Suzanne's Blog: Day 11 - Grand Teton National Park

Our first stop this morning was Dubois, Wyoming for breakfast at the Cowboy Cafe. Yum! My dad had eaten there several times before but we had no idea what to expect. It was wonderful! I had an omelet filled with veggies, cheese, and smoked buffalo sausage and covered with green chili, and I gave Margo my toast in exchange for her spicy elk sausage. (You've got to love being able to swap toast for sausage and then both think you got the better part of the deal!) I knew after breakfast that I was not going to need to eat lunch but it was worth it. From there it was on to Moran Junction and the north entrance to Grand Teton National Park. Along the way we saw a number of gorgeous buttes and layered rock formations, but when we rounded a bend and the Grand Tetons came into view, we both said "Whoa!" As we got closer, we stopped at a pull off next to the Snake River so we could take some pictures and then entered the park and aimed for Colter Bay Visitor Center, named for John Colter, one of the first white explorers to set eyes on the Tetons. We got a good view of the mountains and Jackson Lake from there, and inside the visitor center saw all of the different types of horns and antlers from the area wildlife. I asked the cashier in the gift shop how many people they were expecting next Monday for the eclipse and she said, "Oh, a million?" It would normally be her day off but everyone has to work at least a 4 hour shift on Monday to help deal with the expected crowds, since GTNP is smack in the middle of the path of totality.

From Colter Bay we went south to Jenny Lake and got a better view of the southern peaks. There were lots of signs to watch out for wildlife - deer, elk, moose, bears, cougars - but we didn't see any. We continued south past the elk reserve (they were all hiding somewhere else) and parked at the visitor center in Jackson so we could check out the town and get some ice cream (lunch). Jackson is a very upscale town - kind of like Aspen North, or maybe Aspen is Jackson South. There was a Sotheby's and many pricey art galleries and stores, as well as outdoor outfitters and such. We found some ice cream at Moo's Gourmet and did a little shopping before heading out to go over Teton Pass and down into Victor, ID for the night. Teton Pass was an experience - it's a 10% grade going up and down with lots of looping curves. We got down the other side and into Victor and found our motel, at which point Margo got off the bike and said "What's this?" and picked up my CB antenna from behind the bike, which had obviously been dragging on the ground for at least a little while. I looked to see how it came off and realized that I had lost my license plate too! Both had been bolted to the back of the bike together. Crap! Margo and I went back out and retraced our steps for several miles but we couldn't find it, and I was not going back over Teton Pass twice just to look for it. I ordered a new one from the MVA and made a temporary plate out of cardboard, and Margo schmoozed our waitress at dinner (who happened to be from Annapolis originally) for some plastic wrap so we could weather-proof it, and we'll pick up some hardware in the morning to mount it. Oh well! Like Margo always tells me, "if nothing ever went wrong, you wouldn't have any good stories to tell!"