Andy was up and about early and got the camper ready to roll and made coffee for me. Lily had cuddled in with us at some point in the night. Her bed was neatly made and it was nice to have her pressed against me on a chilly morning. I stared at her for a while when I woke up, and still wonder how I was so blessed to be her mom and thought about the good parts of me that I hope I am able to pass along.
Our plan today is to roll out and get to Jackson Hole for the Tram ride. We were not quite on schedule to leave, but bid the beautiful Lizard Creek campground adieu and again admired the Tetons as we drove south. The scenery is truly magnificent!
We took the “long way” to avoid the dirt road with the camper in tow, and ended up spending a couple hours taking the Tram up and hiking around the top of the mountain. The wildflowers were in full bloom and the mountain air was delicious! The kids saw where some others had built stone cairns and made a couple of their own. We were able to play in the snow atop the mountain and even enjoyed “The Englishman” waffle (lemon sauce, powdered sugar & whipped cream), which was delicious!
On the descent down, the dips at the towers were even more fun and the operator pointed out some of the ski runs and told us about some of the ski “legends” and how the runs got their names. I was a bit sad to rush out of Jackson Hole so quickly, but we were not properly parked and had ground to cover to get to our next stop.
We left Jackson Hole and headed toward Craters of the Moon. On the way out, we took the long way also (which only added about 30-45 minutes) to avoid a 10% grade going via 22. We reserved a spot at a campground with all the amenities, and I am happy we’ll have a shower and a chance to refresh ourselves and the camper!
We drove through Targee National Forest and into Idaho. The drive through Idaho was not exciting, and we went from a beautiful temperate mountain climate to hot, flat conditions. I knit a bonnet along the way, because there wasn’t much to see or navigation necessary. The big excitement was that we (for the first time) ran the fuel down to 1/8 of a tank because we passed up stopping in Idaho Falls and there was nothing in between!
When we arrived at our campground, we of course were pushing time to make it to Craters of the Moon before the visitor center closed, but we were super pleased that it was quite the little oasis. The spaces weren’t cramped, there are shade trees, full hookups, bath & laundry facilities, a restaurant and even mini golf! Such a treat after “roughing it” in the parks the past week!