Day 11 - Drive to Tetons and KOA cabin

Our drive to Jackson was pretty quick and easy. We opted to go the faster way. We really debated driving through the park, but, ultimately, Will decided we would go through Idaho. And now we can say we've been in Idaho, not that we even stepped out of the car. The drive was pretty. Lots of open land, ranches, and the Tetons on our left. The Tetons appear to be taller mountains than those in Yellowstone, and many have snow on top. Crossing over from Idaho to Wyoming, you drive through a mountain pass. It was gorgeous, but a lot scarier driving for Will than Yellowstone. We started going uphill. I think the signs said it was a 10% grade. Well, what comes up, must come down. The second part of the mountain pass was a steep decline. You could smell people's breaks working hard. Ours were replaced last year, so hopefully we are good. I have a feeling Teton driving is going to be more difficult on the car than Yellowstone. 

Once we were out of the mountain pass, we were in Jackson fairly quickly. We found the world's nicest Albertson's and grabbed lunch. Ethan got a box full of chicken wings, bone in and boneless. The kid was hungry! Eleanor got soup, I got a salad, and Will got a sandwich. We ate outside. We had planned to go to our KOA but it was still another 20 minutes south, and Grand Teton is at least 20 minutes north of Jackson. So we decided to go to this Jackson Mountain Lodge. Will had read that after 4, they had free gondola rides. There are trails to go up, easy, medium, and hard. We figured we would go up one trail and then take the gondola down. 

When we got there, we learned that the free gondola didn't start until 5. It wasn't quite 3 yet. The Jackson Mountain Lodge is basically a huge luxury ski resort. There were different lodging buildings, shops, and activities galore. Right way, the kids saw a bungee activity that was basically a trampoline and you were attached to bungee cords on either side so you can safely flip and go really high and stuff. There was also a rock climbing area with four sides of varying difficulty. The kids opted for the rock climbing, mostly because we told them to do that one. The other one had a line of kids and we figured the turn would be short. There was no one on the rock walls. And it turns out we were right. One of the teenage workers said they could pretty much just go as long as they wanted as long as there weren't others waiting. So each of them tried all four sides and stayed a good 25 minutes on the wall. One of the workers heard me say something about being from IL and asked where. He said he moved from Winnetka when he was in fifth grade. He went to Sacred Heart. Small world. I asked what brought his family to Jackson and he said, "Honestly, probably a mid-life crisis." He said his dad said they would go for a year and see how it went (the grandparents had a place there already), and now they bought a house and have been there 5 years.  Funny. 

(And now, here is mystery reader once again:

I don't know how Mom and Dad get so anxious about falling off mountains, and the Badlands and stuff. Well let me tell you, I was more anxious on this rock wall than both of them put TOGETHER. But yet they were taking pictures and encouraging me to go higher. I'm sure I looked completely safe from down there. But I honestly didn't feel comfortable with the high schoolers handling the other side of the rope. If they had a heart attack, or swat at a fly, or something, then Zing! I have two broken legs. I was a lot more comfortable with the one that wasn't run by a person. That way, the high schoolers could text their girlfriends while I reached the top. But my fingers ache from doing both. We stay in this next cabin for three nights. By day, we hike, but by night, we sleep. You probably wonder how we get around to all these places. Well, we do it in the K95 Toyota mobile. The main territory is the kid area. Entertainment including, Hamilton, Drawing, Beastie Boys, Rubik's Cube, Greg Russell, and other stuff. Sorry, we just got to our cabin. I would love to talk, but this is me, signing out.)

After rock climbing, we decided to do a hike. To go up to where the big gondola was going way up the mountain would have taken 3 hours or more. There was a shorter hike we could do that led to an open ski lift used for mountain bikers. We were allowed to use it going down though, and apparently going  down the lifts is always free. So we did this shorter hike that went a little ways up the mountain and then across. It was called 7 Bridges because you went over several small wooden platforms to avoid stepping into little waterfalls. The trail was thick with wildflowers and brush on either side. At one point, we went through a pretty section with ferns everywhere. We got to the ski lift, and dad closed his eyes and did it. It wasn't so bad because we weren't nearly as high as others we've been on, but he still didn't like it. He kept asking me to remind him that it was free to make him feel better. :) 

It was just a little after 4, so we killed some time exploring the resort and then we got in line for the free gondola. We weren't the only ones who like free. There was a decent line formed. Will was reading that they started doing this because there is a restaurant up at the top but business wasn't great. If you have to pay over $100 to get to a restaurant, I can believe it. We considered eating up there, but the menu for the outdoor cafe literally had 7 items on it: 3 flatbreads and 4 appetizers like edamame and French fries. We said, no thanks. Got a few pics from the top and went back down. 

Then we hit the Albertson's again for some hotdogs/sausages to grill up for dinner. I am finishing the blog from the picnic outside our cabin. I am watching the kids roast marshmallows after our dinner of chicken sausage and green beans. We have a fire pit with a grate, which I covered in foil to grill the sausage. Then I sautéed green beans in our stainless steel pan we brought. We also had good bread with butter. A great campfire dinner if I do say so myself. 

Our cabin is tiny. It's also crazy hot right now, but as it gets dark now there is a good breeze going, so I'm confident it will cool off. The cabin has a full bed and a bunk bed, about 4 feet apart. There is a bench between them. At the foot of the full bed, there's a large mini-fridge (bigger than a hotel fridge, thankfully) and a table. That's it. The bathroom is about 5 cabins down. The bathrooms are nice, though, at least. 5 rooms with a toilet, sink, and shower all in one. The mattresses look horrendous, like a foam bad inside of rubber, so I'm pretty sure neither Will nor I will sleep. This is when I'm glad that I got some red wine at the Albertson's. Right now, it's keeping me from a panic attack. Honestly, though, I think we will like it here. I can see the Snake River from where I type, and we have access just below our cabin. The kids were building a rock bridge while I got dinner started. We have a cute front porch with a wooden swing. 

When we got here, I noticed that our screen door was not attached on the top and sides. Worried that we would have mosquitoes bothering us all night, we told the people in the office. They came and taped it up for now. But we actually haven't noticed any mosquitos yet, surprisingly. Hopefully we will be okay. I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty jealous of the people in the "luxury cabin" next door to us with AC, a tv, a loft, and a kitchenette. But for $100, it may not be worth it for the time we will spend here. Plus, this is good practice for camping for Will. He wanted to walk all our food to a grill on the other side of the camp instead of using the fire. For the kids and I, cooking over the fire is the fun part. What's not so fun is walking down the lane to do dishes in the camp sink, but it's not so bad. 

We do not have wifi in our cabin, only in the office. So I'm going to head there to post this with any luck.