Our first stop was at the Prismatic Spring, a rainbow-colored gem-looking hydrothermal pool of acidic water which was far nicer to look at than this description makes it sound. We then drove to the big ticket, Old Faithful, which had several parking lots easily hundreds of times bigger than any of the other places we had visited in the park. Arielle has always remembered learning about Old Faithful in Walk Two Moons as a fifth grader and has wanted to visit since. We sat right on the edge of the platform with hundreds of people eagerly awaiting the eruption that was predicted for 11:09am. Around that time, as the billowing steam increased, we knew the water was not far behind. It was quite a sight, and lived up to twenty years of expectations for Arielle.
We drove the remaining hour or so out of Yellowstone via the South entrance, traveling another seven miles to Grand Teton National Park. We were immediately entranced by the majesty of Jackson Lake and the Teton Mountain Range and pulled over to have the sandwiches we had made at breakfast for lunch, not realizing there was a picnic area that would have provided the same view about 100 feet down the road.
We kept driving - and staring - and stopped for gas and at the visitor center to get our itinerary for the day. We decided we would focus on scenic drives, the highlight of which was a 5-mile route called Signal Mountain Road because we saw a bear on the side of the road! It was black, since that seems to be the main question everyone was asking.
Jenny Lake was particularly stunning, and we were very impressed with this underadvertised park.
For the first time possibly since we left, we arrived at our hotel before 6pm. Unfortunately, the Motel 6 in Jackson, WY, which was a staggering $200 per night since everything in Jackson Hole is crazy expensive, didn’t give us the best vibe. We somewhat nervously left our car and our main road-facing first-floor room to take the free shuttle into town. Our bus provided an extended tour of the area since it was far from the most direct bus we could have taken, but we made it downtown and asked the friendly bus driver for recommendations for dinner. Everything was extremely busy, but we were able to get seated right away at Liberty Burger, rated the #5 restaurant in Jackson. We both ordered the basic burger, but Arielle got an Impossible meatless patty and Abe got the bison burger, with sweet potato fries on the side. Both were delicious, and we scarfed down after waiting about forty minutes for them to come, apparently because their kitchen isn’t nearly big enough to handle its customer base, according to our waiter. Arielle was thrilled to run into her pediatrician, Dr. Biederman, who was in town with her family and spotted her walking past the restaurant.
We strolled around the main area of downtown in Jackson Hole, stopping in to look at menus and clothing stores and anything else we passed. We ended up at Moo’s Ice Cream, a very popular joint with a long line that went fast. They were surprisingly willing to let us sample multiple flavors. Arielle got the local speciality, wild huckleberry, and Abe opted for cinnamon.
We ate outside and then walked about a block to the bus, which was a bit quicker getting back. We were relieved to find that our belongings were safe but still decided to change hotels for the next night, driving three hours towards Denver, our upcoming destination, to a hotel Abe knew about from almost booking it for USY on Wheels. The receptionist, who had already been inflexible about moving our room because it was booked through Hotels.com, was perfectly happy to refund us the entire cost of the second night. We went to sleep in our teeny little double bed to prepare for the next day’s adventures.
Approximate number of miles covered: 146
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