Grand Tetons

Thursday, June 24, 2010.

In the morning we checked out of the Ogden Utah Hampton Inn, a totally happening place y’all!  Well I am sure that stuff does actually happen in Ogden Utah but we weren't there long enough to find that out!

For what seemed like the millionth time we hauled all our stuff back out to the car and loaded up the trunk and head out for our next destination which was Yellowstone National Park.

We had the privilege of driving through a very small section of Idaho before crossing the state line into Wyoming.

I was fascinated by the various towns we passed though on our way.

I wondered about the families that live in  Bloomington, Idaho with a whopping 251 people in residence or St. Charles, Idaho population 156 and Smoot, Wyoming population 100 and Grover, Wyoming population 120.

I have more friends than that Smoot Wyoming on my Facebook profile. However I wondered what life is like living in a very small town. Being a resident of a large sprawling suburban existence, I have neighbors on the very same street that I live on that I have never even met. Kinda sad I think…

As we drove through these small communities I had such a feeling of peace and contentment. I did wonder where they did there grocery shopping?

I noted a billboard advertising land for sale in Idaho for $500.00 an acre! Somehow I think moving to Idaho is not in the very near future.

But I digress!

Well since we had to drive through the Grand Tetons to actually get to Yellowstone National Park, well trust me there was nothing inconsequential about the Grand Tetons!

Talk about IMPRESSIVE! Let’s not tell the DD I just used that word again shall we!

The Grand Tetons National Park

Y’all I have to give my husband the gold star on this vacation. Seeing as I was in charge of documenting our vacation I had charge of the camera most of the time. Countless times we would pass by an overlook or a turnaround and I would be craning my neck to see if we had missed anything significant. The hubs would look to me “You want me to turn around?” was a common phrase through out the entire trip!

We zipped past this small cave like indention and as I was craning my neck and saying  “I wonder what that was?” I find the car being whipped around and we are heading back to investigate.

Just look y’all.

Water just bubbling up through this huge rock jutting out from the ground! God never fails to impress. I could have stood there all day and listened to this spring bubble out of the rock and tumble down the side of the road. It was just the coolest thing! Not to mention I couldn’t help but think of the Old Testament story of Moses and the water from the rock.

EX 17:5 The LORD answered Moses, "Walk on ahead of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink." So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the LORD saying, "Is the LORD among us or not?"

“Is the LORD among us or not?” I’d call this a BIG YES!

Y’all just look at these mountains. It was awe inspiring to say the least. Now I have never seem the Alps or Mt. Everest but standing at the foot of these massive snow covered mountains gave me such a sense of just how small we really are in the grand scheme of things.

We are but a speck!

ISA 2:22 Stop trusting in man,
   who has but a breath in his nostrils.
Of what account is he?

Of what account is he or me?  That is a very good question to ask as you gaze up at sights like this.

The hubs was in History Channel heaven. Y’all we saw a real glacier. Kinda cool I thought!

Here is the 411 on this glacier. 

“Teton Glacier is located below the north face of Grand Teton in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming and is surrounded by Mount Owen to the west and by Teewinot Mountain to the north, which comprise the peaks of the Cathedral Group.^[1] Teton Glacier is the largest of the twelve named glaciers in the park. The glacier is approximately 3,500 feet (1,066 m) long and 1,100 feet (335 m) wide.^[2]”

Wildflowers were abundant. I especially enjoyed these sunny yellow ones.

Here is some more info I gleaned from the internet, the hubs love all this stuff. As for me it sounds more like bla, bla bla, ba bla.

But in a an effort to be thorough I include it!  Plus I know that in years to come I will never remember any of the intimate detail or the names of these peaks, so I  did take a picture.

“The Cathedral Group is a term applied to a collection of most of the tallest mountains of the Teton Range, all of which are located in Grand Teton National Park, in the U.S. state of Wyoming. The collection of mountains known as the Cathedral Group are classic alpine peaks, with pyramidal shapes caused by glacial motion. The highest peak in the group is Grand Teton, which rises more than 7,000 feet (2,135 m) above Jackson Hole valley, and is the second tallest mountain in Wyoming, after Gannett Peak. The Cathedral Group is separated by other tall peaks of the range by the Cascade Canyon to the north and Death Canyon to the south.”

 The Cathedral Group

This is Jenny Lake and YES the water felt amazing on my swollen tootsies. It was icy cold and felt wonderful.       

In my opinion the Grand Tetons are appropriately named. They were GRAND in every sense of the word.

Here are the links to my other previous vacay post if you are so inclined!

Grand Canyon

Hoover Dam

Las Vegas

Zion National Park

My next vacation update will actually be about Yellowstone National Park. I may have to do a two parter as there was so much to see. The wild life alone deserves it very own post as well as all the cool geysers.

Next in line after Yellowstone will be the awesomeness of Mount Rushmore, The Petrified Forest & Painted Desert with a brief visit to Little Big Horn Battlefield.

It almost makes me tired all over again just thinking about it!

Blessings Y’all!

R