Grand Teton National Park with the WHOLE Famly!

Phaedra coming to you from the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

This place is so fantastic and unusual. Zoe and I couldn’t believe it when we drove through Jackson Hole and saw big herds of bison. There were babies, big mamas, and huge papa bulls. They were hanging out on the flatlands, and in the background there were snow-covered, beautiful mountains.

I heard that the names of the main mountains are the Grand Teton, Middle Teton, and the Little Teton, plus Mt. Moran. Did you know that when the Tetons were first seen by French Traders, they called them Les Trois Tetons? (That means, The Three Breasts, in case you want to know!) Zoe and I wanted to climb the biggest, which is Grand Teton. It’s 13,000+ feet high, and the folks thought they wouldn’t be able to make it. We could have, though! The folks took a boat over to the other side of the lake so that they could hike up to some falls. They didn’t make it up to the top of the mountains, though.

Our campsite was just a few steps from Jackson Lake. We tried to go swimming, but Mom wouldn’t let us. She said we’d smell like wet dogs if we got in. What’d she expect? We sneaked in as deep as we could, though. It was freezing! The mountains look really close from our lake – maybe I could swim to them. Who knows?

Each day, we got to go for a ride through the park looking for animals. I don’t know why they wanted to see anyone other than us. I guess since the first animal they saw was a grizzly bear, they thought they were on a winning streak. I guess they were, too. They saw black bears, pronghorn, a golden eagle, buffaloes butting heads, moose, beavers and river otters, coyotes, and of course, the grizzly I told you about. We got to see lots of them, too. That is when we weren’t asleep in the back of the truck. Girls need beauty rest, you know.

Did you know that we had company when we were in the Tetons? Parker came to visit with her parents. The folks were worried that they wouldn’t be able to show them animals. The first night they rode over to Jackson Lake Lodge and right before they got there, a grizzly bear was right beside the road. Down at Oxbow Bend, they watched a family of River Otters fishing then running on the riverbank. Then returning to the cabin they stayed in, a black bear crossed in front of the car. They were hooked! The next day all of them saw moose, elk, bear, and buffaloes, too. Plus Zoe and me - when they came to the camper for dinner! Zoe made Parker throw her ball a hundred times. Parker tried to hide it from Zoe, but Zoe found it every time!

I was upset when Mom and Papa got to go on a cruise on Jackson Lake. Sure, I know it was a Father’s Day treat for Papa, but I sure would have liked to take a cruise on that lake!

We are heading to Yellowstone soon. Zoe will tell you all about that when we spend some time there.

Toodles for now.

Phaedra

Beavers, badgers and bears, oh my!!!!!

Zoe here from Rocky Mountain National Park for week 2…

Phaedra was not the only lucky one here in Estes Park. We saw tons and tons of different animals. Everywhere you turn there are elk! I even heard Papa say, “Oh, that’s just an elk.” He wouldn’t be saying that if this were downtown Chapel Hill!

Week 2 at RMNP was much colder than last week. It hailed at the camper one day.Some days it was in the low 50s during the day and mid 30s at night. I love to snuggle under the covers on the bed. Papa gets really mad when I stick my feet into his face. I don’t understand why he minds it so much.

Last night it snowed everywhere above 9,000 feet. Trail Ridge Road was actually closed due to the weather. The whole state was hit with flash floods, tornados and hail warnings. One town nearby had six-inch diameter hail and 5 inches of hail covered the countryside. Wish we could have played in it. Maybe we could have made a hail-man.

We did have lots of excitement when Mom and Dad saw 2 nests of baby owls. The owls are Great Horned Owls and they are really BIG! The folks learned from a local photographer that for the past 3 years, owls from this nest had fledged on June 11^th. They watched this nest for 5 days and on June 11^th the owlettes were gone from the nest. They did see one of them nearby but all alone for the next couple of days. They were sad and glad at the same time to see them grow up.

They also saw a family of badgers. Dad was able to see them out of the corner of his eye while we were all driving. I think they are mean so I wouldn’t want to chase them. Papa was also lucky to see a coyote right across the street from their favorite place, Coffee on the Rocks. Without Mom there, he wasn’t able to get a picture of the coyote. Mom told him that he had to turn the camera on before it would focus or take a picture. Poor Dad!!!!

The coolest place we all found was a beaver pond just outside of the park. We went there 5 different evenings to see them. They come out at night since they are nocturnal, you know. We were told that 7 beavers live in the ponds, but we only saw four at a time. We watched them swimming, eating from the bank, peeling bark and climbing from one pond to another. It was really fantastic. A local told us that when they finally downed the aspen tree in our pictures, everyone in the area lost power because it fell on the electrical wires that run right by the ponds. That would have been really fun to see!

We had a great walk around Bear Lake, too. There weren’t too many people and this nice Ranger Girl took our pictures and really liked us – me the best, of course. The first time we tried to hike there was too much snow. Then it got hot up on the mountain and lots of it melted. Maybe that’s why the Big Thompson River flooded in Estes Park. Hmmm! Maybe so.

RMNP is really a great place. Mom & Dad have never seen so many different animals in the previous visits and guess what - we get to come back in the end of August!

Well, in cowboy vernacular, I’m all played out tonight so I’d best skedaddle!

Zoe

Gateway to the Rocky Mountains

Phaedra here…………

Zoe and I must be in heaven. Mom and Dad call it Rocky Mountain National Park, but we know it as the land of elk poop. Everywhere we walk there IT is for the taking. Yum! Yum!


We got to heaven on June 1st and went for a ride late that afternoon. Just 2 miles outside the park, Dad saw some people parked and there they were, six male bighorn sheep. Mom and Dad have been to this park 4 other times looking daily for sheep, never seeing one. They were both so excited, and we were with them!



Not to be outdone, the next day we all went for another drive and saw 2 black bears. They were actually brownish in color but were really black bears. What a start to RMNP!!!!!!

This park is spread out, so we were able to travel a lot with them. We were there when they saw at least 11 more sheep, one was a ewe and 2 were yearlings.

The best time we had on Week One was driving over Trail Ridge Road, which had just opened May 28. Snow on the road was higher than the Winnebago in front of us! We were able to play in the snow even though it was only 44 degrees. The visitor center at the top was still almost totally covered with snow.

We really don’t like the drive itself with all the twists and turns, but the western side has most of the moose because it is much wetter. We were not disappointed when Dad saw a moose eating at a tree just off the road. A second one was nearby. Were they ever happy!!!

Our first weekend here was relaxing. We did not spend much time in the park because it was free weekend and lots of people visited the park. We do have another week to go, but Zoe will have a hard time beating my week.

By the way, you know how Papa and Mama love coffee, right? Well, they have another favorite coffee shop: Coffee on the Rocks. It is right on the Big Thompson River and has a little pond of its own plus bagels and good coffee. There is even a water dish and a long line for dogs to use. We haven’t been invited there yet, but we are hoping for the best.

Great summer to all y’all.

Phaedra