19.9.20

Family Vacation 2020: the Grand Tetons Day 1

And now, nearly two months later, here's the rest of our summer family vacation to Yellowstone and the Tetons.

I loved all of it.  ALL. OF. IT.  But I really think, if I had to choose, that this day was my favorite.  First of all, Seth and I were taking the children to one of our favorite activities and spots during our first trip in 2015.  And it was also Ellie's 8th birthday.

After two days in Yellowstone, we spent this day in the Tetons.  We headed out bright and early to Jenny Lake and boated across to hike up to Inspiration Point.

And then we began the climb.  Seth and I agreed that this was our favorite hike last time around.  It didn't disappoint this time around either!  We stopped at Hidden Falls.

We took the above picture because I'd taken a picture of Seth in that exact same spot during our trip in 2015.

And here we are at Hidden Falls.

The last time we were here, the trail from Hidden Falls to Inspiration Point was closed so we had to go through a different part of the mountain to get to the top.  But this time it was open, and it followed the side of the mountain.  As we got closer and closer, we could peek through the forest and see the view over Jenny Lake.  I just can't even tell you the anticipation I felt to make it to the top.

And, then, the view.

We hiked back down the mountain to Jenny Lake and took the boat back across to the other side.  The original plan was to go from there over to String Lake and then hike to Leigh Lake.  But the birthday girl would have none of that, and we decided it was best to save String and Leigh for the next day.  Instead, we headed back up to Yellowstone and hit up the Old Faithful General Store for a bit of shopping and ice cream.  I don't have any pictures, but the huckleberry fudge ice cream was the best!  And now that the birthday girl had a tummy full of ice cream and a bag of souvenirs, she was happy again.  Up until this point, everyday of our vacation had been full days of activity with late nights getting back to our hotel.  So we decided to have an earlier evening and went back to Jackson Hole to explore the town and find a sit-down restaurant for supper instead of ordering in to our room.

We enjoyed a really nice meal at Local Restaurant & Bar.  Ellie wanted a steak.  There was a steak on the kids' menu, but it was $20.  So, normally, I would suggest she choose something else.  But it was her birthday.  After we ate, we walked around the square and did a little more shopping . . .

. . . until we came to the store of every 8-year old's dreams, particularly if her name is Ellie.

And then, because it was her birthday, we made all her dreams come true.  We gave her a bag and told her to fill it up.  If you know Ellie, you know she is the junkiest kid EVER.  She is a good eater, but she also LOVES candy.  And she leaves a trail of candy wrappers everywhere she goes . . . between the seat cushions, under her bed, under her nightstand, everywhere except in the garbage can.  Sigh.  So after that $20 kids' menu steak and a full bag of candy . . . day made for the birthday girl!

And, with that, we called it a day and headed back to our hotel for the evening.  We had another full day ahead in the Tetons before driving to Casper to spend our last night before heading home.