Grand Tetons

Hey folks.

Back again huh? Even after I told you the end of the story? (the "we made it home part")

Cool. I'm glad you are back. I'd hate to think no one was reading this stuff *grin*

Let's see... Where were we?

Oh yeah, we were headed to the Grand Tetons.

The drive to the park from Nevada was rather uneventful. We cruised over to Salt Lake City and then headed north. This took us into territory we didn't realize we had been missing for a few weeks now.

We found GREEN! Up until this point, probably the last time we saw large areas of that felt like home containing beautiful fields of green grass and trees that weren't stunted scrubs or monster alien skyscrapers was somewhere in southeastern Texas. The green made things feel soo much more inviting. While I think the browns, reds and tans of the midwest are pretty, give me green anyday. *chuckle*

By the time we arrived at the gates of the park, it was again getting late in the day. I'd say it was probably 7:00 p.m. local time. And of course the park ranger at the gate said the first campsite inside the park was something like 2 hours away.

Geez! Who planned these things? Don't they know to put the campsite next to the front door? What do they think? I may see some things on the way in that I had forgotten to bring along? It ain't like this is the grocery store and I'm just after a gallon of milk and should be forced to walk through the entire store to find it. *Sigh*

She did say "inside the park" when I asked though. Turns out that after I paid my $18 to get into the park, I had failed to ask the right question. "What is the nearest campsite?". When I asked this before driving off, she pointed behind me and said, "a couple miles that way, turn left and it will be on your right in about a mile."

I almost asked for my money back but then realized it wasn't worth the hassle. The park entrance fee at the Grand Tetons is good for three days and will also get you into Yellowstone National Park which is north of the Grand Tetons.

We proceeded on into the park and to the nearby gas station. I had planned on cooking dinner, but the smell of food coming from the open air resturaunt across the parking lot was hard to resist. So, after filling up, we headed over and had ourselves a big ole hamburger. Dang it was good.

Bonneville Salt Flats International Speedway

Ok, for those who read my last blog and were curious about my comment on the racing on the salt flats, this blog post is for you *grin*.

When we left Reno, we headed toward the Bonneville Salt Flats International Speedway.

According to our trusty GPS (her name is Ethyl by the way), the Bonneville Salt Flats was a park. It even showed up on the GPS with a cute little tent symbol next to its name.

Recall the Reno KOA? Well, we had similar luck here.

First off, when we got to the exit, the signs pointed us off into the middle of nowhere. The only thing at the exit was a gas station and once we passed that, nothing. No lights, no signs, no nothing. After a left turn a mile or so, we found ourselves on a very straight road that seemed to continue off into nothingness.


(a picture in the daylight of the same area)

The pale glow of the salt was on both sides of us fading off into the darkness. After a mile or so, I pulled over and we wandered out onto the salt.

It wasn't quite what I expected. Picture white sand but packed hard to an almost concrete-like consistency. It was nothing like what we found in New Mexico at the White Sands. After goofing around a bit, we continued forward on our quest for the elusive tent on Ethyl's screen. I shoulda known better. A campsite in the middle of the Salt Flats? Uh huh.

Soon we found ourselves a the end of the road. And what was salt a mile or so back had turned into water. The only dry spot was the road we were parked on. There were a couple of RV's parked at the end of the road and a lone pavillion with a couple of people in sleeping bags, who had settled in for the evening.

Again, not quite what I had hoped for and at 9 p.m., really not what I was in the mood to find.

So, once again we back-tracked a bit to what appeared to be the last set of casinos before crossing the state line of Nevada. There we did find a KOA campground, situated just behind one of the casinos. Basically it was a gravel parking lot, divided into tent and RV sites, with an office building containing the laundry and a pool.



The big cowboy was just off the entrance to the campsite and should give you an idea of just where we were trying to camp for the night.

Nothing like sleeping in what was the equivelant of the back alley of a casino in a tent with neon lights humming maybe 150 yards away.

Anyways, we survived the night, washed some clothes the next morning and headed off to the Salt Flats.

Again, another wow moment. The sheer size of the Salt Flats leaves you feeling rather small. It is a pretty cool place that seems to go on forever.

As you guessed from the comment about the water, we were too late into the season to get to see any racing events. The majority of the area used for racing was covered in about two inches of water for miles and miles.



While we visited the flats, I was able to catch these pictures of Ethan and Zachary racing each other on the flats.

Here is a shot of Ethan headed down the track.
(click for da big picture)

And here comes Zachary out of nowhere to challenge for the lead.


Impressive huh? *grin*

This picture should give you an idea of the size of this place. You can see the mountains off in the distance miles away. And between us and there was nothing but salt water.

After we left, we headed off toward Mount Rushmore. On the way out of Nevada, we passed this odd looking creation. Turns out it is some kind of artist rendition of the Utah tree and it is called "The Tree of Utah".

Huh?

Yeah, that's what I said as well.

It was about this time that Zachary mentioned that friends of ours would be arriving the next day just north of us in Jackson Hole Wyoming to particpate in the ArrowCorp 5 program in the Grand Tetons. "I still wish I had been able to join them" he said. I hadn't let him sign up because of the trip. He had wanted to do summer camp, the road trip, and work on the ArrowCorp 5 project. I told him he had to pick two. Summer camp and the roadtrip won out.

Go visit the Grand Tetons? *Shrug* At this point, what's 8 hours of driving? "I guess we could go meet them getting off the plane. They land tomorrow at 9 a.m. correct? Why not?", I said. And off we went, with the trip to Mount Rushmore pushed down the list. We still had a few days left on our trip and I figured we could make a side trip.

I'll post some pics on our time at the Grand Tetons and in Yellowstone National Park next time around.

Until then!

P.S.: Thanks for reading my posts. I can't tell how many of you are visiting, but have had a few people tell me they've been following us along. It sure was a fun trip!