We had breakfast in the dining room at the Yellowstone Lake Hotel and boarded the bus in a slight drizzle and a cool 48 degrees. We journeyed along the west side of Yellowstone Lake down toward West Thumb. On the way Marilyn handed out the airport shuttle schedules from Park City to Salt Lake City on Saturday. Some of the folks were not very happy–having to leave at 4:30 am for a 10:20 flight. Ouch! We stopped at West Thumb for a pit stop and to walk the boardwalk around the geyser basin. Just as we left the area a pretty good rain set in for a thirty mile drive to the Grand Teton National Park. Along the way we crossed the Continental Divide.

We watched a video on the Grand Tetons as we headed south. Shortly after leaving Yellowstone Park, we made a pit stop at the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway and we then headed on south into the Grand Teton National Park. We stopped at Colter Bay for a nice view of Mt. Moran and a couple of beavers, and we took a soup and salad lunch at the cafeteria.

Further on, we made a quick stop at the Jackson Lake Lodge built by Nelson Rockefeller. The lodge is famous for its impressively large windows offering magnificent views of Mt. Moran and the rest of the Tetons. Continuing along the Snake River we crossed Jackson Lake Dam and made photo stops at several turn-outs, including one at Jenny Lake – beautiful! We also stopped at the Episcopal Chapel of the Transfiguration.

We then drove on into Jackson WY, where we spent about an hour wandering around the town square. Jackson reminded me of a western Gatlinburg, not at all what we remembered from our winter-time visit here maybe fifteen years ago. We then checked into the Snow King Hotel. Only a couple of the group
took a shuttle back into town; most of us ate dinner at the hotel restaurant anticipating the very early departure the next morning.