Our day started super early yesterday morning in Teton Village. All of us were up by 5AM in order to meet our tour guide in downtown Jackson for an eco tour through the Grand Tetons. By 6AM, we were off in a van that had roof hatchways. Those are used so that you can view the wildlife from a distance without getting out of the car. Within about a half an hour, our tour guide Kelsey received a call on her walkie talkie saying that there was a large male moose on the Snake River. He was large and just moseyed along the side of the river looking for something to eat.
I felt incredibly lucky to have snapped at the right moment. With photography, you have to take about 200 photos in order to get “the one”. And, you have to have a lot of patience. You can’t force nature – which is what makes it so exciting.
Elk are very prominent in the park. We found a dirt road to go down and immediately found a pregnant mama elk just basking in the sun. I didn’t know that she was pregnant, but our guide did. Our guide, Kelsey, knew absolutely everything about the area. In fact, she’s traveled all over the world – tracking jaguars in Costa Rica, researching wolves in Idaho, backpacking through Europe, and lots of other places. And, she’s only 29! I asked the question “how did Jackson get founded?” and she must have explained the history for about a half an hour. I love people like this. They have such a passion to live every day to the fullest – and, she said something to me that hit the nail on the head: “People need to travel more. It gives you perspective on your life and how you relate to the world. I spend my money on experiences, not stuff at TJ Maxx that I won’t use next month.” So true! She could, very well, be my spirit animal. Below is a picture of the pregnant mama elk.
After this encounter, we came upon a bear jam with two grizzly bears foraging for food in the grasslands. There must have been at least 100 cars pulled over on the side of the road. Their photography equipment was super bad-ass and their lenses must have been 3-4 feet long! The below picture was taken by our tour guide. She definitely snapped at the right minute.
We stayed at the bear jam for about 20 minutes, then started to head back home, but not before we went down another dirt road to see some bison (no good pictures though) and some pronghorn sheep among the Grand Tetons.
Chase snapped the below pic at a stop along the way. The kids are both really interested in photography – and, they’re both really good!
We got back to Jackson a little after 10AM and the boys (Maura’s nephews) wanted to do something else. So, we headed up to a different section of the Grand Tetons and did a pretty easy hike up to Phelps Lake. It was only about 3.5 miles, but we enjoyed it tremendously, snapping pics of beavers and rodents (yes, they count too!)
After this, the boys still weren’t tired and wanted to go shopping in downtown Jackson. We hit a couple of shops, but they really hit the jackpot at the local Five and Dime General Store where they got some souvenirs and Carter bought some sweet gifts for his girlfriend. Carter also bought a brown cowboy hat and as were were walking along, he said “Auntie Mo, this cowboy hat is fire!” Apparently, in teenage lingo, that means cool. Jim said that he looked “fetch”. Jim wanted to get into the lingo action too. Oh my goodness.
We ended the night at a local brewery and had burgers and beer (Dr. Pepper for the boys).
We’re headed up to Yellowstone National Park this morning to spend the day. Excited to explore this beautiful country today!
Adventures With Jim And Maura 