Day 20

Sunday – August 5

Straight east on I-86, then north on I-15 to Idaho Falls. Then east over the Snake River Range, through the Teton Valley, over the lower Tetons and into Jackson Hole. Nothing short of breathtaking. Found a parking space on the square in Jackson and set off for Billy’s Giant Burger, noted by Bill Clinton as having the best burgers he ever ate. The joint was jammed, busy and full of personality. The burgers were great. Next we got a bum steer on where to find the Silver Dollar Bar, where we saw the Diamonds perform 45 years ago, and rain began to fall. As we had no camping reservations at Yellowstone, we decided to head north on US 26-287 into the park. We stopped at a visitor’s center for some literature and Annie came across a phone number for same-day campsite reservations in Yellowstone. A few minutes later we were booked for two nights. What a relief!
The southern entrance into the park, though winding beautifully through lush green forests, was relatively uninteresting compared to what we were about to discover. Drove straight to the Old Faithful Inn but were unable to get dinner reservations for that night so we booked a table for Monday. On to our campground, a large open field, but our site was actually quite nice, off to the side bordering a pine thicket. If you looked in that direction you would think you were alone. The other way was a sea of RV’s and tents. Drove up to the lake area where we got chili from the fabulous Lake Hotel, a great 1920’s yellow structure with wonderful views over Jackson Lake, a string quartet playing in the Great Room, and a vintage yellow bus parked in the circle. I then got some cheese and wine from the general store and we returned to the campsite for our feast. Had a lovely fire using wood we bought in Brice Canyon and have been lugging around in the back seat since.