After the glitz, glamour, and humidity of Miami, the dry, warm days and chilly nights of natural Wyoming was definitely a change. It all started with our plane touching down in the small airport of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, with the Grand Teton mountain range as a beautiful backdrop. The airport was so small, in fact, that my parents could watch my airplane touch down onto the runway. I was off the plane and into my parents’ car in less than 3 minutes. Totally cool!

The tiny Jackson Hole airport with our plane in the background

A warm welcome into Jackson Hole

Iconic spot in downtown Jackson

After a restful night, we spent the next day exploring Grand Teton National Park. Now, every time we mention Grand Tetons to Frenchie, it always evokes a little giggle, since the word “Teton” has a very interesting translation into French. (The early founding pioneers in this area must have had a sense of humor, methinks.) Names aside, this park is beautiful, with the Grand Teton mountain range dramatically rising from the flatlands. We did a moderate hike halfway around Jenny Lake, seeing some beautiful views, including a waterfall, then we lazily took the shuttle boat back, giving us a different perspective on the lake. After that, we drove around the park, turning out at various turnabouts, giving us varying views of the mountains, the rivers, and the valley floor. A real highlight, however, was catching some migrating elk on our way out of the park. Thank goodness I just bought my telephoto lens!

Hidden Falls, off of Jenny Lake

Hiking up to Inspiration Point

Jenny Lake with the Tetons in the background

Male Elk

Today started with a visit to Kmart to pick up some necessities and some non- necessities such as these 2 plush huge Angry Birds that Frenchie and I couldn’t resist buying. Then we explored downtown Jackson a bit more, stopping for some delicious local coffee. Then we visited The Grand Tetons again, stopping to see some pronghorns (aka antelope) and Mormon Row, which contained ruins of barns and homes by old settlers set against the beautiful mountain backdrop.

Mmmmm….coffee…..

Pronghorns

Remnants of the early settlers’ farms along Mormon Row

We then headed to Yellowstone. We drove through Yellowstone to get to our rental home near Cody, WY, but unfortunately made only a couple of stops to try to beat the waning daylight. We were, however, able to catch traces of a beautiful sunset on the way to the home.

Angry Birds at Yellowstone!

Yellowstone River

Catching a bit of sunset

View from our rental home’s deck

Tomorrow: More Yellowstone!