Sept. 16, 2016 a free day in Jackson, WY

Today we got up a little later than usual and got ready for breakfast at a leisurely pace since we have the whole day to ourselves to explore Jackson.

Weather was sunny and mild- around 66 degrees forecast.

We had breakfast in the hotel- something different than the usual scrambled eggs and bacon that we had in every motel so far.

After breakfast we took the local bus-free for all- and it took us downtown. We saw the central park and the entrances at the four corners had arches made of elk and deer antlers.

We headed over to the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar for a tour and photos and then to the gift shop to buy souvenirs.

http://milliondollarcowboybar.com/index.html
This place was really cool- bar top with silver dollars, saddles for barstools, antique valuable murals and mounted animals and some Indian items.

The gift store man said to go around the corner to the Silver Dollar Saloon which also had a bar top with silver dollars.

http://www.worthotel.com/silver-dollar-bar/    Below

Most of the souvenir stores had stuffed (mounted) animals on exhibit. There was quite a variety.

Mid afternoon we headed back to the hotel.

We had dinner at the Silver Dollar saloon. Too bad we did not make reservations in time to eat inside as there was live music.

Tomorrow we hit the road for Salt Lake City.

Sept. 15, 2016 Grand Teton National Park and Jackson, Wy

Today we leave Yellowstone for the Grand Teton National Park and will stop in Jackson, Wy for a two day stay.

We are driving back into the West entrance of the park passing the large meadow where we saw elk yesterday and today we have a chance to see more elk. We are on the way to W. Basin Geyser Basin where we will have one hour to walk around and see all the paint pots and a view of Yellowstone Lake.

 Steam vapor from paint pots

We left at 8am and arrived at W. Thumb at 9:15 and have to be at the bus at 10:15. Weather a bit cool and overcast.
We walked around on the boardwalk to see all the paint pots and by the lake edge and could see across where we had our picnic yesterday.

Lake Yellowstone

Since we had some time left after our walk we went into the small gift shop and here we found a 2016 Nat. Park sticker. We could not find one in the other gift shops  and wanted one because it was the 100th Nat. Park anniversary edition.

On the way we stopped at Jenny Lake to take photos of the mountains.

Grand Teton mountains below

At 11:20 we arrived at the Colter Bay Visitor Center for a 30 min. visit. Here at the center is the David T. Vernon collection of Indian artifacts- just some of the collection- most is in storage elsewhere.
It was a wonderful collection of clothing and tools.

http://www.gtnpf.org/achievements/vernon-collection/

https://www.viator.com/Grand-Teton-National-Park-attractions/Colter-Bay-Visitor-Center-and-Indian-Arts-Museum/d22873-a21455

It was a short ride from the visitor center to Jackson Lake Lodge- beautiful modern building. This was our lunch stop.
We went outside on the patio to have lunch- weather a bit cool but nice to be outside and view the mountains and Jackson Lake.
We had two hours here which gave us time to explore and walk around after lunch.

Left at 2pm and stopped at the Church of the Transfiguration at 3 pm for  a 20 min. visit which was   a few miles south of Moose, WY.

This is still an active parish and per the guide people come from afar to be wed here. There was a beautiful view of the Grand Tetons through the window behind the altar.

At 3:25 pm we arrived at the Craig Thomas Visitor Center in Moose, WY.  It was a new building with lots of nice animal exhibits.

There were samples of different animal pelts and furs and quizzes about animals and birds from the area.


4 PM we were back on the bus bound for our hotel in Jackson. We arrived at 4:45 at the Snow King Hotel. From the bus it seemed a long distance from the rustic scenic downtown but that was deceiving. We were able to walk from town to the hotel the next day in 20 mins at a leisurely pace.

Sunset photos from the bus on the way to hotel

Hotel was modern and the room one of the best so far but it was a little small.

We opted to stay and eat in the hotel and just rest after such a busy day.
Tomorrow we have a free day to explore Jackson. Some of our group will be taking a 3 hour raft ride on the Snake River.