Back from Vacation
In 7 days:
Badlands
Black Hills (incl. Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse)
Eastern Montana
Beartooth Pass (a road climbing up to 11,000 feet – a scenicly terrifying way to get into Yellowstone)
Yellowstone
Sleeping outside under the stars (no tent, long story)
More Yellowstone
Eastern bits of Idaho (incl. Victor, ID which is on the west side of the Tetons)
Jackson Hole, WY
Grand Tetons Park
Yet more Yellowstone
Return to Eastern Montana
Back through South Dakota and terrifying but brilliant storms.
Home.
I love mountains and the west. I haven’t been out west since 99 and really forgot how much I love the fresh smell of pine forests. I even enjoyed our second night of camping that actually involved sleeping in a tent.
If you’re ever in the mood to go visit the Grand Tetons and Jackson Hole, but find the facilities in the immediate vicinity to be extortionate, cross the Tetons into Idaho and spend the night in Victor, ID. Great view, great prices, starry skies.
So now we’re back and I want to go back again and again. I can’t believe I stayed away so long.
Of course, there are vast forests in the west and we’ll have to hit all those sites, too, but I think the Yellowstone/Teton area is some place you could visit again and again and always find something new to see and appreciate.
I'm jealous
I definitely want to see Yellowstone again. I was 7 the last time, and most of Yellowstone was on fire. I believe we went in the east side and were forced to exit the west side instead of the south side. That extended our vacation a little. I still remember seeing lots of cool stuff, and I was kind of in awe of the big fire. I remember seeing a moose, and I also distinctly remember a road with lots of single car pull outs over a cliff, where my dad liked to stop quickly and scare the crap out of my mom. And we were in a 2 door Blazer… ah, memories.