We get up and ready in plenty of time for a bellman to help us get our belongings down three floors, check out, get breakfast, race down to get my mother’s accidentally packed tablet out of the car (ugh), and hop on our Red Bus Tour of Glacier.
We’re on the Grand Circle tour, looping the outer edges of the park to come down Going to the Sun Rd west to east. It will take all day, and we get a late start because two members of the group are no-shows. Continue reading “In which we take a Red Bus Tour”→
We time our day to depart in time to get coffees at Tumbleweed, just down the street from the Riverside Cottages. They open at 7.
Well, first we see the deer that are right in our own parking lot this am. Then…
We each get a coffee plus a thermos to let us top off through the morning. We originally thought we might cross to Pebble Creek, near the Northeast entrance, for an early-morning animal seeking session (we would so love to see moose) but already the morning is warm, and the 40 miles across isn’t going to get us there in anything like prime viewing time. And we want to see the Terraces we skipped yesterday before it gets appallingly hot again.
So we visit Mammoth Hot Springs upper terraces instead, first walking it, hearing the elk trumpet as rut season begins…
We check out of the Old Faithful Inn, with an aim of seeing the Great Prismatic Spring ahead of the crowd. It is a good theory. But it is still early and cold – so much steam is rising from the springs that they aren’t visible.
The oranges and yellows are all we could see of the Grand Prismatic Spring so early in the morning
On our way out of town we pick up some essentials. Windex wipes for the car windows. Ice. Wine.
You know, basic stuff that the pioneers would have needed as well.
We head north through the Grand Tetons again – the only way to get from here to there, stopping to see some of what we missed yesterday. The Craig Thomas Visitor Center. The Signal Mountain Summit. Continue reading “In which we make our way to Yellowstone”→
Dad moves first. He’s up and headed downstairs for coffee. Girls, it’s 9:15. I’m going to go get coffee, he whispers to mom and I, as he heads to the door, pausing to make sure he has a room key. I hand him one phone so he can reach us, and look at the clock on the other. It’s 7:15, I tell him. He’s forgotten that he didn’t get a chance to change his watch.
Still, he’d be up early at home too. And we might as well get up and going. There’s ground to cover today.
We’re headed up to Jackson Hole, WY. First step: back to the SLC airport to get our rental car. Then a stop to pick up the essentials we didn’t pack. A cooler. Water. Odds and ends forgotten.
We start up Rt 15 and miss our turn to 91, requiring a brief backtrack. We could go via 15, but the point is not to get there fast; it’s to see the country. So we sidetrack over through the mountains – when they’re remarked on, I remember that the stone formations that look like walls built into the mountain are called rimrock – to the pretty town of Logan and then pause, briefly changing so I can drive and Dad can look, Mom opting to take the back seat.
Winding along the Logan river, beautiful country. Up to Bear Lake Overlook. Gorgeous aquablue water on this beautiful day.
We stop in Garden City, right down by the lake, for the requisite raspberry shake. They just had their raspberry festival a few weeks ago, good timing. It turns out one of the best raspberry shakes in the area is at the Chevron food mart.
Well worth it.
This is just the extra that didn’t fit in our actual cups. DELICIOUS
We continue north through mountain valleys and little towns (including the aforementioned Paris, Idaho), past hoodoos, with the Salt River winding along with us.
And eventually, we meander into Jackson. We’re staying for two nights at the Huff House Inn and Cabins, in the Mount Moran cabin. Walkable to the center of Jackson Hole with its famous antler arches and Cowboy bar (with the saddle stools).
We stop in for dinner at Local, right on the town square, then pop into the occasional shop on our way back to the Inn. Which is lovely. And we settle in and get arranged and …
Well I can’t tell you any more than that. Because I went straight to sleep.
That is a direct quote from the most upbeat person ever. It’s not just me – travel IS often the worst part of traveling!
It’s our last day so we ease into the morning then go check out and have a kukui lei farewell ceremony from the hotel. Continue reading ““Planes are stupid””→
So, we had a plan for this free day. We would swim in the morning – plenty of time for suits to dry – then maybe go back into Lahaina and stroll around the afternoon.
The adventure for today is the big one – a sailing day to Lanai with snorkeling and snuba (firsts for us both).
We get there early- because if I’m not early I worry about being late – and have time to see the giant banyan tree and have a breakfast stop to ensure we’re settled for sailing. (Also both wearing our SeaBands, of course.) Continue reading “Adventures over and under the sea”→
It’s our free day – the only firm thing we have scheduled is the luau tonight. But we need our swimsuits dry for tomorrow so we spend just the morning on the beach. The waves are only rough at the water’s edge, at the shelf where the shore drops steeply off. There really is no wading today; we both swim. It’s so smooth and so clear that I know D would swim far far out if I didn’t wave her back – I’m afraid of what else swims even if she is convinced she’d see and escape first. NOPE. Continue reading “Here there be dragons (teeth)”→
The “big thing” for today is a helitour – her first – over Western Maui and Molokai.
We get there way too early but since we’ve got our bearings, we drive straight up into the island until the road gets narrow and winding (whoa-pa!) and D is almost starting to feel-less-than-good from it so we turn back. By the time we get back to check in for our flight she is feeling better and we’re ready to fly! Continue reading “Soaring”→
