Jackson, WY with Buz and Charlotte

We spent Labor Day weekend (also our 1st wedding anniversary!) visiting Buz (Jay's father) and Charlotte in Jackson, WY. Jay has been out to visit them a lot, but this was only my second time in Jackson and my first time visiting in the summer. Just the flight into Jackson is enough to get you really excited about your visit. We took off from Seattle with fantastic views of every volcano you could imagine. We flew right over Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Adams and had views of the volcanoes in Oregon too! Landing in Jackson was just as clear - the Tetons were right next to the plane and we were lucky to be sitting on the best side of the plane for the view.

Mt. Adams (snow) and Mt. St. Helens (top right, no snow)

Buz had planned a busy and fun schedule for our visit, complete with a slot when I was supposed to tell them about my new job and Antarctic trip. Pretty cute. =) But we started with a simple lunch, a drive to get some excellent views of bison in Grand Teton NP, and a drive around Jackson.

Our first full day was loaded with two shorter hikes near Wilson, WY and another in Grand Teton NP. After spending the day outside, we grabbed some burritos in town and headed to the rodeo. Can you believe I went to a rodeo? Well, I had been to a rodeo before when I was in middle school (?) in the Adirondacks of NY. But it had been a while. There is a lot of goofy stuff that goes on at rodeos, and a lot of seriously dangerous stuff too. I guess that is why people like to watch them. Jay took a ton of great photos.... it was fun to mess with our new SLR in the challenging conditions of low light and fast moving people.

Jay and Buz relax after walking up hill for a bit....

Some kind of thistle in Grand Teton NP

Buz took a nap in the afternoon before the rodeo. But naps don't work well for me in an exciting new place. So Charlotte, Jay, and I hiked up to Phelps Lake in Grand Teton NP. The flowers were pretty much past their time, but the pretty thistle (? see photo above) was still providing a ton of color for us to check out along the trail. At the top of the trail we ran into a family visiting the park from Boston. Small world.

For our wedding anniversary Buz and Charlotte treated us to a long day in Yellowstone National Park. I can't believe I had never visited our nation's first national park until now! One day would never ever be enough, I knew this before going. But one day is better than no day. Maybe someday Jay and I will return and go for a backpacking trip and really take in the park. It was awesome to see the results of the 88' forest fires. And the results are great! Lots of new growth, the forest is doing what it evolved to do. Neat stuff. Anyway - this park blew me away from my tiny and short glimpse of the landscape. Super funky, gorgeous, and colorful!

West Thumb Geyser Basin - Yellowstone

Grand Prismatic Spring - Yellowstone

The day after we visited Yellowstone we went to spend some time in Grand Teton NP. Buz and Charlotte had other stuff to do this day, so we hit the trail on our own. The views were crappy and the weather sucked. See below.

We saw a pika! Damn cute.

We left Jackson on Tuesday after a short hike in the morning and a drive into Idaho (it is cheaper to fly out of Idaho Falls than Jackson). Charlotte had a treat in store for us on our way to Idaho Falls though. We stopped at a wildlife sanctuary called the Earthfire Institute. Charlotte knows the wonderful couple that runs the sanctuary and they took us on a tour to meet all the wildlife. And boy, did we meet some amazing animals. We got to pet a wolf named "Little White Girl" (she was totally white) and we hung out with "Shy Boy" but he was too shy to come super close to us. They have brown bears and one big boy, Teton, exhaled onto my hand (through his enclosure). Talk about hot air, it was awesome. I think my favorite was meeting Windwalker, the cougar. He purred and he was giant. This was a real treat!

Gorgeous animals!

My toes get a sniff from a wolf named Little White Girl