Tetons or Bust!

Anyone that knows me very well, knows that at the top of my list of things that I love the most are Jackson Hole, the Tetons, anything moose, being with my family, taking pictures and camping…and if you combine all of those at one time and spread it over a week, well in my mind, that’s complete euphoria and the closest thing you can get to being in heaven! So if anyone wondered where I was this past week, you might just say…I was in heaven!

Right up until Tuesday, when we left for Jackson, I wasn’t even sure we were really going to go. We had made our plans to go way back at the first part of summer and had even invited the entire Carling family to go with us. Then as the time got closer and I got busier and busier with Laurels Conference and we found out that not one person in my entire family was going to be able to go with us, Rod suddenly lost his desire to go too…so I figured our entire trip was foiled and I was really bummed…but I was also too busy to worry about it! The bad thing is, as much as Rod didn’t want to go, we didn’t have an alternate plan, so it was looking more and more like we were just going to stay home.

Then on Sunday, when Laurels Conference was finally over and things were getting back to normal around our house, I overheard Rod telling someone that he was going to be out of town all week because he was going to Jackson…and I suddenly got very excited and overwhelmed at the same time! That meant I had basically Monday to get everything bought, cleaned, packed and ready to go by Tuesday...and I wasn’t sure I could do that much in just one day! But I did!

On Tuesday morning, we got up and headed out of town and I was so excited because we were on our way to one of the greatest places on earth...or so it is in my mind! Rod and I decided that the one thing the boys would want to do while we were in Jackson was to ride their bikes, but both of their bikes had flat tires and Connor’s was way too small for him. So at the last minute, we decided to get Connor a bike and give it to him for an early birthday present when we got to Jackson. We even thought about getting a bike for Hayden too, but that wasn’t as easy. His birthday was already over, so we couldn’t really give it to him for his birthday and if we were going to get him one, he probably needed a bike the next size up...but the next size up was almost too big for him! So after much thought, we finally just decided to take his old one with us and fix the flat tires when we got there.

On the way to Jackson, we stopped in Soda Springs for a bathroom break and to check on the generator and the bikes at the back of the trailer...and everything seemed to be doing well! The next time we stopped to stretch our legs was somewhere about halfway between Soda Springs and Alpine Junction and when we went to check on the generator and the bikes...Hayden’s bike was missing! My immediate thought was that someone had stolen it while we were stopped in Soda Springs, and luckily, they hadn’t been able to get to mine. So in a way, I was grateful that Hayden’s bike was behind mine on the rack, but I was sad at the same time. Needless to say, Hayden was heartbroken and we ended up stopping in Jackson and getting him a new bike...and we got him the next size up, so it all worked out after all! However, at that point, Connor was a little sad that Hayden got a new bike and he didn’t get one, but we assured him that things would all work out, even though he didn’t believe us!

When we got to the Tetons and finally got our trailer settled (that’s a whole other story all by itself), we gave Connor his bike and he was thrilled! To say that we hardly saw the boys the rest of the trip would be an understatement. I don’t think they “lighted” more than a few minutes at camp because they were always off exploring on their bikes...and at Colter Bay there is a lot of campground to explore!

Connor with his new bike!

Did someone say we're in the Tetons? No wonder I look so happy!

Our next adventure was finding that the vent cover on our trailer (the one that is right above our bed) had somehow blown off during our travels too. I think it was just old and was really sunrotted but whatever the case, it was missing. We didn’t discover it until the next morning and it had even rained a little during the night, but fortunately we had a shade that covers the opening (to make it a little darker in our room) and that must have caught most of the rain. Anyway, we tried to find a replacement cover, to no avail, so we just covered it with a big plastic bag and massive amounts of duct tape...and hoped that would keep us dry in case we had any further rainstorms. During the week, we had lots of threatening rainstorms, but none that actually materialized until the last night...and then it literally poured on us for hours! But guess what? My plastic bag and duct tape covering held out and we didn’t get wet at all. It didn’t even blow off on our 5 hour trip home! I must have duct taped it better than I even thought I did.

The morning after the rainstorm

While we were in Jackson, we barely even left the park. We did all of the normal “tourist” things, which included hiking to Taggart Lake, taking the boat across Jenny Lake and hiking to Hidden Falls, playing in Jackson Lake, going to a ranger talk on Grizzly Bears, shopping in all of the stores, visiting the visitors center, eating calzones at Leek’s Marina, driving to the top of Signal Mountain and even pulling over at a few of the turnouts so that I could take a few pictures (like I don’t already have a stockpile of pictures of the Tetons). However, by doing all of the “tourist” things, we also had to deal with all of the other tourists and at times that didn’t make us too happy…like when we had to drive around and around and around at Jenny Lake to find a parking place, only to decide that it wasn’t going to happen and we’d have to come back the next day! We came back the next day too…and still had to deal with the same thing! It took us several attempts, but we were finally able to find a parking place on our third attempt of coming to the Lake!Mt. Moran in the background is my favorite Teton...and I kind of like the boys too!

Hiking to Taggart Lake

Are we there yet mom? Connor didn't love hiking so much!

Taggart Lake...it was worth the hike!

The boys needed to cool off their feet in the lake

We went to Leeks Marina one night for dinner

Me and Rod at the top of Signal Mountain

The boys and I at the ranger talk about Grizzly Bears

As unhappy as we were that we had to return time after time to Jenny Lake to try to find a parking place, we weren’t so upset when we got to see a black bear on our way to the falls, which we probably would have missed if we’d gotten a parking place any earlier! I was even probably more excited about seeing the bear than the kids were because as many times as I’ve visited the park (and even lived there for a couple of summers), I’d only seen a bear on one other occasion. This bear sighting was the best though because the bear was probably only about 100 feet away (if that) and it was so busy eating huckleberries that it didn’t care that there were about 50 of us gathered on a rock taking pictures of it. I did get a little nervous though when it started heading in our direction as it ate the berries. That’s when I decided that we had enough pictures and we’d probably continue on our way to the falls. Apparently, we just barely missed seeing a grizzly bear too (on the same path), but you can’t have everything!

This is the bear we saw...he wasn't very far away, but luckily he was too busy eating to notice all of the onlookers!

Rod and the boys were more than happy to take a rest

Just a little of the scenery on the way to the falls

Here we are at Hidden Falls!

Overall, we had a wonderful week and when it came time to pack up and come home, I wasn’t too happy about it! I told Rod that if I could just sit up there and enjoy the sights, the sounds and the smells of being in the park forever, I would be completely happy…but I’m sure I’d start missing Rod and the boys eventually because they probably wouldn’t stay there with me! So inevitably, I had to come home…but there’s always next year!The boys at Colter Bay Marina

Not only did we see a bear we saw a moose...and I LOVE moose!