Hello everyone!
Here we go still playing catch up with all of the adventures of our Yellowstone NP trip. It's so nice to go over all of these photos and relive the memories again. This trip is something that will remain in our minds for years to come.
This is a view of the mountains near to the Eastern Entrance to Yellowstone N.P. This is the entrance that we came in to the park through. The climb was not an easy one, but we managed to make it without a problem. This is our Cedar Creek trailer in the lead with our daughter and family behind. We are sitting in line waiting our turn to pass through the eastern entrance construction zone. It wasn't long after this picture that our daughter and son in law had some problems with their truck. They blew a water hose due to a faulty thermostat. We were just past the one way construction section and there was next to no room on either side of the road to pull off. By some stroke of luck, right when the problem arose, there was a small clearing where some of the construction trucks were parking. Our son in law was able to get their rig off into this tiny spot. We managed to get a message to them by CB radio that we would go on to the campground and drop our trailer. Then we would come back to pick up their trailer. Then we would manage from there with the truck. In the mean time, the construction workers came to their aid with hose clamps and antifreeze to put into the radiator to get them on their way. The workers there in the park at the construction area were wonderful and went out of their way to help resolve the problem at hand. You can imagine our sigh of relief when Mark passed the kids along the road to go back for their trailer. They made it into the park without further problems. A new thermostat was ordered and extra hose camps installed. They flushed out the radiator and cleaned it out with water and an air hose. They were good to go again. Thankfully there wasn't anything major wrong with the truck!

The park rangers warned us of all of the wild life that wander through the park when we checked in. I have to admit that we were all on pins and needles for a bit after learning that the rangers refer to dogs and cats as "snack food" for the bears! We kept a close eye on our grandkids for a few days, but then began to relax when more children showed up in the park to play. There was plenty of noise happening to keep any bears away. After we were all set up, we kicked back to just relax and calm our nerves. Soon after, my son in law's mother, sister and brother in law arrived from Colorado. It was all hugs and smiles for the remaining of the evening.

We had signed up to take a tour of the Teton's during our stay at Yellowstone N.P. We met with another couple up at the check in building at 6:45 am. We boarded a van that seated 11 people. We then made a few other stops to pick up more people to fill the van to capacity. One stop was at the Yellowstone Hotel in Lake where we enjoyed a cup of coffee, the gift shop and some views of Yellowstone Lake for a few minutes before boarding the tour bus again.

Our tour guide was Lauren. She had just completed her masters degree in biology and was spending the summer at Yellowstone before setting out to find a job. She certainly told us a lot of techinical information about the scenery and surroundings of the area. For one thing, we learned that the pines in the park are Lodge Pole Pines. Makes perfect sense if you think about it. These trees are what all of the log homes and buildings are built from.

For most of our tour we were on the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway. Each time Lauren refered to the road we were traveling, I could only think, "What a mouthful! John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway.... "

Our first stop was still in Yellowstone N.P. at Lewis Falls. Lauren took our photo here in front of the falls. The rock to my right is actually lava that had hardened after a volcanic eruption.

Here's a closer photo of the falls. These falls are at the edge of the Culdara. A culdara is a super volcano. The Lewis River and Falls were named in honor of Meriweather Lewis that was an explorer of the area.

Our next stop was at the sign for the Grand Teton National Park. I was the only one that got out to have my picture taken. So here I am, without Mark, at the sign.

As we traveled the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway to the south into the park, the Grand Tetons stood before us. The view did not change much except that it just grew and grew into this magnificant view of the Grand Teton Mountain Range.

The photo above was taken at Jackson Lake. This lake was named after a famous photographer of the area, Wm Henry Jackson. The tallest mountain is Mount Moran and the glacier on it that looks like a guitar is named Skillet Glacier. Mount Moran was named in honor of Thomas Moran, a noted painter of the area.

Along our journey, we drove up Signal Mountain. There were trees all around us.......Lodge Pole Pines. Lauren, our tour guide, told us that there was a man that had managed to get lost in the area. Search teams were sent out to find him. The plan was that when he was found, someone was to climb to the top of this mountain and set off a signal to call off the search. The search went on and the man was not found. Later he was located floating dead in the river. So this is how the mountain came to be known as Signal Mountain. It seemed like it took us about 20 minutes to climb to the top of Signal Mountain in the van. Just imagine how long it would have taken for someone to climb to the top to set off the signal! Beautiful views of the Grand Tetons were found at the top.

The Grand Teton National Park was established in 1950. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. played a large part in getting this park established by buying up the land using a company as a front. There was a small group of people that went to him for help to save the beauty of the area. If the owners of the land, that is now the park, would have known that it was Rockefeller buying the land, the prices would have went up sky high. After the land was bought, Rockefeller donated the land to the government so that the park could be established. There's obviously a lot more to this story, but this is the jest of it. This is why the parkway is named after Mr. Rockefeller. After this, the state of Wyoming declared that there would be no other lands established as national parks. They felt that the land had been snatched unfairly from the owners.

We drove all of the way down to the south end of the park to a little town called Moose Junction. I think that Millionaires must live here because you would have to be one to be able to afford anything much in this place. Mark needed a pair of shorts. He had worn slacks thinking that it would be chilly, but it ended up being in the 90's. The cheapest pair of shorts that we could find was $40! He decided that he would sweat it out. We all ate our lunch there.

Our last stop was made at Menor's Ferry. There was a little log church there and a few other buildings. One was filled with a few old stage coaches and a covered wagon. We were about to head back to the van when we saw a group of children pointing and taking pictures across the river. Of course we had to stop to ask what was going on. There was a moose laying on the opposite bank of the river. Here, below, is an image of our first sighting of a moose. It was a very hot day and he was taking advantage of the cool waters of the river.

One last picture of a view of the Grand Tetons. We arrived back to the campground about 5:30 pm. We were the last to get dropped off. We were escorted right to our campsite by our gracious tour guide, Lauren. Thank you Lauren for a wonderful day! We certainly did learn a history lesson about the area.