Day 8 -- Grand Tetons, WY

Miles traveled: 146
Hours on Road: 3.5
States covered: 2 –Wyoming

We had a great night’s sleep! The hotel provided breakfast, then the boys went swimming. Poor Trey. I noticed on the elevator ride back to our room that the poor boy has been so abused this trip (or maybe his whole life), he flinches at every movement of our hands. I went to scratch my head, Trey flinched. I have to make his brothers stop beating him!

This was going to be a nice short drive. As we drove along we noticed that, while all the houses were relatively small and modest, every one of them had a giant RV parked next to it. Everywhere you turn out here, there’s an RV – behind you, in front of you, parked on the side of the road.

We passed through a little old-western-looking town called Dubois. Right after the town, the landscape was amazing. One side of the road was pink rocks rising up to make a beautiful hillside. Directly across the road was desolate, yellow grassland. The road split the two landscapes perfectly.

As we entered another mountainous area we saw a sign that said, “Roadwork next 17 miles.” Someone at the hotel had warned us that there was a great deal of construction on the way to the Tetons, so we were prepared for this. At the bottom of one hill traffic was completely stopped. Traffic was really only one truck and one SUV. Then the motorcycle in front of us stopped and we stopped. Because the guy in the SUV was out of his vehicle, I assumed he knew there was going to be a bit of a wait. I yelled out to the guy with the orange flag to ask him if this was going to be a while. He said it would be about seven minutes, so we all got out of the van for a stretch. Trey jumped into the driver’s seat for a while to pretend he was driving. Before we knew it, we were ready to move on.

Immediately upon going forward I heard a thump, thump. I chalked it up to all the road work going on. But the noise wouldn’t go away. I thought maybe we had a flat tire, though why it would suddenly be flat was beyond me. I had Trey and Parker poke their heads out their windows to check the tires (I couldn’t bear the thought of pulling off to the side of the road to check because the RVs behind us would then be in front of us going up a steep mountain. Besides, there really wasn’t a “side of the road” where this construction was going on.) The boys confirmed that the tires were fine. So I went along hoping that the noise I was hearing was someone else’s problem or a figment of my imagination. Then a red light lit up on my dashboard: “Emergency Break On.” Trey must have stepped on it when he was pretending to drive.

Along the 17 miles there was a large stretch that had no asphalt. Great! I have a hard enough time keeping up with traffic on normal roads. I went along as fast as I my psychoses would let me, and I telepathically told those behind me that I was doing the best I could.

The Tetons finally came into view. What a sight – tall, pointy peaks blotched with snow above the tree line. All around us were tree-covered mountains that were impressive in themselves, but we couldn’t stop marveling at the massiveness of the Tetons.

Our campsite was 10 miles down the road after we entered Grand Teton National Park. We’re staying in Colter Bay. Our sleeping quarters have two canvas walls and two wooden walls – a tabin or a cent (that’s with a hard “c”). There is a cement deck covered by canvas out in front. We also have a fire pit outside, a wood stove inside, and a “Be Bear Aware” storage unit out front. Everything that has anything to do with any kind of smell MUST be stored in this unit when it is not being used. Even water bottles have to be put in there. The only other option is to store stuff in your vehicle. Since the bear storage unit is so hot, we’re keeping the coolers in the van. But everything else is in there. Even our toiletries.

Inside our tabin are four beds hanging from the walls, and because six of us are staying here, they left two cots, as well. There’s also the wood stove and two shelves to store things on. Our clothes are packed in plastic drawers, so we’re leaving those outside the tent sitting on the wooden shelf that Jeff made to go in the back of the van.

The boys helped me unload stuff from the van, but in their usual manner, they slowly eased themselves into playing rather than helping. When I finally stopped to mock them for their simple ways (the littlest things entertain them), they were in the middle of a hot potato game using a rock with Parker doing the humming. As if he wouldn’t always end the humming when he wasn’t holding the rock. Only, he admitted that he lost the first round. Where did I get these boys?

Because this area is a sensitive-environment area, they’re into recycling, which I am, too. I made a point of placing our trash in one bag and keeping our soda bottles separate so we could put them in the recycle bins located in various spots around Colter Bay. As we drove away from our site to go do laundry, Cal jumped out to throw our trash in the bear-sensitive trash bins. I told Parker that we would drive to the ranger station so he could throw the plastic bottles in the recycling bin there. As per usual, he did not listen. I drove us all the way to the ranger station, which was out of our way, where Parker promptly jumped out and threw the plastic bottles in the bear-sensitive trash bin located right next to the recycling bin.

We spent an hour doing laundry, but it gave us a little time to play on our computers since the building has Wifi. After we put the laundry away we headed out to drive around. Our main goal was to pick up my nephew, John, who’s spending four days with us, but since we left a little too early to get him, we just drove around. We drove through Jackson Hole, which is appropriately named. It’s located within a hole amidst tall mountains. It has an old-western flare to it and seems like a fun place to walk around.

After Jackson Hole, we went to check out the Snake River Lodge & Spa. Jeff’s niece, Leah, has a cousin who runs the place, and he gave us a great deal, so we’re staying there for one night. It’s the coolest looking place, made up of a bunch of wood buildings built into the side of a mountain. It’s a popular ski area in the winter. We can’t wait to stay there.

We had perfect timing arriving at the airport. We saw John’s plane as it landed. The airport is tiny, made up of a building, a runway (though we never actually saw a runway) and a parking lot. To pick up passengers, you just drive all the way around the parking lot and sit right there in front of the building and wait. No one hassles you; you just can’t leave your automobile unattended. When John got out to the car he confirmed the casualness of the airport, telling us there was a guy in there walking around with his dog. Not a drug-sniffing dog; just his pet dog.

We ended the night in drama. Just as we’re heading to dinner at one of the two restaurants in Colter Bay, Parker got his second bloody nose of the day. He’s never had a bloody nose before, but it’s really dry and high here. His first one we were able to stop pretty quickly, but this one was being stubborn and flowing fast. We squeezed his nose. We put ice on his nose. We plugged his nose with a rolled up paper towel. What we got for all that effort was a giant blood clot when we finally removed the paper-towel plug. Giant! About two inches long. It was really disgusting, and it really grossed Parker out. We gave him more ice to hold up high on his nose while he squeezed the lower part of his nose, and decided to take him to the infirmary that we had seen earlier up the road. Parker and I dropped John, Cal, and Trey off at the restaurant area and headed to the infirmary. On the way I called my brother-in-law, Rod, who is now an EMT, to make sure we were doing everything we’re supposed to do. He said we were and that bloody noses can sometimes take a long time to stop. When we finally arrived at the infirmary, it was closed. We decided to see if the bleeding had stopped. Cautiously, we removed all the packing and, yeah!, it was no longer bleeding.

Parker and I headed back to the restaurant, found the others, and ate dinner. While we were there, I asked the cashier if alcohol is allowed at the park. I’m very sensitive to this subject. He said he’d never thought about it, but he and his friends stay there and they drink, and they’ve never been bothered by anyone.

When we got to the campsite, I made John and me a vodka-infused-iced-tea and limeade drink (thanks, Ham! – he gave me the iced-tea vodka bottle as a bon voyage gift.)

We had noisy neighbors, so we didn’t get the best night’s sleep. Plus, Cal moaned all night, Trey kept saying he couldn’t sleep because he thought there were spiders all around him, and Parker was afraid his nose would start bleeding again.

But the Tetons are beautiful, and I’m happy to be here.

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