Yellowstone & Grand Teton - Day 7

 Last morning in Bridge Bay campground. We loaded up and were glad for a dry night so our tent wasn't so messy.

 Just across the street at the marina we got a motor boat for an hour.

 It was a beautifully clear day but still a little chilly for the Texans!

 We saw Lake area from the lake including the brown buildings where we had dinner the first night.

 Our captain!  It got bumpy the further out we got and Gloria snuggled on my lap and ended up falling asleep!

 Back on land, we got coffee and lollipops and headed to West Thumb geyser basin for one last walk around these amazing hydrothermal features.

 Here they go into the lake, which was super cool to see.

 And of course they were just as smelly and warm. We had to wait in  a port-o-potty line, before driving south.

 We stopped at the picnic tables by the Moose Falls trail head for our lunch,

 did a little birding and saw a badger on the other side of the river!

 The girls found a hideout and Lydia climbed a tree before more driving and we arrived at our second National park!

 After arriving in the park we were stopped for about an hour, not sure exactly what happened but we think it was an accident, we enjoyed the wildflowers, chatting with others who were also stopped and saw a Rhode Island license plate (the confused driver was European and explained it was a rental!)

 Quick stop at the Colter Bay VC, and saw mountains over the lake but we needed to hurry to get a campsite.

 Gros Ventre, meaning Fat Belly in French, from miscommunication of sign language of waterfall from Native Americans, campground. I heard it rarely fills up but we got one of the last 10~yikes!  We set up camp and had nice shade.

 Of course, a little more birding and the girls played a game on a log.

 While Gloria sketched, Caleb jumped the young people's car at the site next to us.  And then we drove down Mormon Row.

 Prairie dogs were the excitement here, as well as a water snake. This one's name is Papootie.

 I told the girls when they see the pictures on a decorative calendar or on the wall of a dentist, they can now say that they have been there!

 Chapel of the Transfiguration, an Episcopal church that meet on Sundays during the summer and has the most fabulous view.

 And the bell was for ringing!

 We walked down the historical ferry which was not running before going to the Visitor Center.

 Our only moose sighting!

 We went to Dornan's Chuckwagon area, and remembered to be flexible. I had bison burgers planned but discovered they are only served at lunch, the girls had their hearts set on sitting in the teepee and we were told we could bring pizza back as we weren't interested in the huge dutch oven buffet. It was so crowded in the pizza place but the girls played outside on the sage hill and we had something to drink while waiting.

 Then ate back at the teepee and all was well!

Early turn in at camp. Wonderful day both in Yellowstone and Grand Teton!

Grand Teton - Day 8

 Rise and shine, it's our last day of fun!

 We drove to Jenny Lake, on the path to the boat, Gloria (who was finally getting her hair redone) found a caterpillar, she posed with it in front of a quaking aspen tree-one of my favorites.

 Boat dock.

 The boat!

 On the boat! It was $45 to get us across the lake and save a mile of hiking. I thought it was a fun experience and worth it. On the way there we chatted with a Kiwi who was living in DC and on the way back we chatted with four hikers who just finished four days backpacking.

 Beautiful lake, shore (where we later had lunch) and mountains.

 Gloria was  trouper on this walk, we had to keep up with her!

 Pretty purple flowers.

 Hidden falls!

 Family photo

 We stayed and contemplated nature here for a while or rather the girls climbed on fences, slid down a log...

 and generally played around, happy to be out of the car, off boardwalks and able to explore a little.

 When we started back down, Gloria said, I wish we could see a pika, and we turned the corner and there one was!!  We saw him grab long green grass and run back to a hole, we assume to build a nest, others came along and he was too scared to come out again.

 The girls say this picture makes it look much higher and steeper than it actually was.

 Our little backdoor on the shore close to the boat dock...

 we had smashed PB and nutella sandwiches.

 After we crossed the lake and got back to our car, we went to String Lake where we heard is a lovely place to swim but the water was freezing, so the girls were happy to play in their 'secret hideout' while I took a little walk on my own...

 selfie!

 Caleb cooled his feet for a while,

 and the girls found a lotus flower and lily pad that had washed over from the other side of the lake. As we couldn't take it, we posed a beautiful picture.

 We finally drug them away from this very beautiful (and very famous, to quote something we quoted often) place and

 drove to the top of the world, or at least Signal Mountain, where we had good views from both the valley and mountain side.

 The 3 Tetons and Mt Moran

 We drove past Oxbend Bow which is supposed to be great for wildlife but not in the middle of the day which is the only time we could squeeze it in...

 and back to the Moose Visitor Center were we hung out getting to touch animal furs.

 It is a great building and we watched their movie about the park

 at the end, the screen pulls up and the curtains open up to this amazing view-what a show!

 Drove back to the campground and loved seeing bison and mountains together.

 Dinner at the campsite and after six days this is what my hair came to!

 We walked to the River and wished we had more time to wade if it was warmer and add to the dam and skip rocks, we did this for a while and saw our first bald eagle flying!

 It began to sprinkle but we still tried to have a fire which worked well enough to roast a few marshmallows!

 The amphitheater was right by our site so we walked over to see the program on Mountain men, which we had learned a little about in the movie.  It rained but the show went on! The Ranger said she had done shows even in a blizzard before.

 This is a real beaver felt hat from the 1830s, which went out of style for silk hats but is what caused a lot of French Canadian trapper to come to this area.

 Back at the campsite we tried to enjoy the last of the fire before playing a quick game of Spot it in the tent before turning in.

 Days 9 & 10-we got up early and everything packed up, except these two little ones, we woke them up, took down the tent and were off for two full days of driving.

 We saw riders heading home from Sturgis Rally, listened to more books, saw Home twice in a row, hated the Denver traffic, enjoyed the LaQuinta pool and beds and breakfast in Trinadad, CO. Last day was a long one, when we stepped out of our car for dinner in Texas we were blown away by the heat.

What a trip!!