Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Idaho Falls, Sunday, 8/17/14

Sunday, August 17, 2014

 We had the day off so we got up early and hit the road at 6:00 a.m.   It was about 40 degrees outside, and the sunrise was beautiful coming up over the mountains.   We got to West Yellowstone at 7:30 a.m. and stopped for breakfast at McDonald’s.  We were in Yellowstone National Park before 8:00 a.m. and there was not much traffic at that time of day.  However, we were disappointed that we saw only three bison and a flock of geese on our drive to the south exit of the park.   

At 9:30 a.m. we left Yellowstone and immediately entered Grand Teton National Park.  It took an hour and a half to drive through the park and we skirted along a lake and the Teton mountain range for most of the way.  With no foothills to obstruct your view, the jagged peaks and deep canyons of the Teton Range rise abruptly from the Jackson Hole valley and provide magnificent views.  The tallest mountain is the park’s namesake, Grand Teton, which stands 13,770 feet and is home to Teton Glacier which lies below and northeast of the Grand Teton. 

We drove through Jackson Hole, Wyoming and stopped to take a picture of an arch made of antlers.  This was a typical tourist town and it was exceedingly crowded, so we continued on our journey and headed west over the mountain range.  We entered Idaho before noon and soon started seeing lots of fields of amber waves of grain and green fields of potatoes.  At 1:00 p.m. we arrived in Idaho Falls, Idaho and stopped to eat lunch at Red Robin.     

The population of Idaho is 1.5 million and covers 83,557 square miles.  The population of Idaho Falls is approximately 51,000 and it seems like a nice town.  The skyline consists of the west side of the Teton Mountain Range.  We drove around for a while and saw several stores and restaurants that are familiar to us in Florida including Chick-Fil-A, and we plan to eat breakfast there in the morning.   We stopped to look at the Snake River falls that give the town its name and also provide electricity for the community.   

At 3:00 p.m. we checked into our hotel.  After resting a while we headed out to tour around town a bit more.  Of course, we wound up at Wal-Mart and were pleasantly surprised to find that a gallon of milk was only $2.12.