Tetons and Beyond

I took the wheel leaving Old Faithful, headed for the South Entrance of Yellowstone, and the Grand Tetons beyond.  There were a lot of slow, tourist drivers on the road who apparently had all the time in the world.  Xena was having none of that, blasting by so we could really cover some ground. The change in scenery upon leaving Yellowstone was surprising. The underbrush started changing colors and constant hills gave way to plains along the East side of the chain of lakes separating us from the Grand Tetons. As the roads split we always chose the branch that led us closer to the lakes and mountains.  Finally we found a road that led us straight towards Grand Teton itself before splitting off onto a small “scenic road” which led us to a fantastic pull-off at Lake Jenny, directly across from the Tetons.

 

Fully satisfied with our Grand Tetons experience, we pushed on towards Jackson Hole where we would pick up Highway 26 to take us into Idaho. As we got closer to Idaho, we noticed an increasing number of deciduous trees in full fall colors mixed in with the pines. The highway follows the Snake River, sometimes along the valley bottom, and sometimes climbing up the hillside.  It was a very scenic drive, and while we didn’t get any pictures, the time lapse camera was going so we may find some good ones once we get back.  Just as we were leaving the more mountainous region of Southeast Idaho we came across an overlook across a reservoir just before sunset which gave us a great photo to end the daylight part of the day.

 

 Shortly after the photo stop I handed the keys off to Amy who powered through the last light of the sun in her eyes as we drove on towards our destination, Jami’s favorite state capitol of Boise, Idaho.  Amy knocked out her 3 hour stint and rang up the bullpen for our go-to closer of Epic Trip III: Jami Cox.  With our driver powered by gummy bears, we’re just a bit more than an hour out, hoping to call it a night before 11:30PM MST.