Les Trois Tetons

We had a beautiful morning driving up through Logan Canyon. The Logan River was running pretty fast – I think it was near flood stage, but I'm not sure if it has crested yet or not. When we came over the summit, we stopped at a rest area with a scenic overlook of Bear Lake.

Bear Lake

US-89 took us out of Utah and through the southeast corner of Idaho. We stopped at the National Oregon / California Trail Center in Montpelier, ID thinking that there might be passport stamps for national historic trails there, but no such luck.

But there was an interesting little museum (Bear Lake County Historical Museum) downstairs with many items on display that were donated by local families who had settled in the area. The volunteer docent gave us a personal tour.

We stopped to take a pic of another oddball attraction in Afton, WY…

Elk antler arch

After a late lunch in Jackson, we finally made it into Grand Teton National Park!

Our first stop was the Craig Thomas Discovery & Visitor Center in Moose, where we got to see a...

What else did you expect?!

We stamped our passports and the kids started working on their Jr. Ranger booklets. Here’s the view from the visitor center…

From there we continued on towards our hotel, the Jackson Lake Lodge. Walking up the staircase from guest registration up to the main lounge and seeing the view of Willow Flats and the Tetons through the huge picture window brought 30+ year-old memories rushing back. When I first visited here in 1978, I think my family stayed in the same type of classic cottage that we’re staying in now.

 

We unloaded the minivan and then headed back up to the lodge for a delicious dinner at the Pioneer Grill. There are no tables, just a ‘50s style diner counter that snakes back and forth, complete with swivel chairs.


R had a buffalo burger and I had a bowl of chili, both of which we enjoyed very much. The best part of our meals was dessert!

Mmmm!  Peach and huckleberry pie a la mode

After dinner, we went back out to the patio area to catch another view of the Tetons as the sun was setting. Several elk and moose were visible in the distance out on Willow Flats. So glad that I chose the binoculars as the 10-year anniversary gift from my employer! I hope that we get many opportunities to put them to use!