Lori's Travels

Our Boise morning was sunny and clear, and we had plans to see some sights before leaving the city. After our Best Western free breakfast, we packed up the car and drove to downtown Boise. Several streets around the capitol building were blocked off for some event, but we still got a feel for the downtown by driving around. We also stopped at the green and peaceful Julia Davis park in the downtown area.

Then we drove to the Idaho Botanical Garden, not far from downtown and immediately next to the old state penitentiary. It was a beautiful 15-acre garden with many different parts, including a walk showing the plants that Lewis and Clark documented in their journals in the Idaho area. The garden was a great place for bird watching too, and Linda and I were glad we brought our binoculars. We spent 3 hours there, until about noon.

After that, we went a few miles out of town to the Peregrine Fund’s World Raptor Center, which has played an important role in the captive breeding, release and recovery of the California condor and peregrine falcons. They had many docents showing and talking about the birds, and the grounds were very pleasantly green and shady. We looked at the birds, listened to a couple of talks about the birds, and then brought our picnic lunch and ate on the grounds.

We finally left Boise about 3 p.m. and then drove 4.5 boring hours on I-84 through Idaho and Oregon to Kennewick. The only highlight was going over the Blue Mountains, which neither of us had been through before. Thank goodness for our Ivan Doig novel on CD, which entertained us on the trip.

We reached our Super 8 motel about 6:30 Pacific Time (after leaving Mountain Time in eastern Oregon), unloaded our stuff, and Linda fixed our final dinner of the trip.

Today was mostly a day of driving, out of Jackson and to Boise. But we stopped along the way at Craters of the Moon National Monument in southern Idaho. The lava flows from thousands of years ago form an other-worldly landscape. We enjoyed the interpretive displays at the visitor center and then drove a 7-mile loop within the park, stopping to eat a picnic lunch and walk on the pathways. The weather was cool, somewhat windy, and spitting a little rain. But not enough to keep us in the car.

Getting there and to Boise took us through the flat Snake River valley in Idaho, over the long, straight roads of Highway 20 for many miles. To relieve the boredom of our long drives, we’ve been listening to novels on CD in the car. It has made the miles go by quickly.

Thursday morning dawned mostly sunny and in the 50s, with temperatures forecast to be in the mid-70s. We had a special activity planned for the day: rafting on the Snake River in Grand Teton National Park. We had reserved spaces on a 9:30 a.m. trip with a rafting company named Solitude, one of a few companies allowed to run scenic river rafting trips in the park. So we ate breakfast in our room and then prepared for the trip, bringing layers of clothes, sunscreen, binoculars, etc.

We drove about 30 minutes north to Moose Junction and parked in the specially-designated lot for rafters, waiting with 20 other people. Three Solitude vans, each pulling a trailer with a raft, drove up promptly at 9:30. Linda and I were designated to ride in Mike’s van with two other families (12 passengers total). He was our guide and boat oarsman too.

Mike and the other two van drivers took us about 10 minutes away to Deadman’s Bar, the put-in place on the river. We got a short safety talk, put on our life vests, and the rafts were launched. We walked across the boat trailer to easily walk into the raft, staying totally dry. Then we were off!

For the next 90 minutes or so, we went down the river for 10 miles. Mike guided us with his long oars while telling us various facts about the Snake River and Jackson Hole. It was great! The temperature was perfect, the narrative was interesting and funny, and Mike skillfully guided the boat. We saw an elk, some American avocet (birds), and learned a lot about the human and natural history of the area. At the end of 10 miles, we were back where our cars were parked.

After the rafting trip, Linda and I stopped to see the visitor center at Moose Junction and ate our picnic lunch at a table in the shade next to its parking lot. Then we saw Jenny Lake, visited Jenny Lake Lodge, and stopped at a few other places in the park. We were tired and returned to the hotel by about 4:30. We finished off the great day with another delicious meal by Linda.

Yesterday morning we said goodbye to West Yellowstone, drove through Yellowstone Park again, crossed the Continental Divide twice, and descended southward to Grand Teton National Park. The weather was beautiful and so was the drive. Along the way, we made stops in both parks to see the sights. One of those was at the Jackson Lake Lodge, which has a fantastic view of the Tetons.

We continued driving through the expansive valley into the town of Jackson, where we found our Motel 6. Our room is quite a bit smaller than the West Yellowstone hotel room, and with our boxes of food, cooler, and luggage, it’s a tight fit but it works.

Today, we ate breakfast in our room from the food we brought and then took off for some Grand Teton sightseeing. Among the places we stopped were Mormon Row, where we saw some beautiful mountain bluebirds and pronghorn antelopes, Oxbow Bend (of the Snake River), and Schwabacher Landing. The landing turned out to be a great birding spot. At this quiet place, beavers had dammed a small side stream of the Snake into large ponds. Among the birds we saw were a yellow warbler, Barrow’s goldeneye, trumpeter swan, and Bohemian waxwing. It was the best birding of the trip so far, and we both really enjoyed the time there.

After a full day of sightseeing, we returned to the hotel about 6 p.m. Linda made a delicious spaghetti dinner. Then we went out to get gas and see the downtown area of Jackson, which has really busy traffic during the day, but in the evening was much better.

My car is a little dirtier than when we started, huh?

It was another cold day at the park, with a recorded temperature of 29 degrees at Yellowstone Lake overnight. The cloud layer was thicker than yesterday, and Linda and I saw a few tiny snowflakes outside the restaurant window as we ate breakfast.

We entered the park around 8 a.m. again and were driving from the entrance along the Madison River toward the Madison Junction intersection when we saw lots of cars stopped or slowed ahead. We’ve learned that likely means visible wildlife nearby. As we approached the spot, we saw five mama bison and their calves grazing in a meadow near the road. Of course we stopped and took pictures too. The babies were cute.

Then we made our way toward Yellowstone Lake, which is quite a long drive toward the southern part of the park. Along the way, we stopped at some more thermal features – roiling hot springs, mud pots, and sulfur fumeroles. We walked on the boardwalks at each site, breathing in the steamy, sulfuric air and marveling at the active, changing earth. We also made a stop along the Yellowstone River at Lehardy Rapids. There, we enjoyed seeing the lush greenery along the river and the rushing rapids. But at each stop, we were glad we had a few layers of clothes on, and we had to brace ourselves against the 20-30 mph cold wind.

At Yellowstone Lake, we viewed the stuffed bird exhibit at the visitor center, took some pictures in the wind at the lake shore, then retreated to the warm car to eat our picnic lunch. After lunch, when driving to the nearby butte that provides an overlook of the large lake, we stopped at another scene of lots of people stopped to view some wildlife. We learned it was a sow grizzly a few hundred yards off the road. Our binoculars have been really handy for these wildlife viewing opportunities. After a few minutes there, we continued on our drive up the butte for an excellent lake view.

The wind was still blowing hard by the end of our sightseeing day but the temperature had warmed up to maybe 50 degrees. We had a few rain drops fall during our 2-hour drive back to the hotel. Then a more steady rain began after we were back in our warm, cozy room.