Our last day in the Grand Tetons and Jackson was another eventful one. Though no hikes were on the agenda, that was probably best for the little legs in our group. The kis really are being troopers but I'm trying not to push it too much with activities knowing that their enthusiasm and energy is waning.
Tom, Mike, and I had breakfast at the Signal Mountain Lodge this morning. It was beautiful to watch the sun burn off the morning fog/clouds and reveal the mountains while he ate. Though we had an early start to breakfast, it was a slow start to the rest of our day. We didn't get out of the campground until after 10 and then headed out to Mormon Row. The buffalo herd was further down the road so this time we were able to walk around the one little farm. It's pretty neat, mostly because it sure would have been a beautiful place to live. After some pictures, we headed back down Antelope Flats Road just in time to catch the bison herd crossing the road. We stayed back while the majority went across and then tried to get through in between the lagging stragglers. It was a little nerve-wracking to sit and wait for the one in front to mosey his way across while looking straight on at a mama and her calf coming on a direct line to where our van was. But, we were able to get through without incident.
After this little side trip, the kids were clamoring for food so we stopped at the Visitor Center in Moose and pulled out our sandwiches for a quick on-the-go lunch. Bellies full and bladders emptied, we loaded back up for the narrow Moose-Wilson Road down to Teton Village. It was a little odd to exit the emptiness of the National Park and enter a full-on ski town with shops, hotels, condos, restaurants, and an antique fair to boot. We picked up our tickets at the window (travel tip: buy online and save $6 ticket) and headed up to the tram for our 4,000 foot ascent in 12 minutes. The trip up takes you to the peak of Rendezvous Mountain and it is almost unbelievable some of the ski runs that they pointed out on the way to the top. Once at the summit, we were over 10,300 feet in the air and the thin mountain air was a chilly 59 degrees (about a 20 degree difference from the base of the mountain). Stepping off the tram, you can look directly out at Grand Teton or you could turn around and view the Gros Ventre Mountains framed in front of the Wind River Range - both of which rose high above Jackson Hole. Journey up a few stairs and you are standing at the summit of the mountain and are afforded a gorgeous 360 degree view. I may have enjoyed it more if I was constantly concerned that one of the kiddos were going to slide right off the mountain. The trip down was enjoyable too - the kids liked the cable car ride and liked standing right at the window to see everything from "way up high" as Max likes to say. I was a little nervous that they would get scared when the cable car went over the towers but they did good. It would have been a rough ride down if they got scared on the way up and we had to wrestle some screaming kids into the tram for a 12 minute ride down.
After the tram at Teton Village, we journeyed into Jackson for a little bit of shopping. Though I didn't get to do too much shopping, we did find the Teton Toys store which has train and kitchen sets sitting out for kids to play with (and couches for parents to wait on). For a couple of kids who are really missing their toys, this place was perfect. An added bonus, it had a couple of bathrooms downstairs in the toy store as well. Jackpot! After a little shopping, Tom and I took the kids to the town square to let them run around on some level, grassy ground. They were disappointed that the "park" wasn't the kind with swingsets and slides, but they had fun nonetheless. I left the camera in the car so I don't have any adorable pictures of them playing tag, hide and seek, and freeze. Mom and Mike came back from their Jackson experience and took the kids for dinner while Tom and I had a dinner alone. We were a little pressed for time because we wanted to eat before the 6:00 shootout in the square but the first two places we stopped at didn't start serving dinner until 5:30. We stumbled upon the steakhouse under the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar and it was a happy find. The food may have been expensive, but it was good and it was nice to have a dinner out with just Tom.
After dinner, we did catch the start of the shootout but the kids were scared of the guns so we ended up leaving early and just heading back to camp. We did finally get our picture in front of the park sign and by the time we got back to camp it was pretty late. Sophie wanted a fire so Tom started one for her. It's kind of a shame that we didn't have more fires here in the Grand Tetons because we collected and split firewood from Yellowstone but we don't want to take it to Rocky Mountain National Park because we're not sure about the bugs that they might have. At least the next camper should be pleasantly surprised at the wood we are leaving behind. My original plan was to head to the Lodge again and upload posts and try to get some more pictures up (and sneak in a load of laundry there) but I'm pretty tired (it's only 9:30 but I think the days are starting to catch up to all of us) so I think I'll put it off until tomorrow at the hotel.
The plan for tomorrow is to pack up and get down to the Visitor Center in Moose in time for the 10:30 Ranger talk so that Sophie can check off her last requirement to become a Grand Teton Junior Ranger. I wasn't sure if she was going to do this one, but she really liked the letter code game (1=A, 2=B, and so on); she couldn't read the words but she liked finding out what letter went where. We may not have done much off the road exploring her in the Teton/Jackson area but we did get to gaze upon some pretty amazing mountains every day. After Sophie becomes Grand Tetons' newest Junior Ranger, it's time to drop off the rental car and head southeast (the first step towards home) to Rawlins, WY where we have a hotel stay planned. Max is definitely looking forward to the hotel ("And an elevator?! With buttons?!") and we should be able to do some laundry there. My plan is to order pizza, do some laundry, take advantage of the WiFi, and catch up on some news. I mostly like being disconnected but sometimes I feel like I'd like to know a little more about what's going on in the world. We're in the homestretch now - the trip is winding down and we still have some amazing things to see!
