Road Trip 2012 Part 2 / 4

It’s been crazy busy at work and didn’t have energy to update when I get back home…. but finally the part 2 of 4, Grand Teton National Park is here.

This year, we visited Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Park. On the way, as always, we stopped to visit our friends in Denver, and on the way back, we made a short stop at Mt. Rushmore. Our goal is to visit all 50 states together. Blue is where we’ve already visited, and Red is our home, Ohio.

Part 2: Colorado and Wyoming (only… but still 8 hours of driving… )

It was a beautiful morning when we left our friend’s house heading to the Grand Teton.

After a quick stop at a McDonald for the breakfast, even before we enter Wyoming, I already spotted one of the wild animals we were excited to see, Bison.

and then into Wyoming

One of the excitement of the road trip is to see those amazing scenery like this…

Stopped for a quick lunch at Outlaw Inn

Everything was a bit way too salty, but because I was tired, and also like salty food in general, it was okay.

Found this at a gas station, but unfortunately, I have no interest in other guy’s wife’s nuts…

The sky was so intriguing couldn’t help taking pictures of it…

The last town before entering Grand Teton National Park.

We stopped here to pick up rental canoes at Rendezvous River Sports.
Their staff were very friendly, and helpful. If you were going to go to Grand Teton National Park, and planning to canoe, I highly recommend them!

Thanks to my friend Andrew at Great Miami Outfitter (another highly recommended outdoor store if you are in Cincinnati/Dayton area), for showing me how I can mount two canoes on our car.
I got those two rental canoes on our Highlander with Thule roof rack.

First mount the first canoe, and tie it down.

Then place the second canoe on top/next to, and tie it down.

Finally, pull the front down, and secure to the frame behind the bumper.

From inside of the car, and also from the side.

It was sprinkling when we getting into Grand Teton National Park.

The proper shadow of the vehicle entering the park… half of the car entering is SUV, and have something on top of the roof. and we do too!!

We stayed at Jackson Lodge, inside of the park, where you can have one of the best view of the Grand Teton, and mountain lines.

Not only the view, but the restaurant at the lodge was also very good.

We started our Day 2 in Grand Teton National Park with some outdoor breakfast.

I dropped off the canoe just below the Jackson Lake Dam, and then took the car 6 miles down the river, and rode my bike back to the dam to start the river canoeing.

In the afternoon, we went to Jennie Lake, and went on short hike to the Hidden Lake, and the Inspiration Point.

The second evening ended as beautiful as the first night. We stayed only 2 nights at Grand Teton, and it was way too short…
Next time, I would like to spend my entire week here, and do fishing and canoeing without worry about my schedule. However for the first visit to the park and to learn about the park for the next visit, I really enjoyed it.

We spent the morning of the third day, just around the Colter Bay. From there, it is a very short drive up north to the entrance of the Yellowstone national Park

On our way out, we saw a deer, wondering just by the side of the road…

Part 1: On our way to Colorado
Part 2: Grand Teton National Park
Part 3: Yellowstone National Park
Part 4: Mt. Rushmore and our way home