For our 5 year anniversary, Townsend and I really wanted to go all out. We started thinking about where we wanted to go, we thought maybe Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands, or Argentina and Chile! But then Zika blew up so that was out. We started to think maybe somewhere in Europe we had never been, Norway and Finland or Denmark and Sweden. But then there were a bunch of terrorist attacks so we decided to just stay in the good old USA! And I am so happy we did because there is so much to see in this beautiful country of ours and Wyoming was nothing short of spectacular.
We started our trip, or as I like to call it, our annimoon, in the Grand Tetons National Park. We flew into Jackson Hole and were immediately in awe of the views all around us. We jumped in our rental car and drove to downtown Jackson where we checked into our lovely little hotel, The Alpine House. We stayed in a cute little creekside cottage that was walking distance to downtown Jackson.
We woke up bright and early to drive down Mormon Row. This gorgeous road is home to herds of bison, antelope, deer and also has an unbelievable settlement of buildings circa 1800's from when Mormans wagoned over from Idaho. The barn pictured below is the most photographed barn in the world. I can see why because the views are just stunning. I kept thinking, I can't believe people lived here in the presence of this breathtaking landscape, what a life!
On our second day we headed to Triangle X Ranch for some fly fishing. Our guide was amazing and really helpful showing us both (well, really just me) how to fly fish. Townsend ended up catching a 16 inch and 18 inch cut throat trout and I got to sit and take pictures after giving up on fishing so it was a pretty perfect day.
We woke up at sunrise almost every day of our vacation to go for drives around the park. I really think sunrise is the best time of day in the Tetons. The sun shines on the mountains and everything just glows. We drove to Schwabacher's Landing, Oxbow Bend, and Snake River Overlook, all beautiful photo spots.
Hiking is probably the most popular activity in the Tetons so we wanted to make sure to get a quick hike in while we were there. We took a ferry across Jenny Lake and did a "country club hike" which was basically just a walk around the lake. But it was beautiful none the less. On our way back Townsend found a little lake that had a TON of moose. He hiked down the side of the mountain to get some close up shots, he knows how to make mamma happy :)
That night we had dinner at Jenny Lake Lodge and it was fantastic! a 5 course meal with fresh, local ingredients in a lodge that was built in the 1920's before the land was purchased by John D. Rockefeller to become part of Grand Tetons National Park established in 1943.
Our last day in Grand Tetons, we drove back out to Mormon Row and set up the tripod to take some pictures with both of us! We blasted Chris Stapleton and danced by the river, it was a magical afternoon and a lovely way to end our time in this beautiful park before heading to Cody.
