Tetons - Day 1

I've been thinking about how to split up blog posts from our wonderful summer vacation, a week long trip to Teton National Park. Not every day will get a full post, but since our first day there was so special and everything was new, it shall get an entire post to itself.

We arrived at Grand Teton National Park last Saturday afternoon. The first day was spent driving, seeing the Visitor Center and checking into our lovely little cabin near the river where we'd be staying for our entire trip. The cabin was divine, two little rooms (James had his own bunk-bed room!), and a little living area with a kitchen and couch. Plus there was a private patio with a grill, table and fire pit. The cabin was located only about a two minute walk from the huge Snake River so we spent a lot of time that first day just grilling and chillin'.

But the second day we woke up ready for adventure. Having your own kitchen is a huge money saver. We made our own lunches daily and packed them and ate every single breakfast there as well. Lots of money and time saved by not needing to do a restaurant every meal.

The drive from our cabin into the park took quite some time (45 minutes most days) but the kids were troopers. Two iPads loaded with games really helps too. ;)

The first day consisted of a three mile round trip hike to Leigh Lake. The hike was stunning. Probably one of my favorite hikes I've ever been on. The trail followed another beautiful Teton lake the entire way and the blue/dark green/turquoise water was so crystal clear you could spot every single fish.

Plus, everywhere you looked the Tetons dominated the scenery. It was intense and amazing.

Our two little hikers did pretty well. James loves to hike and did the entire hike without a complaint and without removing his gloves. Juliet fussed in the backpack the entire hike in, but then hiked herself the entire hike back saying "Me love hiking! Such a beautiful day! This is so fun!"

Near the end of String Lake the lake morphs into a river connecting it to the next lake. There we were lucky enough to see a beautiful doe cross the stream. She went slowly and carefully finally emerging only feet from where we were standing. There she stood, quiet and at peace. She and James looked at each other for a long moment, and for the rest of the trip James talked about the beautiful deer "looking right into [his] eyes."

The forest was incredible.

So many wildflowers.

This was the view the entire hike. We stopped dozens of times for photos. The water looked like the Caribbean!

Finally at Leigh Lake James asked to jump in. We always agree to such wonderful requests and in he went, in nothing but his undies.

In he went! Not once but twice. That water was cold!

E and Juliet spotted tiny frogs along the bank. Do you see him?

STUNNING. This is what dreams are made of.

Once James immerged from the freezing water (only 60 degrees!) he removed his underwear so he could put on his dry shorts. Juliet thought it was hilarious to throw the wet dirty undies at me and did it again and again. Her huge smiles were worth the wet undies on my head.

We stayed on our little beach for a long time. Eating lunch, playing with the kids, throwing rocks, exploring, catching frogs, getting undies thrown on our faces. Finally when it was time to pack up everyone felt very happy and fortunate to spend the entire day in the outdoors.

And upon returning to the car the kids begged to go into the more shallow String Lake that we had been hiking along. We couldn't say no, each of them had been amazing all day and really, how often do you get to swim in this?

So back into the undies and in they went! Oh they had fun!

After some quiet time in our cabin (James slept, Juliet didn't), we headed to Jackson Hole for dinner. We remembered this darling Mexican restaurant from the first time we were in Jackson, and it didn't disappoint. 

Even with two skipped naps (the day before and this day), this girl was in the happiest of moods!

Jackson is a town exactly 100 years old. It's historic past is present on every street and the darling downtown is not to be missed.

And, since we were on vacation we decided on ice cream after dinner. We walked over to the park to eat our cones and ended up continuing the tradition almost every night of our trip. Ice cream and playing hide-and-seek in the park is the best way to end a spectacular vacation day.

And oh what a day it was.