road trip, day 1

waiting for sunset, originally uploaded by Kaijsa.

This will take a while and likely be filled with more detail than strictly necessary for anybody but me. I'm doing it anyway.

We started out early on Saturday, at my insistence. We'd spent much of Friday shopping and other last-minute errands and mostly packed the car, so we were able to get on the road before 7am. I've made that drive before, but it's one of the prettiest I've seen in Wyoming. I especially like the mountains as you approach Lander.

We took a break for a picnic in Dubois, but managed to make it to the research station by 1:30pm. When I pointed out how much of the day we had to spend in the park and asked Rick if he was glad I made him leave so early, he said, "No!" I don't believe it, though. We went for a walk up over a hill with a great view of Jackson Lake and the Tetons, and sat on the dock drinking beer and eating chips with our hostess, Mary Ann. It was great.

Then Mary Ann took us to Two Ocean Lakes for a walk on the trail. There were tons of wildflowers, and Mary Ann knew what they all were, which was really cool. On the way back, we stopped at a lookout and saw a huge herd of elk. We also saw some herons that day. It was really nice. Rick and I headed to the dock to catch the sunset before dinner. It got dark pretty quickly, and I was amazed, once again, at how bright the stars were.

We had a late dinner with Mary Ann and her sons and their girlfriends. We had great company and before long, a few hours had passed. We were really tired, and opted not to have drinks on the dock. Once we settled in our bunk beds, I fell asleep immediately and slept really well up there in the quiet mountain air.