vacation day 4

we kind of slept in this morning. we had the buffet breakfast at the hotel. it was actually very good and like most buffet meals, it turned into the michael phelps breakfast. we decided that today would be the day to drive through teton and yellowstone national parks.

i have been looking at the map for teton n.p. for the whole summer. i had it tacked up on my office wall. what i thought was a highway running through the park is a two lane road that is dirt at some points and has a max speed of 35 mph. we made a few stops going through the park. mostly it is a lot of spectacular views of the mountains- it never gets old though. we stopped at jackson lake visitor center and colter bay visitor center. the lobby at the jackson lake stop had a great view of the mountains from its floor to sky sized windows. the colter bay center has a museum area dedicated to the arts and crafts of native americans. i was most impressed with the bead work pieces they made. we couldn't take pictures but i doubt they would ever show the true detail of the beads- it really is something you have to see for yourself.

we got back on the road and headed up to yellowstone. we made a lot more stops. we got out and walked up a path to see some waterfalls. i got so winded walking uphill. i guess a difference of 7500 feet in elevation can make a difference on my cardio-pulmonary system! we finally made our way to where old faithful is located. the area is under construction for a new visitor center but it was all still very impressive. we ate at the cafeteria there- it wasn't super great but we were pretty hungry so we would have eaten anything at that point. we hung around and waited for old faitthful to blow. i have to say- i thought it would be bigger. maybe iceland spoiled me. we did walk around and look at the mud pots, hot springs and geysers. we made a super long march out to see the daisy geyser. the things i will do for that dog. . .

we spent a lot longer at old faithful than i thought we would. by the time we got back to the hotel it was after 9pm so we decided to eat at the hotel.