Teton Nat'l Park - Jun 2006

Aaaah -- Teton National Park -- what a scenic treasure. With gorgeous mountain views, alpine lakes, rivers, hiking trails and abundant wildlife -- I'd be hard pressed to find a better place to spend a week relaxing and soaking up Mother Nature's glory.

We arrived at Colter Bay RV Village on Sunday afternoon and after a lengthy check-in (long lines -- lots of tourists) we got two sites side-by-side. The campground was ok -- lots of pine trees and full hook-ups, but the sites were pretty tightly packed and the campground was full the whole time we were there. The campground was just a short walk to Jackson Lake, the marina, the Visitor's Center, the store, laundry and gift shop, so everything was very convenient. We spent the afternoon setting up camp and exploring the area in Colter Bay. In the evening, we all took in an interesting ranger presentation on big horn sheep.

We woke up Monday morning to rain and thunderstorms, so took advantage of the down time to catch up on emails, read and do a few chores inside the RV. The rain stopped for a couple of hours in the afternoon and we drove over to Jackson Lake Lodge where we enjoyed the panoramic views from the massive lobby, explored numerous gift shops and checked out the menus at several restaurants. That evening Frank & I went to another ranger led presentation on elks while Mom & George relaxed back at camp. After the presentation, we all played cards until our yawns finally won out and we all tucked it in for the night.

Tuesday was our first full day of good weather -- and beautiful it was, so we took advantage of it and drove all the way around the park, stopping at numerous Visitor's Centers and scenic overlooks. We were out almost all day and enjoyed seeing panoramic vistas of the towering peaks, lovely meadows filled with wildflowers, pine forests and quaking aspens. We even saw some wildlife -- a coyote, two elk, lots of bison, marmots and several types of birds -- including a colorful mountain bluebird.

We all agreed that the area at the south end of Jenny Lake was "the perfect spot" in the Tetons and by far our favorite scenic location -- what with the majestic Tetons in the background, the pine trees surrounding us with their fresh scent, a picturesque wooden bridge crossing over the swiftly flowing Cottonwood Creek and all of this bordered with wildflower filled meadows -- too pretty!

We're eating well too -- yesterday was homemade cheesesteak sandwiches and a delicious pasta salad that Mom made. One morning we enjoyed hot, cream cheese filled, cinnamon flavored muffins from the general store for breakfast. For lunch one day we had pizza, salad and sandwiches at Dornan's -- a famous stop along the Snake River with a tremendous view of the mountain peaks. My-oh-my, are we going to have to do some serious hiking to work off the calories. In fact, here we are on a hike around the Colter Bay Marina. Probably not long enough to burn off all the calories from those lucious cream cheese filled cinnamon muffins.

Mom & I were pooped from all the walking. What a lovely place to sit and rest for awhile.