Jackson Hole and on to Yellowstone
We tried the nature drive again, and this time three buffalo decided to cross the road right in front of the car! Pretty cool! Those dudes go anywhere they want to, no questions asked!
We drove into Jackson, camper in tow and full of the wood we didn't get to burn last night. John told us we couldn't take anything out of the national park, but we told him we were just taking it to another national park and would burn it and not be taking it home. Ward had worked so hard to gather it, we couldn't bear to leave it behind and since collecting wood in each of the parks for fires was allowed, we did. In Jackson we shopped for groceries for the next four days and bought ice. We also shopped for long pants for Ward. He had managed to rip the seat out of one of the pairs that he had. Eric was unable to find an internet connection, even at the same Albertson's that worked fine last night, but did use a lot of gas driving around the parking lot trying for a better signal. Below is a picture of one of four arches to the town square/park made of elk and moose antlers.
We decided to check out a place that we had driven by earlier, the National Museum of Wildlife Art. It proved to be very enjoyable time. There was a kids' area with art supplies, dress-up clothes (all animal costumes), and story books in a reading area. Ward & John chose to spend most of their time there with Eric sitting with them. Eric says it seemed like hours. After the rest of us had gone through the various galleries, I went back & took the little boys through pretty quickly and allowed Eric to go through. The museum had a buffalo room with a buffalo skin rug on the floor that the little guys enjoyed lying on, also a display case that showed a good many tools that Indians had made from buffalo, bone, hide, & sinew. In another room, there was a lounge with a telescope and a huge picture window facing the mountains. Both of these rooms were hits with the little boys. We saw works by such artists as George Catlin, John Clymer (his studio had been lovingly reproduced by family members in one room), Alexander Pope, Carl Rungius, Thomas Moran (Moran Peak in the Tetons is named after him), and Bierstadt. Then there was the Audubon room (prints of John James) and the Warhol room (large colorful paintings all of endangered species). An amazing collection!
The last stop of the day was at the last ranger station of the Tetons, Colter Bay, so Ward could finish his junior naturalist badge that he had been working on. There was another art museum there--a museum of Indian art. It was from tribes all over the U.S. and included a model of a furnished teepee. It was sort of a plexiglass teepee furnished as if ready for comfortable living that you could peer into. We enjoyed looking at their collection of beaded moccasins and many other items--war items, drums, clothing, etc. There were also some Indian artists working--two ladies making beaded jewelry and a painter doing landscapes. The boys went through pretty quickly. Ward needed to attend another ranger-led program, but no others were scheduled because it was late in the day, so the ranger on duty agreed to give him credit if he would view the film on wolves that they were playing. Eric & I took turns watching it with him (turns so we could keep John happy who didn't want to see so many animals get eaten! He wanted to go play in the gift shop, always a favorite activity of his throughout the vacation.) It was a good film, and Ward got a cool patch with a moose on it for completing the junior naturalist booklet.
We drove on up to Yellowstone and since our campsite location required us to drive past the entrance to Old Faithful, decided to stop and check on when it would next erupt. We got there a little before eight o'clock. We were getting pretty hungry because we had had a "snacky" day, but decided to stay for it. All the kids were stir-crazy and provided entertainment to others in the waiting crowd. Eric found former Philmonters to talk to (as always) and I called Mema. Cell phone coverage is pretty erratic, but had the full five bars there close to the lodge, but again, no WiFi. The geyser finally did blow at 8:28, and we went to the campsite and set up and ate warmed-up leftovers plus salad.
Rain blew in just as it was time to start the campfire--lots of thunder and lightning. Once again Ward was disappointed. Oh well, maybe it will be dry one of the other 3 nights we will spend here.
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