Day 10-12

It was time to leave Yellowstone and visit the Grand Tetons. We only had the day to drive through the Tetons and the kids wanted to earn their Junior Ranger badges. We stopped at the first ranger station to find out what they needed to do. The weather was not looking the best and we could see a storm coming in. After eating our lunch, we were on our way to explore.

We did take the scenic drive and stopped to talk to a ranger (part of the requirement for the badge). It is amazingly beautiful. The mountains go straight up from the lake. Absolutely beautiful. After leaving the overlook at Jackson lake, we saw a black bear in the trees by the road! At Jenny Lake, we stopped and took a short walk by the lake. I wish we had more time. I would have loved to take a boat across to the other side of the lake to hike or even rent canoes and paddle around the lake, but we had to get to Jackson. The kids finished up their activities and were presented with their badges!

We made it to Jackson in the early evening and I think Big Daddy is in love. Surrounded by the mountains, you could see the ski slopes and it looked like you could ski right into town. We ate dinner at the Snake River Brewery- yummy. We decided to share a smore for dinner. It was made with a homemade graham cracker and cooked in the wood oven. It was fantastic! Yum! Yum! Yum!

We then walked around Jackson for a little bit - such a cute little downtown and then when back to the hotel for swimming and bed.

We started out for Boise on day eleven of our trip. We were all tired and weren't not sure if we were going to make it to Craters of the Moon. The kids were very disappointed, so I called AAA and realized they told me that it was the same time difference to take the freeway or go the route by Craters of the Moon, so we decided to stop there. Wow! I am glad we didn't miss it. It was so amazing! I had no idea and now I wish we had more time there. We only had time for a quick walk and a ranger program, so they could earn another badge. Four badges in two weeks!

After staying the night in Boise, we decided to just make the trip all the way home from there. We also decided to stop at the Oregon Trail Historical Interpretive Center. It was up on a hill and had gorgeous views of the valley. Lovey was a bit more interested in the center's displays than Littlebit was. Big Daddy was set to walk around, but Littlebit and Lovey were tired and so was I. We did take a short walk to stand in the wagon ruts. So cool!

Up next was to drive along the Columbia River and head home. What a fantastic trip! There was so much we saw, but so much we didn't get to see. I would love to go back and explore some more.