Yellowstone Vacation Day 9: Yellowstone and Grand Tetons

We decided that we wanted to see the Grand Prismatic and then head down to the Tetons so we said a fond farewell to Idaho Falls and set out.

[caption id="attachment_3149" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Grand Prismatic[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3150" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Those colors![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3151" align="aligncenter" width="300"] So gorgeous![/caption]

For most of our trip to Yellowstone we were pretty fortunate as far as crowding goes. Parking lots were usually pretty full but we never had to wait long or we could park at the far end and walk, etc. This was by far the busiest place in the entire park! It was so packed! Ben may or may not have yelled at a car full of tourists.

We parked way up the road and hiked (literally, through the woods and all) to the boardwalk. The colors were stunning! Unfortunately, the boardwalk was crowded which, for me, diminished the experience.

I know this may not be PC or whatever, but what is up with Asian tourists and their onslaught of selfies?! It's in such poor taste. Everyone wants to get a good shot, so please don't hog all the good spots by taking an endless stream of selfies!! They also have a big thing about getting people in their shots. So they line up their family/friends on one side of the boardwalk and then they have to stand on the other side of the boardwalk to get the shot (or multiple shots) blocking traffic in both directions in order to do so. UGH. My blood pressure was probably through the roof here!

We drove South to Grand Teton National Park. The sight of the mountains was welcome to me. I've discovered I LOVE mountains and pine trees. We stopped frequently for pictures. Several fires were blazing throughout the park and the smoke from a fire nearby really made for neat photos.

[caption id="attachment_3152" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Grand Tetons? More like the smokey mountains![/caption]



[caption id="attachment_3154" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Signal Mountain Overlook[/caption]

We drove up Signal Mountain and took in the view.

At this point people were starting to get whiney. They were "tired of nature" and blah blah. I was so glad to be out of the busyness of Yellowstone and wanted to see more of the Tetons, but we did have a long drive back to Dubois for the night. So we headed out.

We stayed the night in a cute little cabin at The Branding Iron in Dubois WY. We were really charmed by the cabins and the people running the place, but the decor and mattresses were cheap and the showers. Oh, the showers. They were so pitiful!

[caption id="attachment_3157" align="aligncenter" width="169"] Home (sweet?) home for the night.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3158" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Cute![/caption]

We checked in and then headed across the street to look at the jackalope museum.

[caption id="attachment_3155" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The World's Largest Jackalope![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3156" align="aligncenter" width="169"] Gabe Nolen, Jackalope Trainer[/caption]

There was nothing left to do so we crashed for the night. Despite the cheap mattress I ended up sleeping really well!