Wyoming | Banjo and Layla's Lifestyle and Travel

Cindy Baker

This day was our trek to another national park, The Grand Tetons. We got an early start, since we were driving several hours south to Jackson, Wyoming (better know as Jackson Hole). We had to take the same lower loop road like we did yesterday when we saw Old Faithful, but this time we stopped at the Grand Prismatic Spring and walked around Excelsior Geyser. It was pretty cool. Grand Prismatic Spring is the largest hot spring in the nation – 300 feet in diameter and a ridiculously hot temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit. It is in the Midway Geyser Basin. The center is this deep azure blue that really stands out because of the contrasting colors of the outer edges. Many of the colors are caused by minerals or bacteria. You definitely don’t want to fall in! There are lots of signs warning visitors to stay on the boardwalk.

Another stop on the way was Lewis Falls. It might be easy to miss this beautiful set of waterfalls. It is between the South Entrance to the park and Grant Village at West Thumb on the Lewis River. The falls drop about 30 feet and can be seen from the road.

We drove out the South Entrance (still in Wyoming) and into the Grand Teton National Park. The drive provided some beautiful views of wildlife, rivers, Jackson Lake, and the Grand Teton Mountains.

We had planned on going white water rafting on the Snake River, but we decided to do a float trip instead so that we could bring our cameras and take pictures without getting wet. Shout out to Barker-Ewing Whitewater for doing a fabulous job!

We saw two bald eagles on our float trip. So cool! We also met some cool people and learned a lot about wildlife from our guide.

Jackson is a town in Wyoming’s Jackson Hole valley near the border of Idaho and is home to 3 ski areas: Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Snow King Mountain Resort and Grand Targhee Resort. It is a very cool town. Although many of the stores and restaurants were high-end in price, there are also your typical T-Shirt and souvenir shops. The Town Square’s entrance has an arch made of shed antlers from the nearby National Elk Refuge. There are also a lot of art galleries and shops. The National Museum of Wildlife Art has works by Andy Warhol and Georgia O’Keeffe.

The town is Jackson, and the Valley is called Jackson Hole. The term “hole” was used by early trappers or mountain men, who mostly entered the valley from the north and east and had to descend along relatively steep slopes, giving the sensation of entering a hole. These low-lying valleys surrounded by mountains and containing rivers and streams are good habitat for beaver and other fur-bearing animals.

Lots of Shops and Restaurants in Jackson

Have you ever been to Jackson Hole? Have any good stories? I’d love to hear from you. Check out a short video of Day 4 of Our Trip Here:

Cindy Baker

On Day 2 we drove from Billings to Red Lodge to Cook City then into Yellowstone National Park via the Northeast entrance. Yellowstone park is huge! It covers three states (Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho) and has five entrances.

Insider Tip: We had to pay a $35 fee to enter the park, but it was good for 7 days. You just have to show your receipt and driver’s license at the gate each time to enter the park through any entrance.

As a teacher, I thought this display was so interesting.

We traveled from the Northeast Entrance to Tower-Roosevelt to Mammoth Hot Springs, both of which are in Wyoming. Hotels and campgrounds fill up quickly, so make sure you have secured lodging in or near the park before planning your trip. Also, we learned that we could not get anywhere quickly in the park. Plan a minimum of 40 minutes travel time between junctions or visitor service areas on the Grand Loop Road.

The speed limit in Yellowstone is 45 mph except where posted slower, but it was crowded when we were there (July 4 holiday week) and people frequently pull over to the side of the road or slow down to view or photograph wildlife. One of my biggest regrets is not having a good camera with a zoom lens. All of the shots in this blog post were taken with my i-phone, and so many times the animals were just too far away for me to really get a good photo with my phone. From all of the research and ratings I have read this is the sort of camera I would get:

On this trip my husband actually did all of the driving, and I would look for animals and have him stop or pull over frequently so I could take a picture, but he said he didn’t mind. The views were so spectacular that driving was actually pleasant. Be prepared for a lot of driving in order to see the park. Even though we were just there a week, we still felt like we got to see what we wanted to see in that amount of time. The best thing to do is to visit early in the day to avoid crowds. Park entrance gates are open 24-hours. Wildlife are most active at sunrise and sunset, so arriving early gives you the best chance to observe animals.

Another thing we learned is that cell phone service is very limited (almost none) in the park and surrounding areas. During peak hours the cellular network is very slow and your provider may not roam on networks in Yellowstone. Wi-Fi is available at the Mammoth Hotel, the Old Faithful Snow lodge, Lake Lodge cafeteria, and the Canyon and Grant Lodges for a fee. The Visitor Center in Mammoth Hot Springs has free Wi-Fi. Data speeds are very limited outside of that area through. Very frustrating if you are a blogger!

Elk were everywhere around the Mammoth Hot Springs Visitor Center.

Our first tourist stop in the park was Mammoth Hot Springs, which is made up of all of these rock terraces shaped by water over time. The water concentration and vents change quickly and constantly. Water follows the path of least resistance, whether it is above or under the ground, so it is almost like rocks are forming before your eyes. There are wooden boardwalks that we walked on throughout the rock and water features, making it easy to see everything without having to walk in the mud or hot earth.

This waterfall is near Mammoth Hot Springs.

From there we went back out of the park through the West Entrance to West Yellowstone, MT. We stayed about 5 minutes from the west entrance at West Yellowstone Bed and Breakfast (https://www.westyellowstonebandb.com), where Deborah was a wonderful hostess.

West Yellowstone, Montana is a cool little town. West Yellowstone was incorporated in 1966 but has existed as a gateway community to Yellowstone National Park since the early 1900s. Although it is a small community with a population of approximately 1300 people, visitation to West Yellowstone tops 4 million people per year. The winters can be extreme, so there are fewer visitors in the colder months. When we were there in July the weather was perfect! Low humidity, mid 70’s in temperature, clean air. Having had allergies all my life and especially during pollen season in Memphis, I was so excited to be able to breathe through both sides of my nose for once! There are several restaurants, gift shops, and ice cream or taco trucks.

The Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center http://www.grizzlydiscoveryctr.org is pretty cool to walk through. There is sort of a mini zoo at the end with real wolves and bears. There is also the Yellowstone Historic Center in an old train depot with some history exhibits if that’s your thing. See my Day 5 report for some pics and video of an awesome Fourth of July parade right down the center of town. Tomorrow we will go see Old Faithful! Stay tuned for my Day 3 post.

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Watch here for a short video of Day 2 here:

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Tag Archives: Wyoming

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