Grand Teton National Park, WY

After a leisurely breakfast in the camper we loaded up the truck with picnic supplies to travel for an hour to the Grand Teton National Park. At the entrance we were informed that we had to be 62 years old to purchase the senior citizen National Park passes. Now, that is sure a bummer. We were counting on the old folk's discount; however, she let us enter Grand Teton National Park free today because her credit card machine was non functional, and we will be entering Yellowstone on Tuesday. Grand Teton National Park is indeed beautiful with rolling mountains, glacier-covered mountains, and sage plains all around. After our wilderness journey on Saturday, we were very determined to find an isolated viewing spot that was away from tourists. We climbed a narrow, paved two lane road that we thought would entail meeting only a few rock lickers. We were surprised when we reached the summit to a full parking lot and people milling around like worker ants. At the summit we could look down and in the distance see a deserted dirt road. We both immediately thought "that is where we want to be, but how do we get there?" We climbed back into the truck and pulled a map out of our "propaganda" pile of brochures and ala Billy figured it out. The dirt road across sage brush, treed forests and hills was as isolated as we had hoped it would be. The "road" was 4 wheel drive only and VERY rough driving. We had to drive very slowly but we reached the exact place where we wanted to be-atop a mountain all alone looking down into a lush valley with a beautiful stream winding around the trees. We each pulled ourselves up a rock to sit on, and Maggie curled up under a sage brush bush and life could not have been better. We sat up there for a long time peering through our binoculars and still did not see an elk, moose, big horned sheep, or bear. We did see two Bald Eagles and their nest in a tall tree in the background. We think that if could have stayed until dusk we would have witnessed a "critter party" down by the stream as we could see hoof and paw prints everywhere. The dusk viewing was not going to be because we had a curfew of 10:00 pm to cross the highway back to Dubois. They were doing major road work and closing the road at 10:00, so we began our slow crawl/bounce/bump/scratch path down the mountain. At some point during our travels up to this point we saw a few cars pulled off the road and we stopped to inquire what was happening. There was a grizzly bear walking quickly parallel with the road and about 50 yards away. With camera in hand I rushed along the road to keep up with him. When he stopped so that I could click a photo he was behind bushes. No photo, but I was able to keep up with him until he turned away and wandered down the mountain. Yippee, first grizzly siting. After leaving the Grand Teton National Park we again saw a few vehicles pulled off the side of the road. Being good American "rubber neckers" and well-heeled tourists we pulled over to see what was happening. Yippee! Our first moose siting. Poor thing was just trying to take a little nap in the creek so she would be freshened up for the big "critter party" that would begin when all the tourists went home to bed. What an awesome site. Billy and I were so involved in looking the sides of the roads for critters that we almost failed to notice that snow was beginning to pile up in some places on the sides of the road. I instantly got cold and put on my jacket. We stopped in Dubois to eat a quick and light dinner at the Cowboy Cafe and truly enjoyed our dinner. After stopping, we got our first look at our truck. Oh my, we look like locals now as the truck is literally covered in dirt and dust. "Life is Good Today" Thanks for stopping in to visit.