Family Driving Vacation-Day 14: Grand Teton National Park, WY

Whew!  Driving is starting to wear us all down, and there is no.break.from.anyone.  Theo’s little “abbatude” is just getting to me, and Woodrow’s whining is pushing Mason over the edge…But, for today the boys were pretty good and we got to be out in nature! 

Last night Mason and I had laid out our maps and planned out our day adventures, and then of course as I was laying in bed trying to fall asleep, I realized that we have a whole extra day here that we hadn’t been accounting for, which was great!  One of the best things about this vacation, despite some of the struggles and frustrations, is that we’re really on our own schedule.  We’ve been waking up with no alarms (although usually the children are getting us up), and doing our own thing.  The kids have been napping here and there in the car and we eat when we’re hungry; which for the boys is most of the time. 

The Moose-Wilson Road is closed right now which has added some extra time to our daily travels, but it wasn’t too bad.  The most unfortunate (for us) part is that the road is closed because there’s been a super high level of bear activity because there are lots of berries along the road.  So some Rangers we were talking with said there are Grizzly’s and Black Bears frequenting the road….oh man!  We totally want to see that!!!  Alas, no bears for the Kehs family today, although it was not from lack of trying to see them.  It’s pretty frustrating since there are signs EVERYWHERE saying “be bear aware” etc…but no bears today.  That being said, I would like to see them from the car, and not while hiking. 

Today we DID see two Moose when we were headed to our trail.  Of course this was as we were driving through town and they were just hanging out eating leaves off of someone’s trees. 

We headed to the trails near Phelps Lake today and did a 3 mile hike.  I’d say this was Woodrow’s best hike yet.  He didn’t really fuss or complain at all which was awesome!  Theo started out a little rough.  Our bodies had quickly gotten used to the comforts of flat land, so after 10 minutes of hiking he was ready to be done.  The hike today climbed a little and had some rocky parts, but for the most part was a really nice hike to a BEAUTIFUL area near the lake.  Theo was pretty distracted from his mood once we started talking about Christmas, Halloween, and his birthday…he’s got it ALL planned out.  His stream of consciousness is pretty funny, and sometimes I have to really think about what he’s talking about, but it’s pretty funny to just take a walk and talk with Theo, especially since he’s usually so serious with the way he says everything. 

As a funny little story, we gave quite the chuckle to the ladies in the restroom when Theo exclaimed he was just going to pee standing up.  We’ve had him just sitting to go potty, but a few times out in the wilderness Mason’s attempted to have him just pee (hasn’t happened yet).  So I told him that he was going to be sitting to go potty.  Then when it was my turn, he was like, “Mom, just stand up and go” to which I said girls sit to go potty.  “Why mom, because you don’t have a penis?   I have a penis, and Woodrow has a penis, and Dad has a penis, because we’re boys.  You’re a girl, lady so you don’t have a penis.”  Of course this was all said LOUDLY for all to hear. 

Anyways, the hike went well and we stopped to have lunch once we got to the lake.  It was a stunning view, and for 6.9 seconds the boys were quiet, and it was such a quiet spot.  We were alone for almost 20 minutes before other hikers came to the spot, which was great.  The overall hike took us 3 hours.   By this time is was a little bit after 4pm, so we drove back to Jackson Hole and found a Mexican restaurant to have dinner.  It was actually really tasty, and I’d say the best Mexican stop we’ve had on the trip.  We also stopped for DQ on the way out of Jackson Hole. 

On the drive back into the Grand Tetons National Park, we quickly stopped for Mason to get a shirt at the Visitor’s Center, and then it was wildlife central.  Today was the day of the deer, elk, and pronghorn deer.  We saw them throughout the day and this evening we say herds along the road which was really cool.  We were driving back in at dusk so they were especially active.  We decided that we wanted to catch sunset from the Signal Mountain Summit and we saw lots of deer and elk on this drive to the top of the mountain.  It was really nice because there wasn’t really anyone else there, so Mason and Theo hurried off to get the tripod set-up which Woodrow and I lagged behind getting on our coats etc…

At the summit, Mason had taken some photos but also used his super nature senses to detect an adult buck not too far away from us butting his antlers against a tree.  It was pretty cool, but after a short while Woodrow became super wiggly and Theo had thrown himself into a temper-tantrum so I took the boys back to the car so Mason could enjoy the scenery and some peace and quiet. 

Theo has really tested my patience on this trip at times, and I’ve had some bad moments where I know I haven’t handled things just right or the way I wanted to…so I put him in the car screaming his little head off and Woodrow and I sat nearby so he could get some wiggles out and I could let a few tears flow.  The ride back to the cabin was, thankfully, very quiet…but when we got out of the car I discovered that Theo had peed in his pants (and all over his car seat) while he’d had his little tantrum so that was not a fun moment!  Mason took car of the car seat while I bathed the boys and got them ready for bed.  Mason’s seriously my hero!  I think I skipped this in a previous post, but right on our way into Spokane Woodrow had thrown-up in his car seat so Mason had taken his seat all apart then and washed it.  Seriously, HERO! 

Now Woodrow is asleep, Theo’s reading books in bed, I’m catching up on writing blogs, and Mason’s reviewing the trails for tomorrow.  Once Theo falls asleep we may sneak out to star gaze and see if we can see the Aurora Borealis tonight, which we may have decent visibility for tonight. 

**Had to come back late tonight and add a revision.  No Aurora sightings, but my word-I have never seen so many stars so bright!  After some coaxing from Mason and convincing that we wouldn’t get attacked by a bear, we walked the 75 feet to the waterfront by our cabin and star-gazed.  Well, I gazed while Mason took photos.  It really was spectacular out.  The stars were so bright and I felt like I could reach up and touch the big dipper.  You could even look up and see a galaxy!  (If that’s not really true, then blame Mason, because he said that’s what it was).  What a beautiful night.  It was nice to have a few minutes just enjoying the crisp, soon to be Fall, evening with my love.