2004 Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks

Mount Teton view from Jenny Lake

We took another “Great Adventure” out West this past August. The boys took their Gameboy video players along which helped pass the drive time but Mom & Dad had one rule: “No Gameboy playing in the National Parks, Monuments or Forests.” The boys survived!! We spent a very relaxing week camping with Tim’s Dad and Toni in the Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks in Wyoming. On our way there we also stopped at Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota, and Pompeys Pillar National Monument in Montana where Lewis & Clark stopped in 1806 on their “Great Adventure” out West. Of course, our adventure had a few more conveniences and was a little less dangerous.

Highlights

• Theodore Roosevelt National Park

• Pompey's Pillar National Monument

• Yellowstone National Park

• Colter Bay & Colter Bay Campground

• Old Faithful

• Signal Mountain

• Upper and Lower falls on the Yellowstone

• Artists Point

• Mammoth Hot Springs

• Grand Teton National Park

• Jackson Hole - Jackson Alpine Slide

• Jenny Lake & hike to Hidden Falls

• Jackson Lake Lodge (have a coffee and watch moose)

• Oxbow Bend near dusk

• Float trip in the park on the Snake River w/Grand Teton Lodge Company

• Grand Teton Park Visitor Center & Young Naturalist Program

• Sand Wild Water Raft trip just south of Jackson on Hwy 89 (Big Kahuna Rapids!)

• Wyoming

• Irma's Hotel

• Bubba's Bar B Q in cody and the Cody Wyoming Rodea

• Bighorn National Forest

• Devils Tower National Monument

• The President's Trail

• National Light Show

• Mount Rushmore

• Wall Drug

• Badlands National Park

• Custer State Park

• Wind Cave National Park

• Minuteman Missile National Monument

We did, however, manage another close encounter with a young bear less than twenty yards ahead of us on a hiking trail. As the bear was foraging through the dead forest wood to find some food, Tim tried to get closer to take a better picture. Erik had already heard too many bear stories from his Dad and he cautioned Dad not to get any closer. As we followed the bear down the trail we soon discovered that we were not alone. Dozens of tourists from a nearby parking area had heard about the bear and were there trying to take a picture too. Perhaps the bear was paid entertainment?

We also saw quite a few moose, buffalo, deer, elk, eagles, osprey, some swan, an owl, a few nasty lightening storms, some beautiful sunsets and many beautiful wild flowers. Roxanne stopped to enjoy each one. It was a lesson in patience and nature appreciation for the boys. Activities that involved a faster speed were more exciting for the boys, like the Alpine slide in Jackson Hole and white water rafting on the Snake River. The boys thought these rides were “the Bomb”! (Forget the old dictionary meaning; today something is “the Bomb,” because it is “Awesome”; more in reference to the energy from the explosion of a bomb.)

Yellowstone is a very interesting place, and quite educational as thermal waters are shooting out of the earth, unbearable gaseous smells are steaming out of the ground, and bison keep stopping the traffic flow. The forests are starting to come alive again since the great fires of 1988, making Yellowstone a great example of forest regeneration.

Heading east out of Yellowstone, we stopped in Cody, Wyoming, to attend a real cowboy rodeo. Yeehah!! Before we left Wyoming we stopped at Devils Tower National Monument. Guess who we saw there? Thousands of Stugis Rally Riders and their motorcycles. Yes, they let us take part in their motorcycle parade with our Silver Family Extended Dodge Caravan!! It was “the Bomb”!!

On the trip home, we met Tim’s sister Tina and her family in Badlands National Park where we camped for a few more nights. The kids really enjoyed running up and down the natural barren sand castle structures along the Park drive. We stopped at the famous Wall Drug in Wall, SD, but not for that free ice water they advertise for miles before on roadside billboards. We tend to make a habit of ice-cream tasting stops on vacation. Tim and Rox included a tour of a Minuteman Missile project site from the Cold War Era. Quite interesting! Meanwhile the boys went with their cousins to ride another Alpine Slide and to visit Bear Country, where the bears were more fun to watch; Not as intimidating as the one in the Tetons! An added bonus for the boys was that they got to ride in their cousins van where they didn’t have the “No Gameboy Rule.” They thought it was “The Bomb”!

We also took a few days to visit some historic sites in the Black Hills National Forest, like Custer State Park, Mount Rushmore National Monument, and Wind Cave National Park. We got a glimpse of the Crazy Horse Monument being chiseled in the mountain. Crazy Horse now has a face!