from the top

It was a steep and winding path down to the top of the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River. It was well worth the walk - even though the return walk was in the rain.

I was amazed at the thundering water and the canyon below.

a lone tree

...standing on the edge of Yellowstone Lake

bellflowers

These small flowers stood close to the edge of Yellowstone Lake, forcing me to crouch low to the ground to capture the beautiful color and shape.

morning light

...at Schwabacher Landing, Grand Teton National Park

turquoise

The Black Pool, in the West Thumb Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park

line of color

A line of color flowing with geyser-powered water, surrounded by steam.

a sea of color

From yesterday afternoon's drive through the National Elk Refuge, wildflowers in purple and yellow.

Rover's airport thoughts

We landed early so we have a comfortable hour and a half here at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport.

Wow! I could feel the heat outside when we walked from the plane onto the jet bridge. I think it will be warmer at home than it has been in Wyoming - but hopefully it will be cooler than in Texas.

Our plane landed at the far end of concourse C and our next flight leaves at about the mid-point of concourse A. There is "sky train" service here but you know Denise - we walked! She said she needed to stretch her legs, and I was happy to bounce along.

Denise got a bowl of bean soup and some bread for lunch. That was probably as healthy as possible in the airport. Then we passed by a candy shop that sold candy by the pound so I talked her into picking up a treat for later. I picked out raisins and almonds coated with dark chocolate. I know, I know, most dogs can't eat chocolate. I have a special chocolate gene and it's OK for me. Yum!

Oh! We're going to be boarding our plane soon. I'd better shut down the computer for now.

--- Rover

heading home

It's hard to believe that I'm on my way home. I had seven days on the ground in Wyoming, enough to make me very tired, but as expected not enough to satisfy my need to wander in two beautiful parks. I knew before I headed to Wyoming that this would not be a one-time visit. I'll just need to figure out when to sandwich a return trip in with my other dream destinations.

The Jackson Hole airport is small, not too bad but a bit crowded with multiple flights leaving in close proximity to one another. I had a conversation with a woman who lives in Jackson, and she told me that the airport was expanded fairly recently. The expansion plans had to be OKed by the National Park Service; there was some concern about disrupting animal habitat (more than it was already). One of the options that was discussed at the time of the expansion was to move the airport 70 miles to the south. That would have moved it outside of the national park.

We're just under an hour from Dallas right now. I can't remember my connection time there - I think it was about an hour and a half, and we're due in about 20 minutes early. That should give me some time for a reasonable walk in the airport, time to shake out my legs and get ready to sit again.

I wish I had another day in Wyoming, but I know it will be good to have a day at home before I head back to work. It will be a day to play in my home territory, biking, walking, whatever strikes my fancy. It will be a day for laundry and grocery shopping. It will be a day to start sorting through my photos. That always takes longer than I expect!

This trip gave me good memories, good conversations with strangers, photos (I hope!), a good change from my everyday life.

Once I catch up with my after-trip activities it will be time to start dreaming of my next trip, just a short month away. Oops! that's only part of a month...

listen to the wind

Oh! we could hear the wind in the trees all day long. Denise said the wind helped by keeping her cool. Sometimes it felt like we were walking in a windstorm.

Our early morning target was Oxbow Bend. It would be a quick drive on a big highway, but it's a bit slower here. The speed limit on the road we were traveling was mainly 55 miles per hour, 45 mph at night. It was morning when we were traveling, but it was dark when we started so Denise thought the night speed limit was appropriate. We stopped once to try to convince some horses to pose. We drove by two bison resting by a fence on the side of the road. I wanted to stop but Denise thought they were too close to the road. I guess mind photos will need to do.

Then we arrived at Oxbow Bend, a place where the Snake River draws curves across the ground. There were a bunch of people standing partway down the hill looking at something. Oh! there were two moose munching on the plants on the bottom of the river. That was so cool!

It was hard to get good moose photos because they were ducking between trees at the edge of the water. She took some photos anyway, then she walked around to absorb the landscape, beautiful. The moose were still there when we returned so she tried again. I hope that we have one or two reasonable moose pictures.

Next we followed a dirt road to a place called Cattleman's Bridge. There used to be a plank bridge across the river there. It's been gone for a long time so we had to imagine the bridge.

Next stop, Jackson Lake Dam... Denise thought it was still early enough to see reflections of the mountains in Jackson Lake. It's a good thing we saw that earlier in the week because the wind was kicking up waves on the big lake. No reflection today!

Before heading out hiking we stopped at the Jackson Lake Lodge to grab some coffee and a muffin. We sat for just a bit, then headed to Jenny Lake to hike to Hidden Falls. I was really glad that we took the boat across the lake instead of walking both ways. A quick boat ride, a walk up and up to find the falls, and then we walked around (part of) the lake to return to our car.

We ended our wanders today earlier than yesterday; I think Denise is tired! Before we stopped we zipped back into the National Elk Refuge for a bit, came back to our home away from home, then walked to the side of the refuge that's close to our B&B. It was fun watching the ducks with their butts up in the air. I wonder what tempting treats they were finding under the water.

--- Rover