Grand Teton

Next summer, between our four nights at Yellowstone and time at Dinosaur National Monument, we are planning a nice drive through Grand Teton National Park.

Frankly, it is on the way between the two, so driving through it was inevitable.

But the scenery looks so gorgeous, we are looking forward to the lengthy drive.  Plus, we are hoping to stop for a picnic and some short hikes along the way if the weather and our energy levels cooperate.

I've been doing quite a bit of reading about all the parks, trying to wrap my brain around what other reservations we may need in advance.  Things book up so quickly that you can't afford to just wait until the last minute with these parks, it seems.

All the photos of Grand Teton are just gorgeous, but information on it is a little more scanty -- it is like the bastard stepchild of Yellowstone, even though there are so many things to do there.

Thankfully, the national park website is chock full of basic information.

Plus, I found a guidebook that has some incredibly useful information about hiking trails, vacation planning, and all sorts of other bits and pieces about Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons that ranks trails and other activities by how strenuous they are and the time it takes to do them. It's called Outdoor Family Guide to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.

I can already tell that I'll be dragging this guide along with me in the car, because the information is fantastic, including listings of the most likely places to spot certain types of wildlife in the parks.  How great is that?

We have plenty of time between now and when we go to plan and contemplate.  But I want this vacation to be more of a see and do as we go along type of trip, rather than one in which most of our days and evenings are planned from start to finish.

We want to allow for stops along the way to see things we wouldn't ordinarily see, to do things that just catch us at the spur of the moment.  Including stopping at a teeny diner for some pie and coffee or just pausing at the side of the road to listen to the prairie grasses sway in the wind.

This trip, more than any we've taken in a long time is about the journey, and we are all looking forward to it.  A lot.

One of the things that has impressed me most about our Yellowstone possibilities is that every restaurant in the park can pack you a picnic/box lunch to take along around the park.  That leaves things wide open for us in a really convenient way, and I love that we can just pick up our next meal and head out the door without having to put enormous effort into planning in advance.


I sense some lovely hikes in our future.  And I cannot wait.

(Photo of Schwabacher's Landing, Grand Teton National Park via photogg19.  This was taken in June, so I'm hoping it's representative of some of the things we'll be seeing on our own trip next year.  Just beautiful, isn't it?)