We didn't give ourselves much time to spend in
Grand Teton NP, so we got up early again. Our plan was to drive to the southern end of the park and work our way north back towards our campground, then spend the evening packing up. We weren't more than two miles south of our campground before entering GTNP before we saw a couple of cars pulled over in the early morning fog. Paul pulled over and we started scanning the hillside. Bear! Right near the road, sauntering through the brush was a scruffy-looking Black Bear. Paul had been hoping to spot a bear the whole time we were in Yellowstone, and had conceded that maybe we wouldn't see a bear this trip, and here was one and we didn't even need our binoculars to see this one. He walked along the road for a bit, then started down a gully and back up the hillside and was gone behind the trees. That was a great start to the day!
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| Good Morning Mr. Bear! |
We continued to drive south, but unfortunately with the fog, you couldn't really see the mountains. We hoped it would clear soon. At the very south end of the park, we stopped at the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center, which looked fairly new. It had some great exhibits and was virtually empty when we arrived. Lucia had fun with the dioramas and we watched a video about the Tetons. Luckily we were ready to leave around the time that a large group of seniors with southern accents descended upon the gift store and bathrooms.
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| Mt. Moran in the morning |
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| The only moose we saw on this trip |
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| Craig Thomas Discovery Center |
We had planned to stop at Jenny Lake for lunch. It was really busy, and we had to park far away. We stopped at the visitor center to check things out and that is when the Grant Meltdown started. Lucia was running all over the place, and not listening to us. She kept hiding in the clothing racks, and generally disturbing the other people in the area. When Paul scolded her and she hit him, he took her outside for a time out. Even with the time out, we could tell that Lucia was not going to cooperate. We decided that it was too crowded, and we would move on and maybe find a quieter picnic spot. We got in the car and Lucia was now mad that we were getting back in the car. Can you blame her? She has been in the car all day every day for almost a week now. Paul and I were feeling slightly guilty. Then in her frustration she threw her water bottle from her cup holder onto the floor. I picked it up and put it in the front seat with me. She wanted it back and told us so with her screaming. I told her she needed to ask nicely and she could have it back. Then, she lost it. For the next 30 minutes she screamed "I want my water cup!" Over and over and over. She was beyond reason. She finally fell asleep and we made the decision to just drive back to camp. We got to the cabin, rolled the windows down in the car and let her sleep a little while longer. When she woke up, she remembered exactly what she was mad about, and resumed her screaming. Paul was over at the main office and I was running out of ideas to get her to calm down. Paul walked in, and asked her to say, "Please can I have my water cup" calmly. And she said it. We were all fine after that, but we let her just chill out in the cabin and read books while Paul and I packed our things. Hopefully we can go back to the Tetons when the kids are older and actually do some hiking around. Tomorrow is a new day.
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| The Grand Tetons |
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| The Grand Meltdown |
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