Our decision to travel during the pandemic was not made lightly. We live in the COVID-19 hotbed of Yakima County, and even though we were all healthy to begin with, we did our best to protect others from any potential plague-y-ness clinging to our Yakima-aura. For the two weeks prior to our departure, we self-quarantined, (grocery delivery and all). Even poor Ian next door was excluded from our quaran-bubble. After the two weeks, we were able to leave home without worrying (too much) that we were contributing to the spread of the pandemic.
At the end of our quarantine safety net, the five of us loaded up our trusty minivan and embarked on a road trip towards Denver and family. I say towards Denver because we planned to enjoy the journey for once instead of torturing ourselves with a mercenary 18 hour nonstop drive on I-80. We tried that last time and it was brutal. This version of the drive to Denver involved finally seeing the good parts of Wyoming. I finally grasped the why of Wyoming! Lesson learned: don't judge a state by its interstate corridor.
Our outbound journey was done in three parts:
- Part 1, day 1: drive 10 hours to Victor, Idaho and stay in a hotel overnight.
- Part 2, day 2: drive an hour from Victor to Grand Teton National Park and hike half the day away.
- Part 3, still day 2: leave the Tetons at lunchtime on day two and drive the remaining 8 hours to Denver.
Breaking up the drive felt luxurious. Stopping for the night after a mere ten hours of driving? It was almost too easy! The hotel in tiny Victor, Idaho was comfortable and clean, and we made sure to wear masks at every social encounter. Victor itself was a quaint little gem of a town nestled on the far eastern Idaho border at the foot of the Teton Mountains. After checking in to the hotel, we ordered pizza at the brewery next door and went for a walk through town while we waited to pick up our dinner. Victor charmed our socks off with its darling tidy storefronts and lush green park, all backed by the towering mountains.
After eating delicious pizza in our hotel room (Jeff ripped the lids off of the boxes to create plates), we went swimming in the hotel pool. We had the pool to ourselves, and good thing because it was minuscule. The five of us could barely swim together without knocking elbows. We ended up having running races across the short width of the rectangular pool. It was about four good water-bounds from one side to the other. We laughed and splashed and panted in the thin high altitude air, racing back and forth.
Then Jeff and the kids played a game where one person has to jump into the pool over another person who's in the water trying to tag their ankles mid-jump. I was stressed watching the kids jump over each other (trailing legs were everywhere--it's a miracle nobody got kicked in the face!), but Jeff assured me that this was an old swim team game that was excellent practice for race starts, with all of the jumping. I let them play their dangerous game and turned my head to avoid the bigger splashes, running a few more "laps" in the pool to stretch my car-legs.
We managed to sleep relatively well all piled into our hotel room. We brought a sleeping bag for the fifth person, and Rose claimed it. The next morning, I got up early and drove ten minutes down the road into the Targhee National Forest of Wyoming to jog a brief trail run in that fresh, thin mountain air. 7,000 feet elevation is no joke! I ran before breakfast and felt feeble without any fuel in my tank, so I turned around sooner than I wanted to. I did reach a serene grove of aspen trees that was full of morning birdsong. I stopped there to absorb the peaceful beauty for a little bit before heading back towards the car.
After my run, we had a pandemic-modified grab-and-go hotel breakfast and headed to Grand Teton National Park. The drive over Teton Pass was an adventure in itself. The grade was steep and the views were breathtaking. At the top of the pass, we looked down the other side and saw that we were above an entire layer of clouds! Jackson, Wyoming was a messy tourist trap, but we clawed our way through and emerged at last into Grand Teton National Park.
The weather was clear, sunny, and 60 degrees when we arrived. Those iconic, jagged mountain peaks looked extra rugged against the blue sky. We oohed and ahhed while we drove through the park. My first choice trail was too busy (full parking lot), so we headed to my second-choice trail. I may or may not have carefully researched hikes in the park and mentally ranked them by popularity and scenery. We parked at the String Lake trailhead, but hiked toward Jenny Lake (our original trail location of choice). It was a stellar hike. There were plenty of people out, but everyone was very responsible about scooting over and turning away to let others pass on the trail.
Amber ran and jumped on or touched nearly every single rock on the trail. She said "Look at me par-cor!" and took off running, hopping, and zigzagging back and forth across the trail. Jeff and I took turns keeping up with her. We decided not to bring water on our hike, so we limited ourselves to a 3.5 mile hike. It was torture not going the entire 2.2 miles to the viewpoint at the end of the trail, but when Amber asked for a break, we knew it was time to head back.
We picnicked in the car while leaving the park. Then came the lonely diagonal drive across central Wyoming. No services whatsoever until Landers, WY suddenly popped up, then it was back to desolation on a minor one-lane highway. Jeff and I had to switch drivers because we got sleepy. At last we emerged at Rawlins, WY. You know you've been through the middle of nowhere when Rawlins looks like an oasis! Hah! We got nasty Burger King for dinner and continued driving. Between Fort Collins and Denver, we drove into the worst non-tornado thunderstorm Jeff and I have ever experienced. Water was gushing from the sky and the road, making it nearly impossible to see through the windshield. The weather advisory warned of flash floods. My blood pressure was at an all-time high. Jeff gripped the steering wheel much harder than usual. The kids kept watching movies in the back seat. Sweet childlike innocence would have been a welcome relief in that storm!
After the longest half hour of the already-long day, we emerged from the storm and drove the last couple of miles to my parents' house.
*Blogger changed elements of its user interface a few weeks ago and made it harder to work with pictures. For now I am abandoning the aesthetic of large sized pictures because it takes a million years to individually resize them. [As always, click on any image for a larger view]
Embarking!
Watching, with three headphones daisy-chained together. Jeff and I listened to our own audiobook in the front while the kids watched cartoons in the back.
Masked up at a rest stop!
We strapped Jeff's bike to the roof of our van and it took the entire trip for me to get used to our funny shadow.
Van plus bike, parked at our hotel in Victor.
Playing in the park at Victor while waiting for our pizza.
Jeff taught us how to do hand stands by walking up the wall of this convenient cabin.
Amber couldn't resist any of the puff balls on the way back to our hotel.
Mini-pool!
Post-swim elevator ride.
My early morning run in the Targhee National Forest:
The rising sun colored the distant mountain yellow.
I followed this rushing creek for over a mile.
Blue flowers up close and sliding sunlight in the distance.
The aspen grove! Pictures don't do it justice.
Leaving the aspen grove.
Snow! It was chilly enough for me to wear my jacket for my entire 3.5 mile run.
Barely adequate stream crossing. The sticks were slick and unsteady, and the stream was too wide to jump.
The sun finally caught up to me when I was just finishing my run.
Grand Teton National Park in half a day:
The clouds down in the valley from the top of the pass.
String lake was shallow and reflective.
Beginning the hike
String Lake connected to the much larger Jenny Lake via a tumbling swath of rapids.
Amber, par cor hopping rock to rock.
Jenny Lake and the big mountains appeared together!
Amber was always just out of reach.
Right before turning back.
Turning back: Amber on Jeff's shoulders.
Jeff had one of his many Sunnyside High School Grizzly t-shirts on and easily fit into bear country.
These gorgeous flowers were starting to die, but still made for a pretty foreground.
A kind passerby took our picture for us and made us look taller than the Tetons, haha.
Rose took our picture.
Amber had to have the last word before we loaded back into the car.
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