On our way out this morning we finally made it to the north rim of the canyon. Wasn’t the best light for photographs but it’s all we had. It was still early enough there weren’t many people around.

On the way out we drove through Hayden Valley again so I snapped a few more. This was the first swan we had seen. Saw plenty of ducks and geese but no swans.

We hadn’t been to the Mud Pots and we had plenty of time so we swung in there. Not too much going on we hadn’t seen before. The bison right next to the walkway was the main excitement I think. They were all over that place – just hanging out.

That was all we had left to do in Yellowstone but there was still Signal Mountain in Teton we were hoping to drive. That road takes you to the highest point in Teton and it was closed all last week when we were there. We heard someone say at one of the stops it had opened so our fingers were crossed. It was open and the view was awesome!

As we wound are way through the park I couldn’t help taking a few last shots of those incredible mountains.

We were staying in the Hilton in downtown Jackson Hole to be close to the airport in the morning. Our room wasn’t ready so we walked around the town – went into the Manglesen Gallery. Some incredible photos in there. Makes our looks like a 5 year old too these pics – well that may overly dramatic but still.

We tried to go to the Silver Dollar Cowboy for dinner. Was told the bar was open but the grill wasn’t. So we ended up around the corner at The Local instead. Nice little downtown eclectic place. We had seen a salad with king crab on the menu that looked really good. Wouldn’t ya know, they didn’t get their shipment of king crab so that wasn’t available. Back to square one. I ended up with a burger – just wasn’t much else on that menu that excited me. Bob opted for a Thai salad with some kind of beef. It was fine but we’re really jonesin’ for a Wanda salad after two weeks eating on the road.

Back at the hotel we had to reorganize out suitcases to make sure our weights were good. We were pretty close to the bubble on the way out. Plus we bought stuff – clothes don’t weigh much but I also had three bags of coffee that did. We ended up throwing some extra stuff in a duffle to carry on and that worked.

Going home:

Our flight out of Jackson to Dallas was scheduled to leave around 12:30-12:45. We got notifications that had been pushed back to 1:30, then 1:45, then 2:00, etc. etc. We originally had about 2-1/2 hours in Dallas before our connecting flight at 6:30. The later this flight got pushed back the less time we had. When it was delayed until 2:30 we had to look at options. The ladies at the gate were great trying to find a solution. They came up with a connection through Chicago (a place we really try to avoid) so we jumped on that. This airport is so small there is no gangway to the plane. You have to walk out on the tarmac to board. We left about 15 minutes late and our window for our Chicago connection was getting smaller. By the time we got off the plane we had about 20-30 minutes before boarding. Of course the gates weren’t close to each other so we were booking to get there. Only to find out there was a mechanical issue and it was on hold. Then they moved us to another plane and another gate. We relocated again. Only to wait some more. This plane was smaller than the original one and they needed 12 people to volunteer to give up their seats on the next flight in the morning. Initially they didn’t offer any compensation, then it went to $500 plus hotel, then $800, $850, $900 and finally $1000. Bob actually was going to volunteer when it hit $1000 but there was only one seat left by then. So we finally boarded and are on our way home – tonight. What a day! But at least we’ll get to sleep in our own bed tonight. And another wonderful bites the dust.

Final thoughts:

  • Tetons are much more dramatic than Yellowstone. Yellowstone’s diverse topography makes it a totally unique place. We are comfortable checking the boxes on both parks. Not that we won’t be back at some point but it would most likely be in combination with something else.
  • For us Teton is mostly a drive through park. Not that there aren’t hikes, but in this park the hikes lend you mostly the same view you can get from the road. It’s just the foreground that changes. We are reward hikers, we hike for views that can’t be seen from overlooks.
  • Beartooth was amazing! Would do that again in a heartbeat. Want to go all the way across next time.
  • Old Faithful Lodge and Snow Lodge was very much sub par for us – especially for food. Would not stay there again. Been there done that. Too commercialized for our tastes. The walk around the geysers was awesome but it’s probably not something we’d need to do again either.
  • Not impressed with Canyon Lodge. Not for what we wanted. Food was much better but the ambience for a park “lodge” just wasn’t there. At all. Felt like we were in a hotel not a lodge. No view, no gathering area, just a hotel lobby in the main building. The location was good for the canyon but still a ways away from our favorite spot in the park, Lamar Valley (for the animals).

(PS – I’ll probably come back and update this page as other “final thoughts” come to me.