Jackson Hole, Nat'l Parks & Camping

Archway of antlers in Jackson Hole

Yeeaaaahh Daddy! Thanks for making such a great fire!!

Bye-bye bison

Overlooking the Lower Falls and Yellowstone River

We woke up at 5 o'clock and left early Tuesday morning for Jackson Hole. This is a little town with the population of around 8,000 very similar to Cody. To get there we drove through Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and saw some beautiful scenery and bison along the way. Once in Jackson Hole we rested on a grassy area downtown while Samuel tried to play with chipmunks (video below). We walked around looking at different shops and ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant called, "The Merry Piglets." After getting some ice cream at Haagen Daus we ventured back toward Grand Teton National Park to find a camping spot for the night. We found a spot, set up the tent and Cody began to build a fire. That night we cooked hot dogs, popcorn and had smores. It rained that night while we slept in the tent, but thankfully everything stayed dry inside. The next morning while Cody was out praying he got to see a bald eagle! I thought it was pretty cool that he got to see it. Then we packed up everything and headed towards Yellowstone. On the way to our next stop we met a herd of bison along the road. This was quite an experience (to view video click here). I have never seen that many bison that close up in my life! My favorite scenic area was the Lower Falls along Yellowstone River. We walked down a very long trail to see a close up view of the Lower Falls (video below). Standing above the waterfall looking down was amazing! I was reminded of how small I am and how big God is.

After viewing the Lower Falls and making the trek back up the trail we were ready to start heading back home. Over the course of our trip we had been praying that we would see a bear (from a safe distance, of course). We were excited to see cars pulled over to the side of the road because that is an indication that something has been spotted. And guess what we saw....a bear!! It was at least 120 yards from the side of the road with a river between us, so we weren't able to get a picture. But we did watch it with our binoculars. It had found some food, which looked like possibly an elk or a deer. It was neat that over the course of those two days we saw a bald eagle, a herd of bison and a bear. Thank you Lord for your creation. How wondrous are the works of your hands.

Samuel and the Chipmunks!

Lower Falls

"But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength;

they shall mount up with wings like eagles.

They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."

Isaiah 40:31