Oh give me a home….

….where the buffalo roam, and the deer and the antelope play. Where seldom is heard a discouraging word, and the skies are not cloudy all day.

Sing it with me!

Any guesses where we headed next? We followed two rules when we picked our next stop:

Any object traveling in one direction, will continue, by default, in that direction until another force is exerted on it, altering its path.
Drive 10-11 hours from where we are now

Because of the first rule, we continued in a general westerly direction. Because of the second rule, we stopped after 11 hrs, ending us up on the western edge of Wyoming: the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Park.

I will definitely be coming back here to spend some quality time. It’s only 2 long days of driving from Indiana. That’s nothing! Who’s in for some intense backpacking and/or hiking and/or camping? I could be talked into returning as soon as this fall. Think about it 🙂

Anyway! Beautiful, no? These are the Tetons. I think I liked this park better than Yellowstone.

We stopped at a pull-off just inside the park for a photo op. Very soon after, we got to our campground and set up camp. We hadn’t been there more than a few minutes, and a camp host came by to welcome us and warn us that they had had a grizzly bear wander through the campground that morning. As such, we should be very careful with our food. Cara and I were thrilled! A chance to see a real, live bear?! Yes, please!

We staked our claim on the site by setting up our tent, and then promptly headed down to the lake.

Very Lewis and Clark. Later that evening, Cara and I went for a swim in the lake. So cold, but SO clear and beautiful. Nothing better than an evening swim in a mountain lake. Added bonus: clean(er) hair!

Returning to our campsite, this is what we found. Oops. That’s why they make tent stakes. My bad.

Thankfully, no tents, bears, or humans were injured in this incident.

We made dinner. The best, easiest travel meal ever invented. Tasty, nutritious. Perfect.

After dark, we (like any good campers) attempted to make fire. After all, fire is a necessary element to survival. For awhile, it looked very promising. Things were going well; our logs appeared to be burning, and we were very content, happy campers. Literally.

And then, the fire started to die. We blame the wet wood that we bought at the camp store. After a valiant fight, we decided to give up. We bear proofed our camp site, and turned in for the night.

Cara and I woke up at the crack of dawn to go see the sunrise. SO COLD! Can you tell? We’re freezing. I think my toes might have gotten a bit frost bitten.

After packing up the car, we headed north. Yellowstone! Our main attractions here were Old Faithful and the bear and bison.