*Birds we’ve seen on our 2010 trip so far: white-wing dove, ravens, Gamble’s quail, western tanager, roadrunner, violet-green swallow, California condor, great blue heron, mountain bluebird, wild turkey, black-chinned hummingbird, juniper titmouse, magpie, osprey, Canada geese, bank swallow, common mergansers, chipping sparrow, American white pelican, Great blue heron, red-tailed hawk, bald eagles, killdeer, sandhill cranes, peregrine falcon
*National Parks/Monuments visited on 2010 trip so far: 25
*State Parks visited on 2010 trip so far: 4
*Total number of Jr. Ranger badges so far: 19
[Click on any picture to enlarge…then arrow back to the blog]
The next 12 days were spent on a return visit to Grand Teton National Park, this time staying at the Colter Bay Campground more centrally located within the park. This would be another 2 weeks without hook-ups but we were confident it would be no problem especially since there was a dump station w
here we could empty the tanks on our way in. It was also another first-come, no reservation campground so we got there early enough to make sure we got a site that would be able to accommodate our size rig (and of course get satellite reception). Not a fancy cam
pground but a beautiful view of the mountains, and a forested area behind our site that led down towards Jackson Lake. Plus a deer and her two fawn roamed the grounds early each morning (never could get all 3 in a picture).Shortly before arriving at Colter Bay, we lear
ned that a good friend of mine would be staying in the park for a few days only about 5 miles from us. Over the years Kim and I have amazingly found ourselves in the same place at the same time and always take the opportunity to visit. We had worked together about 15 years ago, and she was the one respons
ible for getting me started in Sweet Adelines. So one afternoon she and Dave came by the campground for a few hours, and we had a great time catching up. Before they left, of course we had to take pictures, and of course silly girls that we are, we had to do a Sweet Adeline pose!
In the “you meet the nicest people on the road” category, we would have to add Reiner and Rosemarie. They were our neighbors for a few nights at Colter Bay, and though older than us, they put us to shame with the amount of hiking and biking they did! On their last night we invited them to share our campfire and enjoyed chatting under a canopy of stars. The next morning they gifted us with some delicious homemade banana bread, some German rye bread, and a can of Swiss instant tea….all very yummy! Early one morning on our way to Oxbow Bend, we had to stop as a wrangler from the Triangle X Dude Ranch (http://www.trianglex.com/) herded horses from the corral on one side of the road to the stalls on the other side. What beautiful creatures!
Then about 5 miles down the road in an open field, a coyote scampered through the brush behind a herd of grazing horses. We watched for about 20 min. as he ran and pounced, the horses seeming totally oblivious to his very existence.
One day we made the nearly 100 mile round-trip drive to the Old Faithful area in Yellowstone since we had skipped it during our earlier visit. We arrived about 20 min. before Old Faithful’s scheduled eruption, and we have to say that it went higher and was more forceful than the two times we had seen it the year before…simply amazing. Afterwards we walked over to 
the Old Faithful Inn, built in 1904 and one of the few remaining log hotels in the U.S. We sat in the lobby for a bit with its 65 ft. high ceilings just people watching. As we left to head back to the car, Grand Geyser was beginning to erupt. It is considered the tallest predictable geyser in the world, 
sometimes reaching heights up to 200 ft. with bursts lasting 9 – 12 minutes.As we made our way back to Grand Teton, we stopped at Isa Lake which runs under and on both sides of the road at one of the Continental Divide passes. Every time we have passed it, we’ve been amazed at the abundant lily-pads thriving at an elevation of nearly 8,300 ft.…a beautiful and serene sight.
We also made stops at the Kepler Cascades (photo at left) and Lewis Falls (at right), neither of which drop very far but are still spectacular to view. 
There's a wooden deck above the river at Kepler Cascades that affords you an incredible view of the falls, and at Lewis Falls there's a short hiking trail that takes you towards the top. We experienced both.
On another day we visited the Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve located within Grand Teton National Park. The interpretive center is situated in such a way as to capture exquisite views of the Teton Range but in our opinion has a very sparse visitor center. The main attraction at the Preserve is the 8
miles of self-guided woodland trails that wind through the 1,106 acres that lead to Phelps Lake. These are so popular that the small parking lot fills by 10a.m. nearly everyday, and this day was no exception…we got one of the last spots. Mr. Rockefeller’s vision had been to create a place where visitors could “experience a spiritual and emotional connection to the extraordinary natural beauty of Phelps Lake and the Teton Range.” Though we chose not to take any of the hikes, we still enjoyed the tranquil surrounding beauty from the center.
After leaving the Preserve, we made our way to the Menor’s Ferry Historic District (http://www.nps.gov/grte/historyculture/menors.htm). William D. Menor came to this valley in 1894, creating his homestead, and constructing the ferry for early settlers to the area. The ferry itself is a refurbi
shed replica that crosses the Snake River, and normally free rides are offered daily but unfortunately not the day we visited. The nearby white-washed cabin is his original homestead cabin and was constructed in 3 stages. As you step inside the east wing of the cabin, you step back in time to the general store he opened in 1905. The
re are all sorts of merchandise including old-fashioned clothing, handmade dolls, tins of food, soaps, candies, cookbooks, and so much more. Bob, who is also a full-time RVer, has worked here for the Grand Teton Assn. the past 5 years and not only runs the store, but acts as interpreter and historian. The central wing of the cabin added in 1895 had been the kitchen and pantry, while the east wing built in 1894 served as the family living area, all furnished as in they were back then.
There's a wooden deck above the river at Kepler Cascades that affords you an incredible view of the falls, and at Lewis Falls there's a short hiking trail that takes you towards the top. We experienced both.On another day we visited the Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve located within Grand Teton National Park. The interpretive center is situated in such a way as to capture exquisite views of the Teton Range but in our opinion has a very sparse visitor center. The main attraction at the Preserve is the 8
miles of self-guided woodland trails that wind through the 1,106 acres that lead to Phelps Lake. These are so popular that the small parking lot fills by 10a.m. nearly everyday, and this day was no exception…we got one of the last spots. Mr. Rockefeller’s vision had been to create a place where visitors could “experience a spiritual and emotional connection to the extraordinary natural beauty of Phelps Lake and the Teton Range.” Though we chose not to take any of the hikes, we still enjoyed the tranquil surrounding beauty from the center.
After leaving the Preserve, we made our way to the Menor’s Ferry Historic District (http://www.nps.gov/grte/historyculture/menors.htm). William D. Menor came to this valley in 1894, creating his homestead, and constructing the ferry for early settlers to the area. The ferry itself is a refurbi
shed replica that crosses the Snake River, and normally free rides are offered daily but unfortunately not the day we visited. The nearby white-washed cabin is his original homestead cabin and was constructed in 3 stages. As you step inside the east wing of the cabin, you step back in time to the general store he opened in 1905. The
re are all sorts of merchandise including old-fashioned clothing, handmade dolls, tins of food, soaps, candies, cookbooks, and so much more. Bob, who is also a full-time RVer, has worked here for the Grand Teton Assn. the past 5 years and not only runs the store, but acts as interpreter and historian. The central wing of the cabin added in 1895 had been the kitchen and pantry, while the east wing built in 1894 served as the family living area, all furnished as in they were back then. 
We were disappointed that we didn’t see as much wildlife during these 2 weeks...guess we'd been spoiled during the previous 5 weeks while in Grand Teton and Yellowstone. The rangers believe it was due to the fact that the weather had turned somewhat warmer, and many of the animals had moved up into the hills for cooler climates. However, it wasn’t a total loss. Besides those mentioned above, we spotted a lone bison in an unexpected place, and one evening we noticed a peregrine falcon perched near the top of a bare tree and then watched as it soared across the darkening sky. On a couple other evenings we ventured over to the Oxbow Bend turnout area above the Snake River and were delighted to see an osprey make several diving attempts at catching a fish, a couple elk, a moose, beavers (did you know they can weigh up to 60 lbs.??), and the best sighting at this location…a wolf on the riverbank trying to catch some sort of prey and ending up in the water! Couldn’t get decent pictures of any of these as the light was fading fast, and one night it was even raining, but the images are forever etched in our minds.
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