Blame it on the Tetons

You didn't really think I was just going to post once today, did you?

Jigga, please. I haven't had internet access for three days. My bones were starting to shake.

So let's backtrack for a second here. I'll do my best to keep the pictures of roads and mountains to a minimum. (False.)

Two posts ago, Mom and I were about 20 minutes outside of Boulder, Colorado. We spent a day hiking around the famous flatirons and bickering about stupid things like whether or not we should sit inside or outside at dinner.

On Sunday, the arguments shifted to snippy commentary on each other's driving skills (and me bitching about the fact that mom drinks too much coffee and therefore has to stop and pee EVERY 20 minutes) as we struck out on a 9 hour drive to Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

But all cat-fighting subsided as soon as we started taking in the scenery.



There were "scattered thunderstorms" along the way, but the sky in these parts is so big, that you could see the rainclouds on one side of the road and beautiful rays of sun streaming in on the other.

Neither pictures nor words can capture the beauty of this part of America (only John Ford even comes close). You just have to go there. Make this drive. Your soul will thank you.


Around 5pm we hit the Tetons, by way of Grand Teton National Park. We arrived in those perfect hours of late afternoon, when the sunlight is soft and warm, and everything you see seems to beam in its glow. Again, pictures just don't do the trick, but that didn't stop us from snapping one at every overlook we came to.




We stayed the night in Jackson Hole, a lovely though tourist-ridden town just south of the park. Several westerns have been filmed here including my personal favorite--Shane, lauded for its sweeping cinematographic views of the Grand Teton Mountains and their surrounding valleys.We ate elk and salmon and huckleberry cobbler at the historic Wort Hotel, and I resisted the urge to snap pictures of my food in such a fancy restaurant (see, I can be classy when I try to be). I did, however, give in to my tourist urges and make Mom take a picture of me with a stuffed bison.


The next morning, we got up bright and early and drove back into Grand Teton NP, where we ate a huge breakfast at The Jackson Lake Lodge and enjoyed this view right outside our window.


Unfortunately, this was the point at which I tried to adjust the exposure on my crappy camera to account for the fact that we were taking a picture in front of a window and then promptly forgot to change it back to normal. Therefore, just about every picture I took in Yellowstone (where we headed next)turned out over-exposed. Awesome.

I'll post about Yellowstone soon, but for now, here's a long overdue song of the day: Modest Mouse, "Blame it on the Tetons."

Blame It On The Tetons - Modes...