Grand Tetons National Park (9/14-9/21)

 This was another long awaiting stop on our trip.  We observed in our travels that many fellow RVers include the Tetons for a day or two while visiting Yellowstone or Cody, WY.  As we had never been, I opted to plan this stop for a week in September on our itinerary. 

We stayed at the Teton Valley Resort in Victor, ID.  The park was undergoing a significant transformation from a RV park to a mostly rental cabin resort.  There were less than 30 RV spaces and were very close together, but we ended up with a decent space right near the community fire pit.  

Sunset our first night in Victor, ID

We had a rather long drive from Mountain Home, ID and Mike had to contend with some dicey road construction on they way in but he negotiated it well and we settled Ruth in. It also happened to be my birthday and as neither of us were too keen doing more driving that day, we opted for a meal in the local resort restaurant Wanderlust.  I had a huge, bison burger and Mike opted for fish tacos.  Both were  delicious and a fitting end to our travel day. 

Not healthy, but delicious!

From Victor, ID it is necessary to traverse the Teton Pass to get to Jackson, WY and Grand Teton National Park.  If you don't like heights, curves, declines and inclines, this road is not for you. However, you will be rewarded with the most stunning natural beauty of mountains, valleys and western landscapes that can scarcely be captured in photographs or paintings.  It is truly one of the most extraordinary places I have ever seen. 

Mike and Janice enjoying the mountaints.

Lunch spot view at Jenny Lake

We arrived at the park early in the day as we had booked a boat ride on Jenny Lake for later in the afternoon. (The very last one of the season)  We used the GypsyGuide for narration again in this park as we drove through and stopped at many of the remarkable viewpoints along the way.  Traveling through the park was fairly traffic free, but many of the parking lots and pull outs were full with cars. 

We packed our lunch and found a great spot on the lake for a picnic before our boat tour.  The lake is not big, but we had a great tour guide who educated us on the area of Jackson, Jenny Lake, the surrounding mountain environment.  After the boat tour we drove up to Signal Mountain and the Jackson Lake Lodge.

Jackson Lake Lodge

The resort had a two pickleball courts which we used a couple times on "non-park" days. We also enjoyed a fun little tour at the Grand Teton Distillery and stopped for an appetizer at Warbirds in Driggs, ID.  If you have a martini at our house, you will taste some of their award winning vodka.  Aside from being a restaurant at the local airport, Warbirds also housed a small museum for some restored old fighter planes which were pretty cool.

Grand Teton Distillery

Restored fighter plane

Wish we could have seen a movie here at this
drive-in but it was closed for the season

Our next day in GTNP was a very early drive on the east side of the park where we hoped for some animal sightings.  Our first encounter was with a moose with her calf nibbling on some grass in the morning sun.  We then saw an elk in the far distance lying in the open meadow.  Our third animal encounter was a bull moose crossing the street and causing a moose jam on the road.  

By late morning we were back at Jenny Lake to hike around the lake and up to Inspiration Point.  It is a highly popular trail and while the hike around the lake was pleasantly private, the ascending hike to Inspiration Point was heavily trafficked.  This was due to the volume of people who come over Jenny Lake on the ferry to do the hike and then take the ferry back.  The crowds made this part of the hike less enjoyable, but the scenery from the top was worth it.   After a long day of sightseeing, we treated ourselves some ice cream in Victor and a soak in the resort hot tub.  Good day.

View from Inspiration Point

I deserved that hot fudge sundae after that hike. 

The next couple of days in Victor brought a quick change through the seasons.  We were blessed with 75 degrees for the first half of the week, the temps then proceeded to move to rain and highs of 50 and lows in the mid to high 20's overnight. We operated all of Ruth's heating equipment on those nights. 

Our last full day in Victor we awoke to snow on the nearby mountains.  There was no snow on the ground at the resort, but the dusting was beautiful in the distance.  I did not expect to see snow in September.  We took one more trip over the pass to see the snowy Teton mountains, it was such a picturesque view it looked like a postcard everywhere we looked.    It was a very cold, windy day so we bundled up for a walk through Jackson to see the site of the actual town.  It was filled with touristy shops and restaurants.  We opted for pizza for lunch then headed back over the pass to ready Ruth for departure tomorrow.  

We have seen some remarkable places in our 6 month trip but Grand Teton National Park was a phenomenal stop and a highlight.  On a rather sad note, we were in the Tetons during the search and locating of Gabby Petito.  It was on the news daily and there were signs posted everywhere about her disappearance.  What a sad tragedy to happen in such a beautiful place.   

We planned to take an alternate route out of Victor over Pine Creek Pass into Swan Valley to avoid the construction mess we hit coming into Victor.  Hopefully it won't be to challenging for Ruth or Mike.