Grand Tetons

Oh, the Tetons! What a beautiful mountain range! Rebekah, Aimee, and I spent our first afternoon by Jackson Lake.

We headed to Signal Mtn Lodge for ice cream and enjoyed it on the deck:

It started raining, so we went for a drive. When we got back, we had a visitor at our Signal Mtn campsite:

We started a campfire and put dinner on. Steak, potatoes, carrots, and onions with baked beans. Yum! It started raining, so while we were waiting for dinner, we played cards in the tent.

Dinner was delicious. We followed it up with Smores and went to sleep. It was pretty chilly the next morning. We went to Jackson for the day and had lunch at the Sweet Water Restaurant. Also, read for a while Shades coffee shop. Then, headed back to our campsite for another good meal of chicken, veggies, and smores! We sat talking by the campfire for a long time. It was a chilly, wet night.

The next morning, we headed to Jenny Lake. We took the ferry across to the West Dock.

Then, we hiked one mile up to Inspiration Point:

We took in the view for a while before hiking back down and around Jenny Lake 3.5 miles.

Museum of the Rockies

Tina, from Oklahoma, invited me to go with her to the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman.
There was a homestead behind the museum. The Tinsley house, below, dates back to the 1860's and is set up as it was when the Tinsley's were farming in this area a century and a half ago.

It is a working homestead with volunteers who work in the garden and orchard and cook in the kitchen just as Mrs. Tinsley would have. The back porch:

There was a beautiful garden. In late summer, they have a harvest festival. Delicious meals are prepared in the wood stove with all the vegetables from the garden, the eggs from the chicken house, and fruit from the orchard.

After visiting the homestead, we went in the museum. They have an extensive fossil gallery that included only fossils found in the state of Montana.

There was a section of Montana and Native American history.

On the drive back, we stopped at Meditation Point. This is a teeny tiny little roadside chapel that is available for weary travelers to stop at for rest and prayer.

The Pickle Barrel

I was restless this morning when I woke up, so I decide to drive to Livingston and take the East River Road instead of the usual Hwy 89. It was a pretty drive as well. This is near Pine Creek:

In Livingston, I went into a few shops and stopped for lunch at The Pickle Barrel. I got a tasty South of the Border sandwhich and a pickle, which was on a barrel!!!!

I just felt like taking a drive, so I drove around town to learn more about Livingston. Stopped for a little while at Sacajewea Park. The Lewis and Clark party passed through here:

My new favorite spot...

Rebekah and I went camping this weekend at Bridge Bay campground near Yellowstone Lake. We set up our camp and then walked around the shore of the lake to the marina.
I found my new favorite spot in YNP. It is the front porch at Lake Lodge. They have a big porch with rocking chairs which make the perfect spot for us to put our feet up and read a good book with a beautiful view:

Then, we went to Lake Hotel for dinner. Afterwards, we sat in the sunroom to talk, read, and listen to the string quartet that plays there every night. It was so relaxing. We were also in the sunroom while a thunderstorm rolled through the area.

We headed back to the marina to take the 7:15 scenic cruise.

After the cruise, we went to the ranger program at the campground amphitheater. Then we built a campfire and made smores. I was a little chilly sleeping that night. I guess it might have been a low of 40. The next morning, on our way to breakfast we saw a bison roaming the campground. Glad he decided not to sit on my tent in the night.

After breakfast at Lake Lodge, we headed back to the marina and rented a rowboat. Both the rowboat and the scenic cruise was free for employees! We really enjoyed the rowboats. It was a beautiful morning and the lake was so peaceful. Rebekah rowed us out of the marina:

It was chilly when we started, but it didn't take long to warm up. Rowing is hard work!

We had the boat for about 2 1/2 hours. We didn't go very far, and I'm glad we didn't go any farther because my arms felt like spaghetti when we got back to the marina! We headed back to the front porch at Lake Lodge and read for about an hour and then headed back home. It was a great weekend.