Monday, July 12, 2004
THE REST OF AUGUST 7TH.....AND AUGUST 8TH...
We ate dinner in the Burley City Park which was well kept and shady. We’ve been fortunate to find nice places to stop at noon. After lunch we got lost from each other going through town and had a few worried moments before re-grouping. It’s the first problem we’ve had staying together other than losing each other at Deadwood when we were just sight-seeing. I guess that isn’t so bad for three vehicles trying to stay in sight of each other over these many miles.
From Burley up to Pocatello and on to Idaho Falls was mostly on major highways and through rolling, irrigated farm lands. The Snake River is on the left of us and bare, sloping mountains on the far right. It isn’t so hot traveling today but is still very dry. We saw our first bad wreck of the trip at Massacre Rocks…a small trailer had been badly hit and belongings scattered all over the highway. We found out later no one was injured so we were glad of that.
We stayed at Idaho Falls in a camping area that provided many benefits we were in need of. We spent the evening washing clothes, washing our hair, bathing and getting organized in our campers. We felt like we had joined the human race again. It cooled off quite a bit during the night but made for good sleeping. (Note: When I read over the notes describing the campgrounds we stayed in I am amazed to think how little they provided for creature comforts….as well as how few there were and hard to find. We normally stopped wherever we found one because it might be another hundred miles before you’d see another.)
August 8th Tuesday
Very cool this morning but by the time we had hash browns, bacon, eggs and hot coffee we were warmed up good. We took time to straighten the car and get ice…fresh groceries and supplies…then head for the Tetons. Mom, aunt Beulah and I tried desperately to get our charm for our bracelets before we crossed the border into Wyoming but no luck. Becky was the only one to have one purchased in Idaho. Ours would just have to come from Wyoming.
We soon left the farm country and got back into the mountains although they are still heavily vegetated. We got our first glimpse of the Grand Tetons as we came over Pine Creek Pass, near Victor. They look as if they will resemble the Glacier’s quite a bit but are still quite a distance from us. By noon we were climbing the Teton Pass (elevation 8,429 feet) which is one of steepest to climb that we’ve been over except for Glacier. Once we reached the summit we were treated to a spectacular view of the Teton’s at close range. At the bottom of the pass-we can see Jackson Hole and it is easy to see why the town in so named. We had a few scary hairpin curves on the way down but enjoyed the largest solid patches of wild flowers that we’ve seen in any one area. The pines here are very large and greenish-black. We finally had to stop on the way down because it was so steep the brakes got hot. This happened before at the Black Hills but we were able to get down before they got too bad.
We went on to Jackson Hole where we ate lunch in a tiny park right in the middle of town. We were amazed at the large number of antlers stacked up at each rock arch and were told they were just “found” out in the hills, they weren’t from kills. That eased my mind considerably. This is the busiest “tourist” town we’ve seen so far on the trip. The town caters to visitors and has every Western gimmick imaginable to lure them in. The kids and mom, aunt Beulah and I spent a couple of hours shopping for souvenirs and found our Idaho and Wyoming charms. Prices were in the high range so it reduced our “shopping” to “window shopping” mostly. Mom and I especially enjoyed a book store and bought a couple to add to our libraries of the trip. The men were having a bad time holding a parking place so we went back to the cars and on to Jenny Lake and Jackson Lake. The Tetons made a beautiful back-drop and were indescribably majestic.
The only disappointing thing to us was the heavy tourist traffic we ran into which made it hard to “see” as we’d have liked. We had to hurry on to the Pilgrim Creek Overflow Campground as everything else was full. We found a spot, had a good hot supper and turned in early because it was so cool…..
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
From Burley up to Pocatello and on to Idaho Falls was mostly on major highways and through rolling, irrigated farm lands. The Snake River is on the left of us and bare, sloping mountains on the far right. It isn’t so hot traveling today but is still very dry. We saw our first bad wreck of the trip at Massacre Rocks…a small trailer had been badly hit and belongings scattered all over the highway. We found out later no one was injured so we were glad of that.
We stayed at Idaho Falls in a camping area that provided many benefits we were in need of. We spent the evening washing clothes, washing our hair, bathing and getting organized in our campers. We felt like we had joined the human race again. It cooled off quite a bit during the night but made for good sleeping. (Note: When I read over the notes describing the campgrounds we stayed in I am amazed to think how little they provided for creature comforts….as well as how few there were and hard to find. We normally stopped wherever we found one because it might be another hundred miles before you’d see another.)
August 8th Tuesday
Very cool this morning but by the time we had hash browns, bacon, eggs and hot coffee we were warmed up good. We took time to straighten the car and get ice…fresh groceries and supplies…then head for the Tetons. Mom, aunt Beulah and I tried desperately to get our charm for our bracelets before we crossed the border into Wyoming but no luck. Becky was the only one to have one purchased in Idaho. Ours would just have to come from Wyoming.
We soon left the farm country and got back into the mountains although they are still heavily vegetated. We got our first glimpse of the Grand Tetons as we came over Pine Creek Pass, near Victor. They look as if they will resemble the Glacier’s quite a bit but are still quite a distance from us. By noon we were climbing the Teton Pass (elevation 8,429 feet) which is one of steepest to climb that we’ve been over except for Glacier. Once we reached the summit we were treated to a spectacular view of the Teton’s at close range. At the bottom of the pass-we can see Jackson Hole and it is easy to see why the town in so named. We had a few scary hairpin curves on the way down but enjoyed the largest solid patches of wild flowers that we’ve seen in any one area. The pines here are very large and greenish-black. We finally had to stop on the way down because it was so steep the brakes got hot. This happened before at the Black Hills but we were able to get down before they got too bad.
We went on to Jackson Hole where we ate lunch in a tiny park right in the middle of town. We were amazed at the large number of antlers stacked up at each rock arch and were told they were just “found” out in the hills, they weren’t from kills. That eased my mind considerably. This is the busiest “tourist” town we’ve seen so far on the trip. The town caters to visitors and has every Western gimmick imaginable to lure them in. The kids and mom, aunt Beulah and I spent a couple of hours shopping for souvenirs and found our Idaho and Wyoming charms. Prices were in the high range so it reduced our “shopping” to “window shopping” mostly. Mom and I especially enjoyed a book store and bought a couple to add to our libraries of the trip. The men were having a bad time holding a parking place so we went back to the cars and on to Jenny Lake and Jackson Lake. The Tetons made a beautiful back-drop and were indescribably majestic.
The only disappointing thing to us was the heavy tourist traffic we ran into which made it hard to “see” as we’d have liked. We had to hurry on to the Pilgrim Creek Overflow Campground as everything else was full. We found a spot, had a good hot supper and turned in early because it was so cool…..
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
