Day 13 (7/11). (Helena) Today when we woke up in our Yellowstone Lodge, we packed up and we drove to Grand Teton National Park [Lin: we unfortunately learned today that the three largest peaks of the Tetons were called “les trois tétons” by French fur traders. The translation? “The three breasts.” Uh…time for a new name for this national park, anyone?] While we were driving there (still in Yellowstone), it started snowing. Mom said it was 34 degrees! When we got out at the Tetons, it was freezing, so we layered up. We stopped at a lookout at Jackson Lake, but the peaks were all covered by clouds. We kept driving along the lake and stopped at Jackson Lake Lodge. We went for a hike on the Lunch Tree Trail, which ended at an amazing lookout. Along the trail there were many unusual plants, and one kind that looked like super-sized dandelions with seed pods that we enjoyed blowing off. From the top of the trail, normally we could have seen all the mountains, but the tops of them were still in the clouds. It was still beautiful. From the lodge, we could see a large flat valley between us and the mountains, and my mom really wanted to see a moose. But we didn’t, even though there were supposed to be moose in that area. After the hike, we got hot chocolate and pastries while we sat in the lodge and looked at the mountains.
Then we drove to Jenny Lake, where we took a ferry boat across the lake. We hiked a one-mile trail that went up almost 500 feet to Inspiration Point. Our trail took us past several falls on the river. From the top, we could see the whole lake below and lots of mountains in the distance. There were also lots of chipmunks that came right up to us. The trail got pretty scary at the top, with a drop off on the right. We hiked down and took the boat back across. The weather was clearing a little bit, and the main mountain, the Grand Teton, actually peeked through the clouds enough for my dad to finally get his picture.
Then we got back into the van and drove through Wyoming, a corner of Idaho, and then into Utah, to Ogden, where we are staying in the home of some friends.
We forgot to mention that we saw a bald eagle yesterday and some sand hill cranes. We also saw a bald eagle nest along the highway today after we left the Tetons.
(As always, the best way to view the photos is to click on the first one and scroll through the slide show).
Fisher Family Travels 
Helena – what a beautiful day you described. Thinking about the cliff, the drop off gave me chills. I love your glasses! I am sure you are really enjoying this drive across America!
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