Road Trip – On Site – Day 1

The adventure begins. The mountains are no longer in the horizon, they are right before you. Our first experience – Tetons National Park – Jenny Lake and more.

I don’t want go into the history – find that on the NPS page. I will share the experience. We woke and ate at the Colter Bay Ranch House. A delightful, albeit normal, breakfast buffet that matches the same at Shenandoah, Big Bend and other National Parks. But what is really key – the coffee. And maybe it was the 35 road trip, the short night of sleep in a cabin with outside bathroom, or just I love coffee – but the coffee was good.

If it’s the view that makes the taste – you can’t go wrong sipping coffee, sitting with my beautiful wife, and gazing at the majestic Tetons. 

From there, we went to Jenny Lake (after the engine’s oil fiasco – see the previous post) and were too late for a good parking place. Already they were out of the lot, on the street and walking about a mile to the Jenny Lake visiting center.

However, I took a shot, entered and circled the parking lot  … and a couple flagged me down that they were leaving. I got a spot, I got a spot. (You have to read that singing it like a giddy school boy.)

We did the obligatory gift shops (but returned later to buy) and read all the kiosk signs about what we were seeing. We got a quick ride across the lake to the trail head of the Hidden Falls trail. This is the most popular trail and it didn’t fail. 

Now – my wife is an easy trail hiker (so this was just her type) but she really had only a few things she wanted to do this road trip – see a moose, see some bears, and take in the splendor.

On the way up, we saw the splendor, then we saw her – a mama moose. She was laying in the rough and chewing away. Several feet away was little baby moose kind of exploring but never really going to far from mama. Cameras were ablaze and people were abuzz. 

And just like the only moose I know (Rocky), right across the trail was a squirrel. Let’s call him Bullwinkle. Okay, it wasn’t a squirrel, it was a Pika – a small rodent more like a tiny rabbit. But for me – it will forever be Rocky and Bullwinkle.

People are crazy for getting their animal sighting. They stop. They gather. They act like it’s a treasure … a once in a lifetime sighting … like it’s a rare alien related to ET.

On the boat trip back, I sat there enjoying the spray from the lake on my face. It is the simple things. After departing the boat, we spent our share at the gift shops – and then we made someone really happy by giving them our parking spot.

We ventured south to Jackson Hole. A delightful tourist driven economy on view for the world to see. I truly enjoyed the KUHL SHOP.

This vacation had several constants at every place we went – first … my wife wanted ice cream. And second … there is everything made out of huckleberry, everything. So here in Jackson Hole, she got huckleberry ice cream.

Returning to our cabin, we stopped at the two tiny chapels in the park – Transfiguration Chapel and Sacred heart Chapel. The latter was having a service so we didn’t disturb them. We just took in the moment.

My takeaways from Day One …

• I had a lot of people comment on my Dallas Baptist University hoody. It’s amazing how people are looking for connections, any connections even if a hoody from a location 1500 miles away.
• I love KUHL gear, and Jackson Hole has a KUHL store – I was like a kid in a candy store – but bought nothing. Wow. Even my wife was amazed. Could be because I had most of what I needed from them in my suitcase in the cabin.
• You can never undervalue the majesty of God. The mountains declare His glory. And the videos on YouTube or The Discover Channel do not do it justice. This place, this splendor, this majesty has to be experienced.

Have a blessed day – seeing God’s Splendor!