip. Some short hikes to the views and we are back home. We stayed in tonight and snacked for dinner and did a Redbox movie.....not a bad deal, a movie for a buck. We watch them on the laptop either in the van or a motel room. Drop them off in the morning on the way out.

Sunday Jim did a bike ride thru the Tetons, starting at Menors Ferry, a historic ferry and general store that are renovated and the cashier is dressed in period clothes. Just up the road I saw a cow moose by the side of the road and stopped to take her picture with my cell phone as I left the camera behind due to rain. When I pointed the phone, her ears went up, she snorted repeatedly and started to gallop toward me.....so.....I took off and called Suzanne to drive by for some pictures . Saw Elk and maybe a bear on the side of the mountain, but he was too far away to be sure. Rode about 20 miles in the park at the base of the mountains, then met up with Suzanne and Beau for a short walk then we drove up to Jackson Lodge for lunch, another great lunch and a beautiful lodge. The restaurant has large picture windows that look out on the plains and mountains. There were herds of bison and elk on the grasslands while we had a great lunch in a beautifully decorated mountain theme dining room. Again we stayed in our cabin at night for a movie and a snack for dinner.

Monday we did breakfast at the Bunnery here in Jackson. A great and very big mountain breakfast at this bakery and breakfast stop. Great food , then we went river rafting down the Snake river. It was impressive being out on the fast moving river winding through forest and meadow at the base of the mountains. No large animal sitings, but we did see two eagle nests with eagles and lots of small mammals. Interesting thing on the raft is the popping sound you hear from the rocks being tumbled along the fast moving river as we float down at different speeds depending on the elevation drop. After the raft ride we went into town to explore and shop. Lots and lots of stores with stuffed animals , tee shirts and cowboy clothes and the sort. We had another great lunch at the Silver Dollar Grill at the historic Wort Hotel in downtown Jackson. We were so full from lunch that we skipped dinner again and saved up for tomorrows breakfast.

Tuesday we had breakfast at Jedadia's Sourdough Pancakes, another great and huge breakfast then went hiking up at Jenny Lake in the Grand Teton Park. We hiked up to "Hidden Falls" about 3 miles around the lake and then up the mountain at the end. Beautiful hike , so we did about 6 miles round trip at about 8ooo feet, so we got our exercise today. Back to town and we will cook in the cabin tonight as it will be our last " home cooked " meal . We'll wash Beau, do Laundry and set up the van for camping again. Wed we'll drive across Idaho and into Oregon on our way to Oregons Dune Beaches, then on to Seaside Or to start the trans america bike ride.

Stay tuned, I'll try to keep a daily log of the bike ride if we have internet each day as well as a written log and of course pictures.

Jim, Suzane and Beau