Steve does not like crowds or parades or sitting around so the 4th of July is a dilemma for him -- even though Idaho Falls has a decent parade and a fabulous fireworks display. We have tried different things on different years, as you can imagine his favorite is camping. So this year we decided to go up to Grand Teton NP and then participate in some of the festivities in Jackson before coming home on the night of the 4th.
We left early in the morning so we could get a campsite at Jenny Lake. This campground is first come first serve and usually fills by 11 a.m. So we had no idea if we would get a spot on this holiday weekend. About 30 minutes into the drive Seth lost his breakfast. We decided to press on hoping that he got it all out of his system (so to speak). The problem is we still had 1 1/2 hrs of winding road to travel. Needless to say, we made more stops that we could count on our way to the campsite.
We arrived at Jenny Lake just in time to get one of the last maybe three campsites. We then went to the new visitors center which is fabulous and has a great film about the park. Then came the best part of the trip --String Lake! String Lake is a shallow lake just above Jenny Lake which is a popular place to swim. The water was a brisk around 55 degrees. It was fabulous! Of course, I thought this because as a pregnant woman I am my own portable heater. It was heaven to wade into that cool water. The water seemed to perk Seth up as well. We spent a fun couple of hours wading in the water. Steve, Abby and Caleb even swam out to some rocks, but for most of us it was too cold to swim.
We had a great night in the tent and luckily no bears came to investigate Seth's souvenirs around camp. Thankfully Seth was all better on Friday.
A funny side note, the kids invented a great game rolling rocks up the hill. It made me wonder why we spend so much money on toys.
The next day we decided to take it easy for my sake and Seth's, so we went to Hidden Falls. Hidden Falls is an interesting hike. You can ride the boat across Jenny Lake and then it is only a 1/2 mile hike to the falls. Because it is so short, you see all kinds of people wearing all kinds of outfits. I always want to laugh at the women who are wearing spaghetti straps and flimsy flip flops. The hike is only 1/2 mile but that is all up hill and rocky. The falls were huge this year with the extra snow melt. I included a video so you can hear it thunder.
We then headed into Jackson where we ran into a roadblock. Remember how Steve (and I) hate crowds? Jackson was stuffed full! Then we didn't have all the information we needed. We shopped a little, we are not shoppers, then went to the music festival. We were astonished to see the crowd. So we left to get dinner and figured we would catch the bus back to the festival and then to the fireworks. The only problem is we picked a bus stop that wasn't in use. So after 1/2 hr waiting for a bus that didn't ever arrive, we gave up on the music and headed to Snow King for the fireworks.
We found a wonderful seat for the fireworks -- because it was only 6:30! We sat in the park for the next three hours, did I mention Steve hates to wait around. He would NEVER do this in Idaho Falls!
The fireworks were amazing. We were sitting right beneath them. It was so loud that Hannah got scared, curled up in a ball and fell asleep! -- and wet her pants
When they ended we gathered up quickly and headed to the car. We had such a great parking place that it was still in the crowd of people. So we could only go one direction -- into the heart of town and the snarl of traffic. It took us about 45 minutes to get out of Jackson!
In the end, the trip was a success, but Steve and I have this desire to try it again. Just to see if we can do it smarter! -- I'm not sure if we really will--
2 comments:
Wow - that sounds like quite the adventure...you're a good woman to even think about trying that one again. ;) Just kidding! I hope you just had a great time in the end. We're all just making memories, right?! That is all that matters in the end. You're kids will look back at this trip and laugh and laugh about all the time you had to stop the car, etc. Good times!
good for you for pressing on. I think I would have turned around and gone home after the first throw up. Sounds like you had a great weekend despite a little waiting and throwing up. Hopefully no one else got/gets sick. We love those lakes and that national park.
Post a Comment