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Jackson, WY and Yellowstone

    Our final leg of the trip back to the Pacific Northwest had us make our way through the western plains, into the mountains and then to the strange and beautiful expansive lands of Yellowstone.

    From the Black Hills of South Dakota, we took the long route so we could see Devil’s Tower.

    devilstowerThis crazy rock formation juts out of the earth and is a playground for rock climbers. We pulled out our binoculars and saw a few roped in halfway up the monument. So insane!

    We drove and drove through pretty grasslands …

    plains… until suddenly this gorgeous mountain range appeared.

    jacksontetonsThe Grand Tetons and surrounding area are some of the prettiest scenery we’ve seen. We arrived on a stormy afternoon and the clouds gave everything a very moody, grand feel.

    I’ll be honest, I had no idea how wonderful Jackson, Wyoming and the Teton area is. No idea. It is this fantastic combination of outdoor activities – hiking, biking, river rafting, fishing, yoga in the summer with renowned snow sports in the winter. The town of Jackson Hole is touristy without being obnoxious with wonderful shops and restaurants and a big center park.

    We arrived at our campground and were instantly in love. As you pull into the rv campsites in the back, you drive through a tree-lined driveway with two rows of these tiny homes on either side.

    jacksontinyhomesFor years – YEARS! – Ryan has been trying to convince me to put a group of these on a piece of property to use as a vacation rental property. Of course the second I saw it done in real life I was totally convinced. The tiny homes are made by a Jackson, WY company called Wheelhaus and rented at Fireside Resort. We were so tempted to ditch the trailer and stay instead in a cabin, but they were all rented out. If you find yourself in the Jackson area, consider a stay in one of these. Or maybe someday we’ll actually do Ryan’s idea and have a vacation property of our own for you to rent in the Seattle area :)

    Our time in Jackson didn’t cooperate in the weather department which limited our activities just a little. If we had more time and if there was no rain, we would have rented bikes for a day of riding around Jenny Lake. Or we would have found a hike to do in the Tetons. Or ride this fun alpine sled at the ski resort.

    Instead, we spent our time in the town of Jackson Hole and enjoyed every second of it.

    jacksonbakeryWe started with brunch at Persephone Bakery. The long wait was so worth it and the rain held off just long enough for us to dine outdoors on their fantastic patio.

    jacksonbakerybrunchThe lattes were excellent, my sweet potato brussel hash skillet was so good. My son had a cinnamon brioche that I was afraid would be really dry and it was anything but. Everything was amazing.

    ryanemilycoffee(This is us trying to take a photo. None came out as I had imagined, but I adore the group anyway. I like Ryan.)

    Plus, the decor is just so good. I snapped this photo of the wall quickly so I could forever remember this brilliant idea:

    jacksonbakerywallAcross from the bakery is the town square with massive antler arches.

    jacksonantlerarchJackson Hole feels like the west and celebrates all that makes it that way. Antlers, wildlife, Pendleton blankets, cowboy hats all mixed in with a slightly yuppy and outdoorsy population of visitors and residents. It’s such a fun combination.

    kidsanimalsWe popped into a handful of shops. Ryan and the boys were thoroughly enthralled with everything in the Mountain Man Toy Shop (naturally).

    jacksonknifeshopDown the block was our favorite store of all – maybe of all the shops we visited on the road trip! – called Mountain Dandy.

    jacksonmountaindandyAgain, it was more geared toward men, but I was totally into the atmosphere and styling of the space. And Ryan was in heaven.

    yellowstonemountaindandy1The rain started on strong, so we hung out in the bookstore to wait and then refueled with coffees at Cowboy Coffee Co.

    jacksoncoffeeBy this point in the trip the kids were like, “Mom. We’ve had it with pictures.” And so this is what I got.

    Our plan for the next day was to ride the gondola up the mountain for what we heard was the most stunning view of the Grand Teton National Park (and world-famous waffles up at the top), but you know what we did instead? Overslept. And then moved very slowly, watched the Olympics and bagged all of our plans. We’ve learned that sometimes lazy days are just as valuable as sight-seeing ones.

    We definitely did not have enough time in Jackson and will absolutely put it on our must-visit-again list.

    jacksontetonpassFrom Jackson, we drove the short drive to West Yellowstone. We arrived in time to drop of the trailer and venture into our nation’s first National Park for the late afternoon/evening.

    Up first was a drive through the park to the Old Faithful geyser.

    yellowstoneoldfaithfulThe National Park System predicts the geyser eruptions within 10 minutes and it blows every 60-90 minutes which makes it pretty likely that you’ll see a real geyser! We arrived minutes after it erupted, so we spent about an hour in the visitors center where the kids started their Junior Ranger books, then joined the crowd outside to watch the eruption (is that what it’s called? I’m not sure).

    I may have cried just a little. All my life I’ve heard of Old Faithful and here I stood with my kids and watched it blow! It was so cool.

    After the geyser, we drove back the way we came and stopped at another popular Yellowstone attraction called Grand Prismatic Spring. 

    yellowstoneriverYellowstone is such an interesting place and one I’ve never really studied so it was all new to me. The land lies above a volcano which creates the craziest hot springs, bubbling pots of mud and geysers. When I picture hot springs, I think of ones you can soak in – this is not the case with the Yellowstone hotsprings. They are hot, hot springs that will burn you if you touch the water. 

    There are tiny organisms that can survive in the high temperatures and these are what makes the pools appear to have color.

    yellowstoneprismBlues, greens, browns, red, golden. With steam constantly rising and occasional boiling bubbles. It’s the most other-worldly scenery and utterly beautiful. 

    yellowspringsprism1On the drive home we caught a glimpse of our first bison herd. Yellowstone is home to the largest population of bison (or American Buffalo) where they roam free. Sightings are not rare but absolutely exciting nonetheless!

    yellowstonebisonYellowstone is laid out with two main loops through the park that create a rough figure 8. Our second day in the park, we took the north loop, stopping along the way at roadside stops to see wildlife, mudpots and other geysers.

    The main visitors center and original home of park-keepers is at the north entrance to the park and also home to Mammoth Hot Springs.

    yellowstonemammothspringsThis strange terraced formations are made out of limestone and formed in a way that is a bit over my head (read how they are formed here). There are boardwalk trails to walk along all around which preserve the land and allow for close viewing.

    A small herd of Elk decided to walk right through the crowd and stop for a nap on the calcium deposits. That was fun.

    yellowstoneelkAfter a picnic lunch, more elk sightings and a little bit of hiking, we continued our drive around the loop to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and a stop at Artist’s Point.

    yellowstoneartistspointThe Yellowstone River carved a canyon and with the lower falls in the distance, it is just breathtaking.

    (P.S. I’m running out of descriptive words. I mean, every single place we’ve been has been amazing and how do you put original words to any of it?! I’m in awe of our God for creating such beauty).

    yellowstoneryanemilyWe made one last stop back near Old Faithful at the historic Old Faithful Inn.

    yellowstoneinn1The hotel was built in 1902 with local timber and is said to be the model for all National park architecture.

    yellowstoneinnyellowstoneinntableWe grabbed a snack, Audrey lost her first tooth and then we sat out on the upper deck to watch the geyser erupt for a second time. It was a great finish to our time in Yellowstone.

    I received a message on instagram while we were in Yellowstone asking if I though it would be a good place to vacation with her 4 and 6 year old. My response was that it wouldn’t be my first choice with young kids and I don’t think that was a popular response :)

    So let me clarify: every family vacations differently and has different expectations and things they find enjoyable. Yellowstone was awesome and we all enjoyed our time. What I didn’t realize was that there is a lot of driving involved in getting from cool site to cool site and once there, it is mainly walking and looking. These are not bad things to do with young kids and I absolutely think it is valuable to be out in nature as a family, I just wouldn’t have loved it quite as much if we were traveling with younger kids.

    Our original itinerary called for a few days stop in Glacier National Park in Montana before finishing up the trip, but a couple weeks before, we decided to cut that portion. Instead, we drove through Idaho and spent two relaxing days at a gorgeous site in Le Grande, Oregon.

    It wasn’t planned, but again, having the freedom at the end of the trip to adjust was so good. We absolutely adored all of our travels, each city and National Park, historical site, tour and restaurant, but at this point, all the kids were talking about was ‘The Farmhouse’.

    oregonSo instead of cramming in another few days of sight-seeing and long-distance traveling, we found a campground just an hour or so away from ‘The Farmhouse’, plunked ourselves down for a few days and grew more and more excited about a sweet reunion with our family.


    It is so hard to believe that the travel portion of the trip is complete! What an amazing adventure it has been and one we will never, ever forget.

    28 thoughts on “Jackson, WY and Yellowstone”

    1. Emily, do you remember the campsites you stayed at in Jackson Hole and then at yellowstone, we are planning a road trip next summer and just looking at options. Thank you!

      1. We stayed at Fireside Resort in Jackson. We stayed in the rv part, but if you are up for renting the coolest tiny home, they have a bunch of them onsite. In Yellowstone, we stayed at the Rustic Wagon. Nothing special AT ALL. But we were hardly at the campsite, so it worked for us.

    2. You have to return to Glacier! Went this summer and had the most fun. Loved East Glacier area, Two Medicine, Running Eagle Falls. Many Glacier, Iceberg Lake, Grinnell Glacier, Going to the Sun Road, St. Mary’s Fall, Logan’s Pass were some of our favorites! It was a life changing trip for us. You would love it.

    3. WE stayed at the FIRESIDE resort as well! We were talking about maybe ‘building’ our house, and thought it would be cool to have one of these as our house, and then looked at the prices. um. no. and i still have our band-aids i had to buy from the front desk. it was two years ago. :) ha ha

      it was a lovely stay! :) (and you had a WAY better weather day in yellowstone than us! what a joy to be able to see the spray in ol’ faithful. we couldn’t in pictures bc it was so gloomy. what a cool experience to see it and all the other sites!)

    4. I feel like this is a ridiculous comment to leave because there are so many amazing pictures of the beautiful scenery and your time in Wyoming, but nonetheless, how were those spoons secured to the wall?

      1. I wish I could have looked at them more carefully. I was trying to sneak a photo and not be a crazy lady while the other people were trying to enjoy their coffee :) Perhaps they were nailed? Glued? I’m going to do a little research …

    5. What an incredible trip! We are from the Seattle area and spent time exploring Jackson Hole and the Tetons last summer. We camped in the shadow of the Tetons and did the alpine slide (kids 8, 6, and 2) and the gondola. We can’t wait to go back. Thanks for sharing about your trip and welcome home!

    6. Emily, I have thoroughly enjoyed “riding along” with y’all on your travels for the past few months, and will miss reading about your adventures! Glad you made your way through Georgia. Y’all come back now, y’hear!!?

    7. Hey, I refuse to take anyone under the age of 3 to Disney so I totally understand!!!! I’m definitely ready to do more traveling – my oldest is 10 but my littlest is 19 months so we’ll stay housebound for 3 more years with the exception of Grandma’s house.

    8. Our family has done most of this. We camped across the country four times and I fully enjoyed renewing my memories. May I suggest you go back to Yellowstone in February or March when it and seseing snows. The scenery is fabulous and seeing the animals hovering over the hotsprings triying to stay warm. It is inspiring to see how nature survives.

    9. Ah, such lovely pics! I grew up just outside of Yellowstone and sure miss it, being out on the East coast now. Sometimes not sure why I ever left.

    10. I absolutely loved reading about your trip! This is the first blogpost I’ve read of yours. I have never seen these places, but I long to visit them. I am a wife, mom and photographer from Florida, and I think you did an amazing job capturing the sights along the way, and describing them so well. I felt like I was there! So now I definitely must plan this trip for my hubby and I and out three “older” children.?Thanks for sharing!

    11. Thank you for taking all your readers along on this fantastic trip. I’m an old lady and I have seen almost everything you saw on this vacation, although I saw a little bit on each of several vacations. It was so nice to relive it through younger eyes. God has truly blessed you and your family.

    12. You have found my favorite place in the US–Jackson Hole and the Tetons! I have spent many vacation days there over the years and it never disappoints. I’m sorry the weather didn’t cooperate, but next time you should take the boat across Jenny Lake and hike to Hidden Falls and then up to Inspiration Point and into Cascade Canyon. (Sounds like a lot but it’s not.) And the scenery is out of this world. When I have to go to my “Happy Place” in yoga class, that’s where I go! Next time you go, the kids will be a little older and more amenable to some hiking. And this is the place to do it! So glad to read your report.

    13. I’m so glad you guys are having such a great experience. What your travels has done for me is to give me incredible motivation to hustle harder on my own goal of building my own business. I am so eager to quit my full time job and have the flexibility to take my work on the road and build memories with my family. I know your summer hasn’t been without work, so thanks for sharing your world with us!

    14. Just an FYI for your next trip to Jackson … The gondola (not the tram) is free after 4:30. We’ve been going to the Tetons for 32 years. Our kids were 6 months & 28 months. As they got older they really had fun rafting, animal spotting, swimming & hiking. They haven’t been for several years (got married and started their own families). We we all went back 3 weeks ago and started new memories with the next generation. It is a special place.
      P.s. Last year my husband and I counted 23 different bears – some were Grizzlies ?
      We’re heading home now – back to the Pacific NW.
      So glad you got to create wonderful memories too!

    15. So awesome! I just listened to the 100 year celebration of the national parks that NPR did from Yellowstone and recalled several names from your Instagram posts :). I do have a question: now that you’re home, how do you plan on preserving your memories? Are you making the worlds largest photo album? Do you have certain pictures you know you will frame? Did you buy any souvenirs that will be incorporated into your decor (I know you tried to not buy much)?

    16. I grew up going to Yellowstone (we lived about 4 hours away) and go there almost every year, but this year my husband and I left the kids with grandparents and we had an amazing time. We saw wolves with their pups at their dens, mama bears with cubs (20+). All of which I haven’t seen before. I think had we taken our kids again this year we would’ve missed out on those sightings because of the long drives, early morning risings and my young kids still struggle looking through binoculars. I loved going as a child but I do think it got more enjoyable the older I was.

    17. Emily, it has been such a treat to follow your road trip through the blog and Instagram. Thank you for taking us along! I hope to do this one day.

    18. Thanks for sharing your trip cross country. I have been as far east as the mid western states, Iowa. Missouri, down through Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and back up through Grand Canyon to Willamette Valley in Oregon. Yellowstone, Jackson Hole and the Tetons are just as I remember from 15+ years ago. I would love to make your journey to the east coast and relieve our country’s history.
      Your kids learned so much and are so blessed to have wonderful parents.

    19. One thing I will say about traveling with really young kids is that that may not remember the trip. My family drove from Virginia to California and back when I was 2, and I don’t remember a thing. Granted it was because my uncle was getting married in CA, and we couldn’t control the timing, but I still wish I could remember the trip! Also, next time you are on the east coast, come to Richmond! It’s a really cool city, permeated with lots of history, and a ton of good restaurants! I have enjoyed seeing the US through your trip.

    20. We just did these same National Parks and I thought the same thing… absolutely wouldn’t recommend it with young kids. Not that you COULDN’T do it, but that the kids aren’t old enough to appreciate. My kids are similar ages to yours and and they all LOVED it! (except my 7 year old just thought it was just okay… his quote, “All you do when you hike is put one foot in front of the other and look around. What’s so fun about that?” ;)

      Loved following your journey! And welcome home :)

    21. I live in Nebraska, and follow your blog. I also have a cabin in Custer South Dakota, right in the heart of the Black Hills. I have spent several vacations in the Jackson Hole and Yellowstone area in my life, and I can’t agree more with your assessments. It has a rugged beauty about it that is second to none. Having said that, Seattle is pretty spectacular too, in it’s own unique way. I love the Pacific North West and can’t wait to get back there. Will be anxiously awaiting your “Tiny House” development. I love tiny houses..my cabin is a “tiny house” of sorts and I am fascinated!!

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