OK, so I think last we spoke I was dealing w/ the crazy drunk snorer no? Well the next day we went big and decided to do a 9 mile hike gaining a couple thousand feet of altitude in the Tetons. Well, let me just say we were walking in knee high snow the last couple hundred yards. We did come across a very beautiful glacial pool at the peak however. The hike was tough but we had a great wind down. That night we stayed at the Jackson Lodge. Now the Jackson was not as big a favorite w/ the guide books as some of the other dumps we ran across and I am giving thumbs down all around for this grievous oversight. Our room was a little off the run but it was clean and spacious. We rolled up to the bar and had some really solid huckleberry mojitos while sitting on the deck and looking out over the Jackson Lake and onto the Teton vista. We then had dinner in the dining room and it was one of the finer meals we had. Well portioned, well cooked, excellent service (My wife thought I was going to ditch her to go drink beers w/ our waiter), reasonable price, another excellent view. 1 3/4 thumbs up. Really a solid establishment, except the pool... that was gross and filled w/ too many screaming kids.
The next day we packed up and headed north to Yellowstone. First off the change in scenery was striking. We went from lush forest and jagged mountains to fire ravaged wasteland. It was a little sad. On the plus side the wildlife was abundant. We saw a grizzly bear from pretty close distance right away and later saw one from afar chowing on a bison. We saw several elk herds and bison all over the place. It was pretty cool and all very close. The other cool thing was the thermal geology. It is not just Old Faithful... there are geo-thermal pools all over the park. Everywhere you went there were steaming, bubbling, oozing, noxious pools of all sorts of colors. It was like being on another planet but very very cool. We liked the pools and geysers around Old Faithful but the ones at Norris were also cool and a little less crowded.
Yellowstone also provided the one lowlight of the trip, and it was a doozy! We were camping a little north of Old Faithful and decided to check out the Old Faithful Lodge which was supposedly one of the oldest and grandest n the country. Well, the building was spectacular, a huge log lodge that was impressive to say the least. We had an 8:30 reservation so we grabbed a drink got a great seat on the deck and waited for Old Faithful to blow up (also @8:30). Well, the geyser was running late so we gave up our prime deck seat and went to check on the res. @8:35. Once we waded through the crowd of people complaining about the long wait we were given a cheap buzzer you get at Applebee's and told we would have a short wait. F***, strike one. Ok, no problem, we got another beer to share and found seats in the lodge overlooking the lobby. Not too shabby. Well, 40 minutes went by, our beer was empty and I had to go and check to see if we were actually going to be seated. Much to my surprise they claimed our table had been called but the buzzers did not work in much of the lodge and we did not hear the verbal call as we were not standing in front on the desk yelling at the host like the other 50 people waiting for tables. Strike 2. In any event we were led into the 1/2 full dining room. Why ANYONE was waiting was beyond me. They could have sat the whole state of Wyoming in there. Strike 3. Usually an out but we were playing w/ winter rules. So we sit down and wait for awhile for a drink order and to order food which is only a pain because we had waited so long to sit down. The drinks and salad came right out... now we were getting somewhere. My iceberg wedge was even delicious. But wait... the entrees... we waited, and waited, and waited. We are now nearly 2 hours removed from our reservation in a half empty room and have not gotten our entrees. I mention to the overwhelmed waitress that we expect our 2nd round of beers (which she never came to get in the 45minutes we were waiting to eat) to be on the house and would like our entrees. She said she would have the manager come out. Nope, but the food did... and it sucked ass. My was just not good. A not great bison burger and limp fries. My special lady? Hers was a ravioli dish, and it was cold. Apparently an hour does not provide enough time to cook ravioli. Who knew? Well, the moral of the story is that the meal was comped which is something. Of course a shitty free meal is not even an upgrade from Burger King in my opinion. 2 HUGE thumbs down... and one middle finger up. Also a big F-you to Frommer for suggesting it and giving such high marks.
Couldn't get any worse right? Wrong! We get back to the campsite around 11:30 or so and find cops all over the place. WTF?!?! Well, apparently a 7 year old kid had gone missing. Shit. You can't exactly ignore that right? So we grab our flashlights and head out to look for the kid for the next hour. At that point we figured the worst and started to dread the inevitable 24 hour search we had in store for us, and feel pretty bad for the family. Stupid kid was found hanging out w/ friends in a nearby camp. Apparently did not notice the flashing lights or 50 people yelling her name over a couple hours. I am glad she is safe but kind of want to take her favorite toy and throw it in a river.
The next day we woke up and saw some more cool stuff like the grand canyon of Yellowstone. I complained to my lady that after 20 some odd miles of hiking I was not going anywhere a 300 pound man could not get too!!! She was not amused.
Next up... lovely Montana and the conclusion to our amazing journey!!!
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