Yellowstone to Jackson

This post covers the late afternoon of Friday, May 14, 2010 — Day 21: Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming to Jackson, Wyoming. You can read about the activities we did in the morning here and the activities we did in the early afternoon here

We left West Thumb Geyser Basin and headed south towards Yellowstone’s southern exit. Bordering Yellowstone is yet another national park, The Grand Teton National Park, which features one of the world’s most spectacular mountain chains, the Teton Range. These precipitous mountains rise directly out of the beautiful Jackson Hole valley. Being geologically young, little erosion has taken place, leaving extremely jagged and photogenic peaks. The largest of the mountains in the Teton range is Grand Teton, which peaks at 13,770 feet. A series of beautiful lakes sit at the base of the mountains.

While the Grand Teton park is quite large at 310,000 acres (including 40 miles of mountain range), it is tiny compared to Yellowstone. The park was first established in 1929, but it was much smaller then. Between 1930s to 1950s, and then again in the 70s, surrounding land, particularly in Jackson Hole Valley, was purchased and added to the park.

Grand Teton is outside the volcanic caldera, so it does not have thermal attractions like Yellowstone does. But there are many things about the Grand Teton park that make it special beyond the scenic mountains. It is one of the few places where that still feature the same species of flora and fauna that have existed since prehistoric time. There is a rich ecosystem with more than 1,000 species of plants, dozens of species of mammals, 300 species of birds, more than a dozen fish species, and even reptiles and amphibians. There are about a dozen small glaciers in the highest regions. Some of the rocks in the park are 2.7 billion years old, the oldest of any US national park.

As much as we would have loved to do more sightseeing in both Yellowstone and Grand Teton, we were running out of time. We drove through the southern portion of Yellowstone and all of the Grand Teton park without stopping until we got to our destination of Jackson, Wyoming. As you can see, the drive was gorgeous! And we didn’t even capture it all. We’re not sure exactly where one park ends and the next begins, but we know the first photo was near West Thumb Geyser Basin and the last photo in this series is at Moran Junction, which is just south of Grand Teton Park.

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Interview with Christi on From Left to Write Book Club

From Left to Write Book Club did an interview with Christi! Read it here. And there is still a chance to win a free book, this time leave a comment about what luxury you would pack on your boat trip around the world.The winner of the book contest will be announced on their site on July 29th.

Ask Christi a Question and Win a Free Book!

From Left to Write Book Club is going to be interviewing Christi. They are taking questions from the general public. To encourage people to submit questions, they are giving away a free book. Each separate question posted in the comments on their site is an entry in the book contest.  Now is the time to ask all those questions you’ve been wondering about! http://www.fromlefttowrite.com/ask-the-author-christi-grab/

Plain to Keystone

Monday, May 10 — Day 17: Plain, Wisconsin to Worthington, Minnesota (continuing on the Passage Across America)

Visit to Taliesin, famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s personal estate, in Spring Green, Wisconsin. The second photo is his school, one of his earliest designs that he constantly revised over the years. The first is the only restaurant Wright ever designed, near the end of his life.

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Dayton House Bed & Breakfast in Worthington, Minnesota Continue reading

DaVinci Science Exhibit and Dinner in Rythmeno

Monday, May 18 Needless to say, after such a late night last night, we were off to a slow start this morning. By early afternoon, we had finally gotten moving. The other day when we were at the aquarium, we had noticed the exhibition hall next door was featuring a traveling DaVinci science exhibit. Another family friend had seen the exhibit when it was in France and had said it was wonderful, so Eric and Christi decided to go see it today. We dragged Andronikos and John with us.

Christi is ashamed to admit this, but she Continue reading